7<-ao^,"£r.
#
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i
.
.
'
"Sleep¬
walker.
S le E [4 0
feem concentrated in the objedl with which it is occu¬
pied, and have at that time no perception of any thing
' but what relates to that objeft. ^ #
“ Thefe two caufes united feem to them fufficient
for explaining one of the moft fingular fa£fs that occur¬
red to their obfervation, to wit, how the young Devaud
can write, although he has his eyes Ihut, and an ob-
ftacle before them. His paper is imprinted on his ima¬
gination, and every letter which he means to write is
alfo painted there/ at the place in which it ought.to
itand on the pftper, and without being confounded with
the other letters: now it is clear that his hand, which
is obedient to the wnll of his imagination, will trace
them on the real paper, in the fame order in which tney
are reprefented on that which is pi cl ured in his head.
It is thus that he is slble to write icveral letters, leveral
fentences, and entire pieces of writing ; and what feems
to confirm the idea, that the young Devaud .writes ac¬
cording to the paper painted on his imagination is,
that a certain fleep-walker, who is defcribed in the
French Encyclopedic (article Somnambuljm), having writ¬
ten fomething on a paper, another piece of paper of the
fame lize was fubftituted in its Head, wdiich ne took for
bis own, and made upon this blank paper trie corrections
he meant to have made on the other which had been
taken away, precifely in the places where they would
have been.
“ It appears from the recital of another fa61, that
Devaud, intending to write at the top of the firft leaf
of a white paper book, Vevey, le— flopped a moment
•as if to recoiled the day of the month, left a blank
fpace, and then proceeded to Decembre 1787? a^ter
which he alked for an almanac : a little book, fuch as
is given to children for a new year’s gift, was offered to
him ; he took it, opened it, brought it near his eyes,
then threw it down on the table. An almanac which
he knew was then prefented to him } this was in Ger¬
man, and of a form fimilar to the almanac of Vevey : he
took it, and then faid, ‘ What is this they have given
me } here, there is your German almanac.’ At laft
they gave him the almanac of Berne ; he took this like-
wife, and went to examine it at the bottom of an alcove
that was perfe&ly dark. He was heard turning over
the leaves, and faying 24, then a moment afterwards
34. Returning to his place, with the almanac open at
the month of December, he laid it on the table and
wrote in the fpace which he had left blank the 24th.
This fcene happened on the 23d ; but as he imagined
it to be the 24th, he did not midake. The following
is the explication given of this fa£t by the authors of
the report.
“ The dates 23d, 24th, and 25th, of the month of
December, had long occupied the mind of the young
Devaud. The 23d and 25th were holidays, which he
expefted with the impatience natural to perfons of his
age, for the arrival of thofe moments when their little
daily labours are to be fufpended. The 25th efpecially
was the objeCf of his hopes; there was to be an illumi¬
nation in the church, which had been defcribcd to him
in a manner that quite tranfported him. J he 24th
was a day of labour, which came very difagreeably be¬
tween the two happy days. It may eafily be con¬
ceived, how an imagination fo irritable as that of the
young Devaud would be ftruck with thofe pleafing
epochs. Acrcmbnglv, from the beginning of the month
Vol. XIX. Part II.
I ] S L E
he had been perpetually turning over the almanac of
Vevey. Fie calculated the days and the hours that
were to elapfe before the arrival of his wifned-for ho¬
lidays j he Ihowed to his friends and acquaintance the
dates of thole days which he expe&ed with fo much
impatience j every time he took up the almanac, it was
only to confult the month of December. We now fee
why that date prefented itfelf to his mind. Fie was
performing a talk, becaufe he imagined the day to be
the Monday which had fo long engroffed him. It is
not furprifing, that it Ihould have occurred to his ima¬
gination, and that on opening the.almanac in the dark
he might have thought he faw this date which he was
feeking, and that his imagination might have reprefent¬
ed it to him in as lively a manner as if he had a6fuaily
feen it. Neither is it furprifing that he fhould have
opened the almanac at the month of December j the
cuftom of perufing this month muft have made him
find it in the dark by a mere mechanical operation.
Man never feems to be a machine fo much as in the
fiate of fomnambulifm 5 it is then that habit comes to
fupply thofe of the fenfes that cannot be ferviceable,
and that it makes the perfon aft with as much precifion
as if all his fenfes were in the utmoft adfivity. Thefe
circumftances deftroy the idea of there being any. thing
miraculous in the behaviour of young Devaud with re-
fpeff to the date and the month that he was in quell of;
and the reader, who has entered into our explanations,
will not be I'm pi lled at his knowing the German alma¬
nac ; the touch alone was fufficient to point it out to
him ; and the proof of this is the fiiortnefs of the time
that it remained in his hands.
“ An experiment was made by changing the place
of the ink-ftandiflr during the time that Devaud was
writing. He had a light befide him, and had certified
himfelf of the place where his ink-holder was Handing
by means of fight. From that time he continued to
take ink with precifion, without being obliged to open
his eyes again : but the ink-ftandilh being removed, he
returned as ufual to the place where he thought it was :
It muft be obferved, that the motion of his hand was
rapid till it reached the height of the ftandilh, and then
he moved it llowly, till the pen gently touched the
table as he was feeking for the ink : he then perceived
that a trick had been put on him, and complained of
it; he went in fearch of his ink-ftandilh and put it in
its place. This experiment was feveral times repeated,
and always attended with the fame circumftances. Does
not what we have here Hated prove, that the ftandifh,
the paper, the table, &c. are painted on his imagination,
in as lively a manner as if he really faw them, as he
fought the real ftandilh in the place where his imagina¬
tion told him it ought to have been ? Does it not prove
that the lame lively imagination is the caufe of the
moft lingular aftions of this lleep-walker ? And laftly,
does it not prove, that a mere glance of his eye is fuffi¬
cient to make his impreffions as lively as durable ?
ii The committee, upon the whole, recommend to
fuch as wilh to repeat the fame experiments, 1. To
make their obfervations on different lleep-walkers. 2.
To examine often whether they can read books that are
unknown to them in perfect darkriefs. 3. To obferve
whether they can tell the hours on a watch in the dark.
4. To remove when they write the ink-ftandilh from its
place, to fee whether they will return to the fame place
3 E in
Sleep¬
walker
S L
in order to take ink. 5.
.Slefsvick.
U-—y«—
,tr lauiy, 10 taK.e notice
-■ ether they walk with the fame confidence in a dark
and unknown place, as in one with which they are ac-
“ I hey hkewife recommend to fuch as would con¬
firm or invalidate the above obfervations, to make all
their experiments in the dark ; becaufe it has been hi¬
therto fuppofed tnat the eyes of fleep-walkers are of no
d-e to tnem.”
SLEEPLRS, in Natural Hiftory, a name given to
thofe animals which fleep all winter j fuch as bears
marmots, dormice bats, hedgehogs, fwallows, &c!
inefe do not feed in winter, have no ffenfible evacua-
10ns, breathe little or none at all, and moft of the
vifcera ceafe from their funaions. Some of thefe ani-
^aa.S lr be ,de/d’ and others return to a Rate like
that of the foetus before birth : in this ftate they con-
mue, till by an mcreafe of heat the animal is reftored to
Us former funaions.
Sleepers in a Ihip, timbers lying before and aft in
le bottom of the fhip, as the rungheads do : the lower-
mo o t iem is bolted to the rungheads, and the up-
permoft to the futtocks and rungs. ^
SLEIDAN, John, an excellent German hiftorian,
born of obfcure parents, m 1506, at Sleidan, a fmall
tonm on the confines of the duchy of Juliers. After
ifudying fome time in his own country, together with
his townlman the learned John Sturmius, he went to
i’ranee, and m 1525 entered into tlie fervice of the
cardinal and archbifhop John du Eellay. He retired
t° Strafburg in 1542, where he acquired the efteem
and fnendfhip of the moft confiderable perfons, parti-
cularly of James Sturmius 5 by whofe advice and aftift-
ance he was enabled to write the hiftory of his own
time.^ He was employed in fome public negociations ;
out the death of his wife, in 1555, plunged him into fo
deep a melancholy, that he loft his memory entirely and
died the year foUowing. In 1555 came out, in folio,
Dejtatu Rehgionis et Reipublica fub Carolo Quinto &c
m 15 books; from the year 1517, when Luther began
to preach, to the year of its publication ; which hiftory
was prefently tranflated into moft of the languages of
Europe. Eefides this great work, he wrote, De qua-
tuor fumnns Imperils, libri tres ; with fome other hifto-
ncal and political pieces.
^/Hand. See Legerdemain.
SLESWICK, an ancient and confiderable town of
penmat-K, the metropolis of a duchy of the fame name
m the province of Gottorp, the fee of a bifiiop, which
was feculanzed in the year 1586. The old palace of
Gottorp is clofe to it, which was formerly the ducal
reudence, but afterwards inhabited by the governor.
1 his town at one period was much more extenfive than
U is now, having fuffered greatly by the German wars,
it is fe a ted on the gulf of Sley, where there is a com¬
modious harbour, 60 miles north-weft of Luheck, and
125 fouth-weft of Copenhagen. The people boaft that
t lc <jerman language is here fpoken with as much ac¬
curacy as at Vienna, of which, however, a good Ger¬
man fcholar can alone be judge. Slefwick has but little
trade, as none but fmall boats can have accefs to it, the
t 402 ] S L I
And, laflly, to tako notice attendants on the court and on them.
Phe prefent po- Siefwiek
E. Long. 10. o.
.     uu uiem
pulatmn ,s faid not to exceed 5000
N. Lat. 54. 40. Slid','..
IQO miles 5^1 lhC,ldUCllv°f’ ^ ^uth Jutland, is about'
o miles in length and 60 in breadth. It is bounded
on the north by North Jutland, on the eaft by tlm Bal
It'r l kl HfMWn. -don the we,fby
tne ocean It contains 14 cities, 17 towns, 1 . caflks,
27S panihes 1480 v.llages, 162 farms, 1,6 wa?er-mi,ls
and ,06 gentlemen’s feats. It is a pleafant, fertile po
pulous eomnry, and a fovereign duchy. Former ; fhe
;d ,1 D n,nrark half of it, and the other belong,
ed to the houfe of Holtlein-Gottorp; but the formec
having conquered this duchy, had the pofTeffion of it
confirmed to him by the treaty of the north in 1,20.
n I73Il a prmce of Eareith-Culmbach was made go¬
vernor ot this duchy, who refides at Gottorp.
SLEUT-hounde, the ancient Scots name of the
blood-hound I he word is from the Saxon flat, “ the
impreffion that a deer leaves of its foot in the mire ”
and hound, “ a dog”; fo they derive their name from
o lowing the track. See the article BLOOD-Hound.
-EICH, m Metallurgy, the ore of any metal, parti-
cularly of gold, when it has been pounded, and prepa¬
red for farther working. ^ 1
1 he manner of preparing the filch at Chremnitz in
Hungary is this ; they lay a foundation of wood three
yards deep, upon this they place the ore, and over this
t eie are 24 beams, armed at their bottoms with iron •
thde by a continual motion, beat and grind the ore'
11 it is reduced to powder : during this operation, the
ore is covered with water. There are four wheels ufed
to move thefe beams, each wheel moving fix; and the
vyater, as u runs off, carrying fome of the metalline par¬
ticles with it, is received into feveral bafons, one pla¬
ced behind another; and finally, after having paffed
. lI.0l'£ 1 them all, and depofited, fome fediment in each
H is let off into a very large pit, almcft half an acre in
extent; m which it is fuffered to Hand fo long, as to de¬
port all its fediment, of whatever kind, and after this
it is let out. This work is carried on day and night
and the ore taken away and replaced by more as often
as occafion requires. That ore which lies next the
beams by which it was pounded, is always the cleaned
or ncheft.
When the flich is wafhed as much as they can, a hun¬
dred weight of it ufually contains about an ounce, or
perhaps but half an ounce of metal, which is not all gold •
for there is always a mixture of gold and filver, but the
gold is m the largeft quantity, and ufually is two-thirds
of the mixture : they then put the flich into a furnace
with fome hmeftone, and flacken, or the fcoria of former
meltings, and run them together. The firft melting pro¬
duces a fubftance called lech ; this lech they burn with
charcoal, to make it lighter, to open its body, and render
it porous, after which it is called rojl ; to this roft they
add fand in fuch quantity as they find neceffary, and then
melt it over again.
. J^t Chremnitz many other ways are pra&ifed of redu-
cing gold out of its ore, but particularly one, in which
they employ no lead during the whole operation ; where
&s« 111 general, lend alwavc »l„ u.r _
paflaee of the Slev havlno-Keen 1 ' r CCt l 0 lt:> tiley emP^°y no 5ead during the whole operation ; where-
with" fand -md nvh .' t..,.. , • V'1” chocked up as, m general, lead is always neceflary, after the beforc-
flon ’tlfin! d , be“re."'h,ch it was both mentioned proceffes. ScdonES, J
SSs cl rSk Ld the" CW£fly ;tbil'd • SLID1I?G * mathemaScauZ^ent, fer-
— , c . t . poolei Gaffes, or the vmg to work queftions in gauging, meafuring, &c. with.
out
S L O
[ 403 3
s L a
Siiiling
II
Sloane.
out the ufe of compaffes ; merely by the Hiding of the
parts of the inftrument one by another, the lines and
, divifions whereof give the anfwer by irifpeftion.
' This inftrument is varioufty contrived, and applied
by various authors, particularly Everard, Coggeftiall,
Gunter, Hunt, and Partridge •, but the moft common
and ufeful are thofe of Everard and Coggeftrall.
SLIGO, a county in the province of Connaught, Ire¬
land, 25 miles in length, and as much in breadth-, bound¬
ed on the eaft by that of Leitrim, on the weft by the
county of IVIayo, on the north and north-weft by the
weftern ocean, and on the fouth and fouth-weft by Rof-
common and IMayo. It contains 597^ houfes, 41 parifti-
es, 6 baronies, 1 borough, and fends 4 members to par¬
liament, two for the county, and two for the borough of
the fame name, which is the only market-town in the
county, and is feated on a bay of the fame name, 30
miles w-eft of Killalla, and nonorth-eaft of Dublin.
W. Long. 8. 26. N. Lat. 54. 13.
SLING, an inftrument ferving for cafting ftones with
great violence. The inhabitants of the Balearic iflands
were famous in antiquity for the dexterous management
of the fling } it is faid they ufed three kinds of flings,
fome longer, others fhorter, which they ufed according
as their enemies wTere either nearer or more remote. It
is added, that the firft ferved them for a head-band, the
lecond for a girdle, and that the third they conftantly
carried in their hand.
SLINGING is ufed varioufly at fea ; but chiefly for
hoifting up calks or other heavy things with flings,. /. e.
contrivances of ropes fpliced into themfelves at either
end, with one eye big enough to receive the calk or
whatever is to be flung. There are other flings, which
are made longer, and with a fmall eye at each end ;
one of which is put over the breech of a piece of ord¬
nance, and the other eye comes over the end of an iron
crow, which is put into the mouth of the piece, to weigh
and hoife the gun as they pleafe. There are alfo flings
by which the yards are bound fall to the crofs-tree aloft,
and to the head of the maft, with a ftrong rope or chain,
that if the tie (hould happen to break, or to be (hot to
pieces in fight, the yard, neverthelefs, may not fall upon
the hatches.
SLINGING a Man overboard, in order to flop a leak
in a {hip, is done thus : the man is truffcd up about the
middle in a piece of canvas, and a rope to keep him
from finking, with his arms at liberty, a mallet in one
hand and a plug, wrapped in oakum and well tarred in
a tarpawling clout, in the other, which he is to beat
with all difpatch into the hole or leak.
SLOANE, Sir Hans, Baronet, eminentlydiftinguifh-
ed as a phyfician and a naturalift, was of Scotch extrac¬
tion, his father Alexander Sloane being at the head of
that colony of Scots which King James I. fettled in the
north of Ireland, where our author was born, at Killieagh,
on the 19th of April 1660. At a very early period, he
difplayed a ftrong inclination for natural hiftory; and
this propenfity being encouraged by a fuitable education,
he employed thofe hours which young people generally
lofe by purfuing low and trifling amufements, in the
ftudy of nature, and contemplating her works. When
about fixteen, he was attacked by a fpitting of blood,
which threatened to be attended with confiderable dan¬
ger, and which interrupted the regular courfe of his ap¬
plication for three years j he had, however, already learn¬
ed enough of phync to know that a malady of this kind
was not to be removed fuddenly, and he prudently ab-
ftained from wane and other liquors that wrere likely to
increafe it.
By Unfitly obferving this fevere regimen, which in
fome meafure he continued ever after, he was enabled
to prolong his life beyond the ordinary bounds ; being
an example of the truth of his own favourite maxim,
that fobriety, temperance, and moderation, are the belt
and moft powerful prefervatives that nature has granted
to mankind.
As foon as he recovered from this infirmity, he re-
folved to perfett himfelf in the different branches of
phyfic, which was the profeflion he had made choice of;
and with this view he repaired to London, where he.
hoped to receive that afliftance which he could not find
in his own country.
On his arrival in the metropolis, he entered himfelf
as a pupil to the great Stafforth, an excellent chemift,
bred under the illuftrious Stahl; and by his inftru£H@ns
he gained a perfeft knowledge of the compofition and
preparation of the different kinds of medicines then in
ufe. At the fame time, he ftudied botany at the cele¬
brated garden at Chelfea, afliduoufly attended the pub¬
lic leftures of anatomy and phyfic, and in fliort negleft-
ed nothing that he thought likely to prove ferviceable
to him in his future pra&ice. His principal merit,
however, was his knowledge of natural hiftory ; and it
w-as this part of his charafter which introduced him
early to the acquaintance of Mr Boyle and Mr Ray,
two of the moft eminent naturalifts of that age. His
intimacy with thefe diftinguilhed chara&ers continued
as long as they lived ; and as he was careful to com¬
municate to them every objeft of curiofity that attraft-
ed his attention, the obfervations which he occafionally
made often excited their admiration and obtained their
applaufe.
After ftudying four years at London with unremit¬
ting feverity, Mr Sloane determined to vifit foreign
countries for farther improvement. In this view he
fet out for France in the company of twro other ftu-
dents, and having croffed to Dieppe, proceeded to Pa¬
ris. In the way thither they were elegantly entertain¬
ed by the famous M. Lemery the elder; and in return
Mr Sloane prefented that eminent chemift with a fpeci-
men of four different kinds of phofphorus, of which, up¬
on the credit of other writers, M. Lemery had treated
in his book of chemiftry, though he had never feen any
of them.
At Paris Mr Sloane lived as he had done in Lon¬
don. He attended the hofpitals, heard the leflures of
Tournefort, De Verney, and other eminent mafters *,
vifited all the literati, who received him with particu¬
lar marks of efteem, and employed himfelf wholly in
ftudy.
From Paris Mr Sloane went to Montpelier-, and, be¬
ing furnilhed with letters of recommendation from M.
Touruefort to M. Chirac, then chancellor of that uni-
verfi'y, he found eafy accefs, through his means, to all
the learned men of the province, particularly to M.
Magnol, whom he always accompanied in his botanical
excurfions in the environs of that city, where he beheld
with pleafure and admiration the fpontaneous produc¬
tions of nature, and learned under his inftrudlions to
clafs them in a proper manner.
3 E 2 Having
Sloane.
S L O
Sloane.
Having here found an ample field for     ?
which was entirely fuited to his tafte, he took leavVof
his two companions, whom a curiofity of a different kind
led into Italy.
Alter ipending a whole year in collecting plants, he
travelled through Languedoc with the fame defign ;
amt paffing through Ihoulouie and Bourdeaux, return¬
ed to Pans, where he made a ftiort flay. About the
end oi the year 1684 he fet out for England, with an
intention of fettling there as a phyfician. On his ar¬
rival m London, he made it his firit bufinefs to vifit his
two illuitrious friends Mr Ray and Mr Boyle, in order
to communicate to them the difcoveiies he had made in
his travels. The latter he found at home, but the for¬
mer had retired to Effex ; to which place Mr Sloane
tranknitted a great variety of plants and feeds, which
Mr Ray has delcribed in his Hiftory of Plants, and for
which he makes a proper acknowledgement.
About the year 1706 our author became acquainted
with tne celebrated Sydenham ; who foon contracted fo
warm an affeCtion for him that he took him into his
houfe, and recommended him in the ftrongeft manner to
uis patients. He had not been long in London before
:le vvas Propofed by Dr Martin Liiler as a candidate to
be admitted a member of the Royal Society, on the 26th
of November 1684 ; and being approved, he was elect¬
ed on the 21 ft of January following.
. Iu *685 lie communicated fome curiofities to the So¬
ciety ; and in July the fame year he was a candidate for
the office of their affiftant fecretary, but without fuc-
ce.s, as he rvas obliged to give way to the fuperior in-
tereft of his competitor Dr Halley. On the 12th of
Apiil 1687, he wras chofen a feliow of the college of
phyficians in London j and the fame year his friend and
fellow traveller Dr Tancred Robinfon, having mention¬
ed to the Society the plant called the jlar of the earth,
ns a remedy newly difcovered for the bite of a mad dog,’
Dr Sloane acquainted them that this virtue of the plant
was to be found in a book called De Grey's Farriery ;
and that he icnew a man who had cured with it twenty
couple of dogs, ihis obfervation he made on the 13 th
of July, and on the 12th of September following he em¬
barked at Portfmouth for Jamaica with the duke of Al¬
bemarle, who had been appointed governor of that ifland.
ihe doClor attended his grace in quality of phyfician,
and arrived at Jamaica on the 15th of December fol¬
lowing.
Here a new field was opened for freffi difcoveries in
natural produaions ; but the world would have been
depnved ot tne fruits of them, had not our author, by
incredible application, converted, as we may fay, his mi¬
nutes into hours. The duke of Albemarle died foon af¬
ter he landed, and the duchefs determined to return to
England whenever an anfwer ffiould be received to the
letter fire had fent to court on that melancholy occafion.
As A. Sloane could not think of leaving lier grace in
her diftrefs, whilrt the reft of her retinue were preparing
for their departure he improved it in making coHediors
of natural curiofities 5 io that though his whole ftay at
Jamaica was not above fifteen months, he brought toge¬
ther fuch a prodigious number of plants, that on his re¬
turn to England Mr Ray was aftoniffied that one man
could procure in one ifland, and in fo ffiort a fpace, fo
yaft a variety.
On his arrival in London he applied himfelf to the
1 4°4 ] S L O
ontem plat Ion, plaice of his profeffion j and foon became fo eminent,
that lie was clioien phyfician to Chriti’s Hofpital on the
17th Odober 1694 : and this office he held till the year
1 73°» when, on account of his great age and infirmities,
he found it neceffary to refign. It is lomewhat lingular,
and redounds much to the Dodor’s honour, that though
he received the emoluments of his office pundually, be-
caufe he would not lay down a precedent which might
hurt his lucccffors, yet he conftantly applied the money
to the rplier of thole who were the greatelf objeds of
compaliion in the hofpital, that it might never be laid
he enriched himfell by giving health to the poor. He
had been eleded lecretary to the Royal Society on the
3pth of November 1693 5 and upon this occafion he re¬
vived the publication ot the Philofophical Traniadions,
which had been omitted for fome time. He continued
to be the editor of this work till the year 1712 ; and
the volumes which appeared durifig that period are mo¬
numents of his indultry and ingenuity, many of the
pieces contained in them being written by himielf.
In the mean time lie pubhlhed Catalogus F tent arum
yiuc in Inful a Jamaica fonte proveniunt, &c.; feu Pro-
dromi lllftorice Naluralis pars pritna ; which he dedica-
cated to the Loyal Society and College of Pliyficians.
About the fame time he formed the plaa of a difpen-
fary, where the poor might be fuvniffied at prime colt
with fuch medicines as their feveral maladies might re¬
quire ; which he afterwards carried into execution, with
the affiitance of the prefident and other members of the
college of phyficians.
Our author’s thirft for natural knowledge leems to
have been born with him, fo that his cabinet of curio¬
fities may be faid to have commenced with his being.
He was continually enriching and enlarging it; and
the fame which, in the courier of a few years, it had ac¬
quired, brought every thing that was curious in art or
nature to be firft offered to him for purchafe. Thtfe
acquifttions, however, increafed it but very flowly in
comparifon of the augmentation it received in 1701
by the death of William Courten, Efq. a gentleman
who had employed all his time, and the greater part of
his fortune, in colle&ing rarities, and who bequeathed
the wdiole to Dr Sloane, on condition of his paying cer¬
tain debts and legacies with which he had charged it.
I hefe terms our author accepted, and he executed th«
will of the donor with the molt fcrupulous exa£tnefs j
on which account fome people have laid, that he pur-
chafed Mr Courten’s curiofitics at a dear rate.
In 1707 the firft volume of Dr Sloane’s Natural HL-
ftory of Jamaica appeared in folio, though the publica¬
tion of the fecond was delayed till 1725. By this very
ufeful as well as magnificent work, the,materia medica
was enriched with a great number* of excellent drugs
not before known. In 1708 the Dodlor was eledled a
foreign member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at
Paris, in the room of Mr Tfchirnaus ; an honour fo
much the greater, as we were then at war with France,
and the queen’s exprefs confent was neceffary before he
could accept it. In proportion as his credit rofe among
the learned, his practice increafed among the people of
rank : Queen Anne herfelf frequently confulted him,
and in her laft illnefs was blooded by him.
On the advancement of George I. to the throne,
that prince, on the 3d of April 1716, created the Doc¬
tor a baronet, an hereditary title of honour to which
S L O
[ 405 I
S L O
Sloan?, no Englilh phyiician had before attained j and at the
-—y 1 farne time made him phyfician general to the army, in
which itation lie continued till 1727, when he was ap¬
pointed phyiician in ordinary to George II. He at¬
tended the royal family till his death j and was1 parti¬
cularly favoured by Queen Caroline, who placed the
greater! confidence in his prefcriplions. In the mean
time he had been unaniraoufly chofen one of the eledls
of the college of phyficians June 1. 1716, and he was
elected prefident of the fame body on September 30.
1719, an office which he held for fixteen years. Du¬
ring that period he not only gave the higheft proofs of
his zeal and affiduity in the difeharge of his duty, but
in 1721 made a prefent to that fociety of 100I. ; and
fo far remitted a very confiderable debt, which the cor¬
poration owed him, as to accept it in fuch fmall fums as
were leal! inconvenient to the date of their affairs. Sir
Hans was no lefs liberal to other learned bodies. He
had no fooncr purchafed the manor of Chelfea, than he
gave the company of apothecaries the entire freehold of
their botanical garden there, upon condition only that
they ffiould prefent yearly to the Royal Society fifty new
plants, till the number ffiould amount to 2000 (a). Pie
gave befides feveral other confiderable donations for the
improvement of this garden 5 the fituation of which, on
the banks of the Thames, and in the neighbourhood of
the capital, was fuch as to render it uleful in two re-
fpefts : Fird, by producing the mod rare medicinal
plants; and, fecondly, by ferving as an excellent fchool
for young botanids •, an advantage which he himfelf had
derived from it in the early part of his life.
The death of Sir Ifaac Newton, which happened in
1727, made way for the advancement of Sir Hans to
the prefidency of the Royal Society. lie had been
vice-prefident, and frequently fat in the chair for that
great man ; and by his long connexion with this learn¬
ed body he had contrafled fo drong an affeffion for it,
that he made them a prefent of an hundred guineas,
caufed a curious bud of King Charles II. its founder, to
be erecled in the great hall where it met, and, as is faid,
was very indrumental in procuring Sir Godfrey Copley’s
benefaftion of a medal of the value of five guineas, to
be annually given a*; an honorary mark of didinStion to
the perfon who communicates the bed experiments to
the Society.
On his being raifed to the chair, Sir Flans laid afide
all thoughts of further promotion, and applied himfelf
wholly to the faithful difeharge of the duties of the of¬
fices which he enjoyed. In this laudable occupation he
employed his time from 1727 to I74°> when, at the
age of fourfeore, he formed a refolution of quitting the
fervice of the public, and of living for himfelf. With S’oane.
this view he refigned the prefidency of the Royal So-
ciety much againd the inclination of that refpeftable
body, who chofe Martin Folkes, Efq. to fucceed him,
and in a public affembly thanked him for the great and
eminent fervices he had rendered them. In the month
of January 1741, he began to remove his library, and
his cabinet ot rarities, from his houfe in Rloomdmry to
that at Chelfea j and on the 12th of March following,
having fettled all his affairs, he retired thither himfelf,
to enjoy in peaceful tranquillity the remains of a well-
fpent life. He did not, however, bury himfelf in that
folitude which excludes men from fociety. Fie recei¬
ved at Chelfea, as he had done in London, the vidts of
people of didinction, of all learned foreigners, and of
the royal family, who fometimes did him the honour to
wait on him \ but, what was dill more to hss praiie, he
never refufed admittance or advice to rich or poor who
came to confult him concerning their health. Not con¬
tented with this contrafted method of doing good, he
now', during his retreat, prefented to the public fuch life-
ful remedies as fuccefs had warranted, during the courfe
of a long continued practice. Among thefe is the ef¬
ficacious receipt for didempers in the eyes, and his re¬
medy for the bite of a mad dog.
During the whole courfe of his life, Sir Hans had
lived with fo much temperance, as had preferved him
from feeling the infirmities of old age ^ but in his 90th
year he began to complain of pains, and to be feniible
of an univerfal decay. Fie was often heard to fay, that
the approach of death brought no terrors along with
it ; that he had long expe&ed the droke} and that he
was prepared to receive it whenever the great Author
of his being diould think fit. After a ffiort illnefs of
three days, he died on the nth of January 1752, and
was interred on the 18th at Chelfea, in the fame vault
with his lady, the folemnity being attended with the
greated concourfe of people, of all ranks and conditions,
that had ever been feen before on the like occafion.
Sir Hans being extremely folicilous led his cabinet
of curiofities, which he had taken fo much pains to col¬
let!, drould be again diffipated at his death, and being
at the fame time unwilling that fo large a per ion of
his fortune drould be lod to his children, he bequeathed
it to the public, on condition that 20,oocl. diould be
made good by parliament to his family. This fum,
though large in appearance, was fcarcely more than the
intrindc value of the gold and filver medals, the ores
and precious dones that wrere,found in it; for in his
lad wall he declares, that the fird cod of the whole
amounted at lead to 50,000!. Belides his library, con¬
fiding
(a) This garden was fird edabliffied by the company in 1673 ’ anc^ ^aving after that period been docked by
them with a great variety of plants, for the improvement of botany, Sir Hans, in order to encourage fo ferviceable
an undertaking, granted to the company the inheritance of it, being part of his edate and manor of Chelfea, on
condition that it diould be for ever preferved as a phyfic garden. As a proof of its being fo maintained, he obliged
the company, in confideration of the faid grant, to prefent yearly to the Royal Society, in one of their weekly meet¬
ings, fifty fpecimens of plants that had grown in the garden the preceding year, and which were all to be fpecifi-
cally didinft from each other, until the number of two thoufand ffiould be completed. This number was completed
in the year 1761. In 1733 the company ere£!ed a marble datue of Sir Hans, executed by Rydirac, which is placed
upon a pededal in the centre of the garden, with a Latin infeription, expreffing his donation, and the defign and
advantages of it.
"Sloanc
S L U
II ,Cffi"g.„0^mor' thf 50,000 volumes, 347 of which
Sluice. peie illultrated with cuts finely engraven and coloured
v——' r.om nat|Jre, there were 3560 manuferipts, and an infi-
mte number of rare and curious works of every kind.
1 he parliament accepted the legacy, and fulfilled the
conditions.
SLOANEA, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs
ot polyandna, and order of monogynia 5 and in the na-
tural lyftem ranging under the 50th order, Amentacex.
oee Eotany Index.
SLOE. See Prunus, Botany Index.
SLOOP, a fmall veflel furnilhed with one mad the
main fail oi which is attached to a gaff above, or to the
malt on its foremoft edge, and to a long boom below,
by which it is occafionally fhifted to either quarter. See
Sloop of War, a name given to the fmalleft veffels of
except cutters. They are either rigged as Ihips or
SLOT, in the fportfman’s language, a term ufed to
expreis the mark of the foot of a flag or other animal
proper for the chace in the clay or earth, by which
they are able to guefs when the animal paffed, and
which way he went. The flot, or treading of the
itag is very nicely ftudied on this occafion ; if the
ilot be large, deep printed in the ground, and with
an open cleft, and, added to thefe marks, there is a large
Ipace between mark and mark, it is certain that the flag
is an old one. If there be obferved the flots or tread-
ings of two, the one long and the other round, and both
or one fize, the long fiot is always that of the larger ani¬
mal. T here is alio another way of knowing the old
ones from the young ones by the treading ; which is,
that the hinder feet of the old ones never reach to their
iore feet, whereas thofe of the young ones do.
SLOTH. See Bradypus, Mammalia Index.
SLOUGH, a deep muddy place. The caft Ikin of
a inake, the damp of a coal pit, and the fear of a wound,
are alfo called by the fame appellation. The dough of
a wild boar is the bed, foil, or mire, wherein he wallows,
or m which he lies in the day-time.
SLUCZK, a large and populous town in Poland, in
Lithuania, and capital of a duchy of the fame name j
famous for three battles gained here by Conftantine duke
«f Oftrog over the Tartars, in the reign of Sigifmund I.
It is feated on the river Sluczk, 72 miles fouth-eaft of
Mmfki, and 70 fouth of Novogrodeck. E. Long. 27.
44. N. Lat. 53. 2.
SLUG. See Limax, Helminthology Index.
SLUICE, a frame of timber, ftone, or other matter,
fervmg to retain and raife the water of a river, &c. and
on occafion to let it pafs.
Such is the fiuice of a mill, which flops and colle&s
the water of a rivulet, &c. to let it fall at length in the
greater plenty upon the mill-wheel j fuch alfo are thofe
uied as vents or drains to difeharge water off land. And
fuch -are the fluices of Flanders, &c. which ferve to
prevent the waters of the fea from overflowing the low¬
er lands.
Sometimes there is a kind of canal inclofed between
two gates or duices, in artificial navigations, to fave the
watei, and render the paffage of boats equally eafy and
late, upwards and downwards 5 as in the duices of Bri-
are in France, which are a kind of maflive walls built
parallel to each other, at the diftance of 20 or 24 feet,
[ 406 ]
S M A
Sluice
B
* See Ca.
doled with ftrong gates at each end, between which is
a kind ot^ canal or chamber, confiderably longer than ,1
broad ; wherein a veffel being inclofed, the water is let Smallaee-
out at the firft gate, by which the veffel is raided 1 c or '
16 feet, and palled out of this canal into another much
higher. By luch means a boat is conveyed out of the
Loire into the Seine, though the ground between them
rife above 15c feet higher than either of thofe rivers *. *
. . uices are made different ways, according to the ufcna/.
for which they are intended : when they ferve for navi¬
gation, they are Unit with two gates, prefenling an
angle towards the ftream j when they are made near the
lea, two pair of gates are made, the one to keep the
water out and the ether in, as occafion requires : in this
caie, the gates towards the fea prefent an angle that
way and the others the contrary way •, and the fpace
incloled by thofe gates is called the chamber. When
Unices are made in the ditches of a fortrels, to keep uo
the water in fome parts, inftead of gates, fhutters are
made lo as to Hide up and. down in grooves ; and when
they are made to raife an inundation, they are then {hut
by means of fquare timbers let down in cullifes, fo as to
he clofe and firm.
The word Jluice is formed of the French efclufe, which
Menage derives from the Latin^ exclufa, found in the
Salic law in the fame fenfe. But this is to be reftrained
to the fluices of mills, &c. for as to thofe ferving to raife
veffels, they were wholly unknown to the ancients.
SLUR, in Mufc, a mark like the arch of a circle,
diawn from one note to another, comprehending two
or more notes in the fame or different degrees. It the
notes are in different degrees, it fignifies that they are
all to be fung to one fyllable ; for wind inftruments, that
they are to be made in one continued breath ; and for
{fringed inftruments that are ftruck with a bow, as a
violin, &c.. that they are made with one ftroke. If the
notes are in the fame degree, it fignifies that it is all
one note, to be made as long as the whole notes fo con-
nedfed ; and this happens moft frequently betwixt the
laft note of one line and the firft of the next 5 which is
particularly called fyncopation.
SLUYS, a town of Dutch Flanders, oppofite the
ifland of Cadfand, with a good harbour, 10 miles north
of Bruges, containing 14,000 inhabitants. E. Lono-
3. 25. N. Lat. 51. 19. 0
SMACK, a (mall veffel, commonly rigged as a floop
or hoy, ufed. in the coafting or filhing trade, or as a ten¬
der in the king’s fervice.
SMALAND, or East Gothland, a province of
Sweden, which makes part of Gothland } and is bound¬
ed on the north by Oftrogothia or Eaft Gothland, on
the eaft by the Baltic fea, on the fouth by Schonen
and Bleckingin, and on the weft by Weftrogothia or
Weft Gothland. It is about 112 miles in length, and
62 in breadth. Calmar is the capital town.
SMALKALD, a town of Germany, in Franconia,
and in the county of Henneberg : famous for the con¬
federacy entered into by the German Proteftants againft
the emperor, commonly called the league of Smalka/d.
I he defign of it was to defend their religion and liber¬
ties. It is feated on ehe river Werra, 25 miles fouth-
weft of Erford, and 50 north-weft of Bambere. E.
Long. 10. 53. N. Lat. 50. 49. It is fubjeft to the
prince ofHeffe Caffel.
SMALLAGE. See A film, Botany Index.
SMALT,
S M E [ 407 J S M E
Srn.ik SMALT, a kind of glafs of a davk blue colour,
il which when levigated appears of a molt beautiful co-
,j,ri_.-ton. ^ and if it could be made fufticiently line, would be
an excellent fuccedaneum for ultramarine, as not only
refitting all kinds of weather, but even the moft violent
fires. It is prepared by melting one part of calcined
cobalt with two of flint powder, and one of potafh.
At the bottoms of the crucibles in which the fmalt is
manufactured we generally find a regulns of a whitifh
colour inclined to red, and extremely brittle. This is
melted afrefh, and when cold (eparates into two parts 5
that at the bottom is the cobaltic regulus, which is
employed to make more of the fmalt j the other is Wf-
muth.
SMARAGD1TE, a fpecies of mineral belonging to
the magnefian genus. See Mineralogy, p. 197.
SMARAGDUS, an old name for the emerald. See
Emerald, Mineralogy, p. 159.
SMEA L'ON, John, an eminent civil engineer, was
born the 28th of May 1724, O. S. at Aufthorpe, near
Leeds, in a houfe built by his grandfather, and where
his family have refided ever fince.
The ftrength of his underftanding and the originality
of his genius appeared at an early age 5 his playthings
were not the playthings of children, but the tools which
men employ •, and he appeared to have greater entertain¬
ment in feeing the men in the neighbourhood work,
and afking them queftions, than in any thing elfe. One
day he was feen (to the diftrefs of his family) on the
top of his father’s barn, fixing up fomething like a
windmill; another time, he attended fome men fixing
a pump at a neighbouring village, and obferving them
cut off a piece of bored pipe, he was fo lucky as to pro¬
cure it, and he a&ually made with it a working pump
that raifed water. Thefe anecdotes refer to circumftan-
ces that happened while he was in petticoats, and moft
likely before he attained his fixth year.
About his 14th and 15th year, he made for hirn-
felf an engine for turning, and made feveral pre-
Jents to his friends of boxes in ivory or wood very
neatly turned. He forged his iron and fled, and
melted his metal ; he had tools of every fort for work¬
ing in wood, ivory, and metals. He made a lathe, by
which he cut a perpetual ferew in brafs, a thing little
known at that day, which was the invention of Mr
Henry Hindley of York ; with whom Mr Smeaton
foon became acquainted, and they fpent many a night
at Mr Hindley’s houfe till day-light, converfing on
thofe fubje&s.
_ Thus had Mr Smeaton, by the ftrength of his ge¬
nius and indefatigable induftry, acquired, at the age
of 18, an extenfive fet of tools, and the art of work¬
ing in moft of the mechanical trades, without the af-
fiftance of any mafter. A part of every day was ge¬
nerally occupied in forming fome ingenious piece of me-
chanifm.
Mr Smeaton’s father was an attorney, and defirous
of bringing him up to the fame profeftion ; Mr Smea¬
ton therefore came up to London in 1742, and attend¬
ed the courts in Wefttninfter hall 5 but finding (as his
common ex predion was) that the law did not fuit the
bent ot his genius, he wrote a ftrong memorial to his
iatliei on that fubje<fl ; whole good fenfe from that mo¬
ment leit Mr Smeaton to puifue the bent of his genius
in.his own way. &
In 1751 he began a courfe of experiments to try a Smeaton.
machine of his invention to meafure a fhip’s way at fea, v—
and alio made two voyages in company with Dr Knight
to try it, and a compals of his own invention and ma¬
king, which was made magnetical by Dr Knight’s arti¬
ficial magnets : the fecond voyage was made in the For¬
tune Hoop of war, commanded at that time by Captain
Alexander Campbell.
. In 1753 he was eledled member of the Royal So¬
ciety ; the number of papers publifhed in their Tranf-
abhons will fliovv the univerfality of his genius and-
knowledge. In 1759 he was honoured by an unani¬
mous vote with their gold medal for his paper intitled
“ An Experimental Inquiry concerning the Natural
Powers of Water and Wind to turn Mills, and other
Machines depending on a Circular Motion.”
J his paper, he lays, was the refult of experiments
made on working models in the years 1752 and 1753,
but not communicated to the Society till 1759 j before
which time he had an opportunity of putting the effebt
of thefe experiments into real prablice, in a'variety of
cafes, and for various purpofes, fo as to affure the Soci¬
ety he had found them to anfwer.
In December 1755, the Eddyftone lighthoufe was
burnt down : Mr Wefton, the chief proprietor, and the
others, being defirous of rebuilding it in the moft fub-
ftantial manner, inquired of the earl of Macclesfield
(then prefident of the Royal Society) whom he thought
the moft proper to rebuild it; his Lordlliip recommend¬
ed Mr Smeaton.
Mr Smeaton undertook the Work, and completed it
in the fummer. of 1759. Of this Mr Smeaton gives an
ample defeription in the volume he publifhed in 1791 :
that edition has been fold fome time ago, and a fecond is •
now in the prefs, under the revifal of his much efteemed
friend Mr Aubert, F. R. S. and governor of the Lon¬
don affurance corporation.
Though Mr Smeaton completed the building of the
Eddyftone lighthoufe in 1759 (a work that does him fo
much credit) yet it appears he did not foon get into
full bufinefs as a civil engineer ; but in 1764, while in
Yorkfhire, he offered himfelf a candidate for one of
the receivers of the Derwentwater eftate , and on the
31ft of December in that year, he was appointed at a
full board of Greenwich bofpital, in a manner highly
flattering to himfelf ^ when two other perfons ftronply
recommended and powerfully fuppoited were candidates •
for the employment. In this appointment he was very
happy, by the afliftance and abilities of his partner Mr
W alton one of the receivers, who taking upon himfelf
the management and accounts, left Mr Smeaton leifure
and opportunity to exert his abilities on public works, as
well as to make many improvements in the mills and in
the ellates of Greenwich hofpital. By the year 177^ he
had fo much bufinefs as a civil engineer, that he wiftied
to refign this appointment j and would have done it
then, had not his friend the late Mr Stuart the hofpi¬
tal furveyor, and Mr Ibbetfon their fecretary, prevailed
upon him to continue in the office about two years
longer.
. ^Ir Smeaton having now got into full bufinefs as a
civil engineer, performed many works of general utili¬
ty. fie made the river Calder navigable j a work that
required great ikill and judgement, owing to the very
impetuous floods in that river ; He planned and at¬
tended-'
S M E r 4n
^Tmn- ‘ended the execution of the great canal in Scotland for
conveying the trade of the country either to the Atlan¬
tic or German ocean ; and having brought it to the
place originally intended, he declined a handfome year¬
ly ialary, in order that he might attend to the multipli¬
city ot his other bufinefs.
On the opening of the great arch at London bridge,
the excavation around and under the fterlings was fo
confiderable, that the bridge was thought to be in
great danger of falling. He was then in Yorkfhire,
and was fent for by exprefs, and arrived with the ut-
xnoft difpatch : “ I think (fays Mr Holmes, the au¬
thor or ins Ide) it was on a Saturday morning, when
the apprehenfion of the bridge was fo general that few
would pafs over or under it. He applied himfelf im¬
mediately to examine it, and to found about the tferlings
as minutely as he could ; and the committee being call¬
ed together, adopted his advice, which was to repur-
chale the Hones that had been taken from the middle
pier, tnen lying in Moorfields. and to throw them into
the river to guard the fterlings.” Nothing (hows the
apprehenfions concerning the falling of the bridge more
than the alacrity with which this advice was purfued •
the ftones were repurchafed that day, horfes, carts, and’
barges were got ready, and they began the work on
ounday morning. Thus Mr Smeaton, in all human
probability, faved London bridge from falling, and fe-
cured it till more effeclual methods could be taken.
-*■ vaft variety of mills rvhich Mr Smeaton con-
itrucfed, fo greatly to the fatisfa£lion and advantage of
the owners, will fhow the great ufe which he made of
ms experiments in 1752 and 1753 ; for he never trufted
to tueory in any cafe where he could have an opportu¬
nity to mveftigate it by experiment. He built a fleam
engine at Aufthorpe, and made experiments thereon,
purpofely to afcertain the power of Newcomen’s fleam-
engine, which he improved and brought to a greater
degree of perfediion, both in its conllru&ion and powers
than it xvas before.
Mr Smeaton during many years of his life was a
frequent attendant on parliament, his opinion being con¬
tinually called for ; and here his ftrength of judgement
and perfpicuity of expreffion had its full d'ifplay : it
was his conftant cuftorn, when applied to, to plan or
nip port any meafure, to make himfelf fully acquainted
with it, to fee its merits before he would engage in it :
by this caution, added to the clearnefs of his defcrip-
tion and the integrity of his heart, he feldom failed to
obtain for the bill which he fupported an aft of parlia¬
ment. No one was heard with more attention, nor had
any one ever more confidence placed in his teftimony.
In the courts of law he had feveral compliments paid
him u om the bench by Lord Mansfield and others, for
the new light which he threw on difficult fubjefls.
About the year 1785 Mr Smeaton’s health began to
decline ; and he then took the refolution to endeavour
to avoid all the bufinefs he could, fo that he might
have leifure to publifh an account of his inventions and
works, which was certainly the firft wifh of his heart j
for he has often been heard to fay, that “ he thought
he could not render fo much fervice to his country as
by doing that.” He got only his account of the E<L
dyftone lighthoufe completed, and fome preparations to
Ins intended Treatife on Mills j for he could not refill
the felicitations of his friends in various works : and
§ 1 _ s M E
foa fhnfen’ ^ 21;d re]Itaed> be- Smeaton
mg chofen chairman 0f Ramfgate harbour, prevailed II
upon him to accept the place ot engineer to that har- ,Smelllng-
n"r ' qnd 1° their j°Int efforts the public is chiefly in-
Or the imnrnTr^m^tntr* +1.^4. L  1 ,
ir. 1 r .1 . ^ —11-c jJUUUC IS CMetlV 111-
oebted for the improvements that have been made (here
wuhm thele lew years, which fully appears in a report
that Mr Smeaton gave in to the board of truftees in
1791, which they immediately pubKfhed
Mr Smeaton being at Aufthorpe, walking in his gar-
tlmn'lf ^ °! ,SePtember was iliuck with
the pa fy, and died the 28th of October. “ Jn his ill
nefs (lays Mr Holmes) I had feveral letters from him
figned with his name, but written and figned bv ano-
htm^d h ^ T ,°-f them fll°Wed that the ftrength
h|s m.nd had no left him. In one written the 26th
of September, after_ minutely deferibing his health and
feelings, he fays, “ in confequence of the foregoing I
conclude myfelf nine-tenths dead j and the greatelf fa¬
vour the Almighty can do me (as I think), will be to
complete the other part ; but as it is likely to be a lin¬
gering ftlnefs, it is only in His power to fay when that
is likely to happen.”
Mr Smeaton had a warmth of expreflion that might
appear to thofe who did not know him well to border
on harlhnefs j but thole more intimately acquainted with
turn knew it arofe from the intenfe application of his
mind, which was always in the purfuit of truth or en
gaged m inveftigating difficult fabjefts. He would"
ometimes break out haftily, when any thing was faid
that did not tally with his ideas ; and he would not
gwe up any thing he argued for, till his mind was con¬
vinced by found reafoning.
In all the focial duties of life he was exemplary : he
was a moft affedionate huffiand, a good father, a warm
zealous, and fincere fneEd, always ready to affift thofe
he refpedled, and often before it was pointed out to
him m what way he could ferve them. He was a lover
and encourager of merit whatever he found it ; and
many men are in a great meafure indebted to his af-
intance. and advice for their prefent fituation. As a
companion, he was always entertaining and inftruaive •
and none could fpend any time in his company without
improvement.
SMELL ; this word has in moft languages two
meanings, fignifying either that fenfation of mind of
wmch we are confeious, in confequence of certain im-
preuions made on the noftfils, and conveyed to the
brain by the olfaftory nerves ; or that unknown virtue
or quality in bodies, which is the caufe of our fenfations
of imell.
SMELLING is the aft by which we perceive
fine]Is, or become fenfible of the prefence of odorous
bodies. The fenfations of fmell are excited by certain
effiuvia, which, in the open air, are always iffuing from
the surfaces of moft bodies, and ftriking on the extre-
mities of the obaclory nerves, give them a peculiar fort
ot impreliion, which is communicated to the brain. The
particles which iffue thus from bodies are extremely vo-
latrie and produce fenfation by a degree of contaft
which, though infenfible, is ftill more efficient than if
it were more grofs and palpable. It is by a fimrar
V!*£rS,0,1 *nben^b^e contaft that the eves and ears are*
affected by external objefts ; whilft, in the excitation
of the fenfations of touch and of tafte, an affoal and
fenfible contaft of the objeft with the organ is necef-
iary.
S M E
Smelling, fary. The organs of fmelling are the noftrils and olfac-
v tory nerves; the minute ramifications of the latter be¬
ing diftributed throughout the whole concavity of the
former. For a defcription of thefe, fee Anatomy.
The effluvia from odorous bodies are conftantly floating
about in the atmofphere, and muft of courfe be drawn into
the noftrils along with the air in infpnation j “ fo that
there is,” as Dr Reid obferves, “ a manifeft appearance
of defign in placing the organ of fmell in the infide of
that canal, through which the air is continually paffing
in infpiration and expiration.” It has been affirmed by
Boerhaave, that the matter in animals, vegetables, fof-
fils, &c. which chiefly affeffs the fenfe of fmelling, is
that attenuated fubftance, inherent in their oily parts,
called fpirits; becaufe, when this is taken away from
the moft fragrant bodies, what remains has fcarcely any
fmell at all 5 but this, he fays, if poured on the molt
* See alfo inodorous bodies, gives them a fragrancy *. We can-
Drum- not, however, enter at prefent upon this inquiry.
T(lemf/afCa~ ^ ^as a c^°^e adiance with that of
&uefilms, ta^e ’ and ^ feems probable from the proximity in the
voi. i. book fituation of their organs in all animals, that both are
ch <>. principally intended to guide them in the choice of
their food \ fo that from this clofe connexion, they are
better enabled to choofe wdiat is good for them, and to
rejeft what would be injurious. This is the opinion of
Dr Reid, as it was, in a very early period of the hiftory
of philofophy, that of Socrates and of Cicero (a).
Dr Reid alfo remarks, that the fenfe of fmell probably
ferves the fame purpofe in the natural date of man ; but
it is not always a fure guide for this purpofe. The or¬
gan* of fmell differ, like thofe of the other fenfes, ac¬
cording to the detiination of the animals to which they
belong j and wTe know, that this fenfe is in man much
lefs acute, than it is in many other animals. We fee,
that in the choice of their food, they are guided by the
fenfes of fmell and of tafle, except when man has brought
them into a fort of unnatural date by domeflication.
And this circumflance renders it probable, that both
thefe fenfes were intended to ferve the fame purpofe in
the natural dare of our fpecies, although lefs calculated
for this end than they are in the brutes, on account of
the great fuperiority of their fmelling organs. Befides,
fince it is probable that man, in the natural date, aids
more by inflimd than when civilized in fociety, fo alfo it
is reafonable to think, that he may poflefs fome of the fenfes,
(this of fmell for inflance), in greater acutenefs than we
do. This indeed, we are alfured to be a faid ; for we
Vol. XIX. Part II.
[ 409 1
S M E
are told, in the Hifloire des Antilles, that there are ns- Smelling*
groes who, by the fmell alone, can diffinguilh the foot--v—'
deps of a Frenchman from thofe of a negro.
The fenfe of fmell is much more obtufe in man than
in fome of the lower animals. Dogs we know poflefs a
power of fmelling, of which we can fcarcely form a
conception, and which, it is happy for us we do not pof-
fefs (b) 5 and birds of prey are faid to poflefs this fenfe
in dill greater acutenefs. But although this be more
perfeid, dill the fenfe of fmelling in man, who has other
means of judging of his food, &c. is fuch as to fit him for
deriving enjoyment from a diverfity of fcents, particularly
tlfofe of flowers and perfumes, to which dogs and other
animals feem perfe&ly infenfible. It has been faid, we
are aware, that fome animals, the elephant for inflance,
are capable of this enjoyment (c). 3 but of this fad we
cannot help being very doubtful.
There is a very great fympathy between the organs
of fmell and of tade 3 for any defed or difeafe of one is
generally attended with fome correfponding defed or
difeafe of the other. There is alfo a greater fimilarity
between the fenfations of both thefe, than between thole
of any other two fenfes : and hence it is, that we can
fometimes tell the tade of an objed from its fmell, and
vice verfa. Hence alfo the reafon why we apply the
fame epithets to the names of both thefe clafles of fenfa¬
tions 3 as a fweet fmell or tafte, &c.
It deferves alfo to be remarked, that both thefe fenfes
feem fubfervient to the prefervation of the animal exid-
ence, rather than to any other purpofe. They accord¬
ingly conditute an objed of the natural hidory of man,
rather than of intelledual or of moral philofophy. The
other three fenfes, on the contrary, feem rather intend¬
ed for (as they certainly are eflential to) our intellec¬
tual improvement, and become, of courfe, a proper ob¬
jed of inveftigation in the fciences of moral philofophy,
or metaphyfics.
The advantages derived by man and the other ani¬
mals from the fenfe of fmelling are not confined to the
aflidance which it affords them in the choice of their
food. Mod bodies in nature, when expofed to the open
air, are conflantly fending forth emanations or effluvia
of fuch extreme minutenefs as to be perfedly invifible.
Thefe diffufe themfelves through the air, and however
noxious or falutary, would not be perceived without the
fenfe of fmelling, which if not vitiated by unnatural
habits, is not only a faithful monitor w’hen danger is at
hand, but conveys to us likewife the mod exquifite
3 pledures
(a) “ Ut guflus (fays a learned phyfiologid) cibi itineri, fie olfadus odio viarum, quas aer fubire debet cuftos
'praeponitur, momturus ne quid noxii, via qum femper patet, in corpus admittatur. Porro, ut guflus, fie quoque ol-
lactus ad ialutarem cibum invitat, rl noxio aut corrupto, putrido imprimis vel rancido, deterret.”
“ When thou feeft the mouth, through which animals take in whatever they defire, always placed near the nofe
Memorable^boof ,10t’ ^ S°CrateS t0 Ariftodemus> that ^ is the work of a providence.” Xenophon’s
(B) “ The exceffive eagernefs which dogs exprefs on fmelling their game, feems to be but little conneded with
e appetite for food pud wholly independent of any preconceived ideas of the objeds of their purfuit being fit for
wh,VWT!CerfeV!rr1 kmdS of.them7l11 noteat the game which they purfue with fuch wild impetuofity 3 and of
Knight on Xafte ^ ammate thcm t0 3 degree °f ecftafy far bcyond wllat the defire of f°od can produce.”
videiUtwfih aSliniani'malftt0 natura¥.s 'Perfume is fo agreeable and fo neceffary, that nature has pro-
v “ °" prct£"d’(fays "t.e
S M E [ 410 J SHE
Siselling.
pleafures. The fragrance of a role, and of many other
flowers, is not only pleafant, bnt gives a refrefliing
and delightful flimulus to the whole lyftem, whilft the
odours proceeding from hemlock, or any noxious vege¬
table, or other fubftance, are highly offenfive to our
noftrils. Hence we are naturally led to feek the one
clafs of fenfations, and to avoid the other.
In fame fpecies of animals the fenfe of fmell feems to
be connefled with certain mental fympathies, as thofe
of hearing and fight are in all that poflefs them in any
high degree : for not only their fexual defires appear to
be excited by means of it, but other inftintlive paflions,
which, according to the ufual fyftem of nature, flrould
be ftill more remote from its influence. Hogs, although
wholly unacquainted with lions, will fhudder at their
roar 5 and an elephant that has never feen a tiger, will
in the fame manner fliow the firongeft fymptoms of
horror and aflxight at the fmell of it. “ The late Lord
Clive (fays an ingenious writer), exhibited a combat
between two of thefe animals at Calcutta; but the fcent
of the tiger had fuch an effeft upon the elephant, that
nothing could either force or allure him to go along
the road, where the cage in which the tiger was inclof-
ed, had paffed, until a gallon of arack was given him.
Upon this, his horror fuddenly turning into fury, he
broke down the paling to get at his enemy, and killed
him without difficulty.”
If riding along a road, near which a dead horfe, or
part of its carcafs, happens to be lying, w^e know', that
our horfe, although he fees it not, cannot be made to
pals the place but wfith difficulty. Where blood has
been flied, particularly that of their own fpecies, oxen
•will affemble, and upon fmelling it, roar and bellow',
and (how the moft manifeft figns of horror and diftrefs.
And yet thefe fymptoms could not arife from any af-
fbciated notions of -danger or death, fince they appear
in. fuch as never had any opportunities of acquiring
them. They muft therefore be inftinflive, like other
inftinftive antipathies and propenfities. But although
in their mutual intercourfe, animals make much ufe of
the fenfe of fmell, Bill it does not feem to be further
(concerned in exciting their fexual defires, than in indi¬
cating their objeff.
Some of thofe fplenetic philofophers, who art ready
npon all occafions to quarrel wfith the conftitution of
nature, have taken the liberty of condemning their
Maker, becaufe it has pleafed bis unfathomable wifdom
to beftow7 in fome inftances upon the brutes fenfes and
infiin&s more perfeft than he has given to man, with¬
out reflefting that he has given to man an ample equi¬
valent ; for it may be alked with the poet,
41 Is not his reafon all thele powers in one ?
<f Is Heaven unkind to man and man alone ?
u Shall he alone, whom rational we cal],
■“ Be pleafed with nothing if not bleffed with all.”
With refpefl to that unknown peculiarity of bodies,
which is the caufe of cur fenfetions of fmell, the opinions
of philofophers have been very various. Until of late,
the doclrine of Defcartes and Locke on this fubjedt w7as
pretty generally received.; but, fince the publication of
Ho61or Reid’s works, his opinion, which wre deem the
moft corredl and fatisfaflory, has become very popular.
We will endeavour to abridge his account of this matter.
For this purpofe, let us fuppofe.a perfon, who has grown
up without the fenfe of fmell, to be immediately endowed Smelling*
wnth the ufe of this organ, and placed near fome flow'ds —~‘J
of an exquifite favour. When he examines what he feels
in fuch a fituation, he can find no refemblance between
this new fenfation and any thing with which he is alrea¬
dy acquainted. He finds himfelf unable to explain its
nature, and cannot aferibe to it figure, extenfion, or any
known property of matter. It is a Ample affe&ion, or
feeling, of mind, and, confidered abftraaedly, can have
no neceflary conneftion wfith the nerves, the noftrils, or
effluvia, or with any thing material whatever. By the
nature of his conftitution he is, however, led to refer this
peculiar fenfation to the noftrils, as its organ ; and when,
from experience, and by means of touch, he learns that
external objefts have the power of exciting this fenfation,
he concludes, that there muft exift in bodies fome un¬
known! caufe by which it is excited. In the firft part of
this procefs he confiders the feeling, or fenfation, abftraft-
edly. As fuch it exilts in the mind only ; and cannot
exift there but when the mind is confcious of it. His
confcioufnefs foon enables him to diftinguilh different
forts of fmells, all of them very diftindl from one another j
but, conformably to the nature of all fenfation, extreme¬
ly Ample. He concludes, that each of thefe mull have
a diftimR caufe ; and finding, by experience, that this
caufe is an unknown fomet-hing in bodies, he concludes,
that it muft be a property of matter, and, for want of
another, gives it the name of fmell. When he removes
an odorous body from the organ, the fenfation vanifhes:
when the body is again applied, the fenfation is excited :
and hence it is, that he i$ led naturally to conneft the
fenfation with this unknown! peculiarity of bodies by
which it is produced. But fince we fee, that the fenfa¬
tion is, in a great degree, related to other objecls befides
its unknown caufe, to the mind in which it exifts, for in-
ffance, and to the organ which is its inilrument, it may
be afked wffiy it becomes aflociated in the mind with its
caufe only ? The reafon feems pretty obvious. No An¬
gle fenfation or clafs of fenfations, is more connedled w'ith
the mind, than any others of which it is fufceptible.
Nor is the conneftion fubfifting between the organ and
any of the fenfations peculiar to it greater than that
which fubfifts between it and every other fenfation of
which it is the inlet. Hence the connexion between
the fmell of an orange and the mind, or between it and
the noftrils, is very general, and cannot, in the former
inftance, diftinguilh it from any other fenfation of what¬
ever kind, nor, in the latter from any other particular
fmell. But the connexion between this fenfation and
the orange is peculiar and permanent; and we according¬
ly find them always affociated in the mind, juft as we affo-
ciate the notion of fire with the fenfation of burning.
The relation which a fenfation of fmell, or any fenfation,
bears to the mind, to an organ, or to the memory and
conception of itfelf, is common to all fenfations. The
relation which any fenfation bears to its own caufe, fup-
pofe of the fenfation of fmell to a particular virtue or
quality of bodies, is common to it with every other fenfa¬
tion, when confidered with refpeft to its peculiar caufe.
And finally, a fenfation of any kind bears the fame fort
of relation to the memory and conception of itfelf, that
any other feeling or operation of mind bears to the con¬
ception and memory of that particular feeling or opera¬
tion.
Whatever then be the natufe of the minute particles
of
S M E
[ 411 ]
S M E
Smdung. of bodies by nliich ouv fenfalions of fmell are excited,
^ — v~ we cannot help conlidering tlieir unknown caufe as a
virtue or quality of matter. Like all other modifica¬
tions of material fubfiance, it mutt be confefied, that this
can have no refemblance to the fenfations of mind. But
we are not, therefore, to conclude with the followers of
Des Cartes and Locke, that this tecondary quality is a
mere fenfation ; efpecially as we can readily conceive it
cxilting where it is not fmelled, or even after fuppofing
the annihilation of every fentient being throughout the
univerfe. The exiftence of the fenfation we know to be
momentary and fugitive ; but in the exitlence of its caufe
wre can, without difficulty, or inconfiftency, conceive a
permanency independent of mind and of its fenfations.
The doftrine we have been illuftrating has of late
been called in queftion by a fceptical writer, who, it ap¬
pears to us, has upon this occafion been entirely deficient
in bis accuftomed acutenefs. Dr Reid’s account of this
affair feems fo full, fo clear and convincing, that we are
at a lofs to conceive how his meaning can be mifunder-
ffood ; and yet the arguments and objeftions of the wri¬
ter to whom we allude, derive all their plaufibility from
a mifinterpretation of Dr Reid’s meaning, and from a
deviation from the eftabliffied ufe of language, “ An
* Dr Reid, eminent metaphyfician * (fays this author) has declared
that he has not the lead: difficulty in conceiving the air
perfumed" with aromatic odours in the deferts of Arabia ;
and he has decided, that the man who maintains i’mells
to exiff only in the mind, mull be mad, or muff abufe
language and difgrace pbilofophy. There are fome au¬
thors, neverthelefs, who differ widely on this fubjedf
from the learned metaphyfician. Is it poffible for a fen¬
fation to exiff: where there is no fentient ? The authors
to whom I allude think it impoffible.” And fo, we
may tell this learned author, does Dr Reid, if he will
take his word for it. Of'the fenfation of fmell lie re¬
marks : “ It is indeed impoffible, that it can be in any
body : it is a fenfation •, and a fenfation can be in a fen-
f R,id's In- lirent thjn§ onI7 f ” Again, “ I can think of the fmell
i/uirv, ell. 3 r°fe when I do not fmell it; and it is poffible that
when I think of it there is no rofe any where exiffing ;
but, when I fmell it, I am neceffarily determined to be¬
lieve that the fenfation really exilis. This is common
to all fenfations, that, as they cannot exijl hut in being
perceived, fo they cannot be perceived but they muff
exiff f.” But, continues this acute metaphyfician, “ a
fmell is nothing elfe than a fenfation. It is a feeling,
which may be agreeable or difagreeable which may, as
fome think, be excited by various combinations of ele¬
ments ; but which, fince it is a feeling, cannot be thofe
elements which are faid to caufe it, and cannot exiff
where there is no creature to perceive it. What is to
be underftood, in philofophical ffridtnefs, by the per¬
fume* of the defert ? We can excufe the poet when he
makes the ocean fmile *, the winds dance f, and the
flowers refpire' J ; or even were he to perfume the de-
{ f]J0mr0/l ®ut; tta philofopher is no fuch magician, and had
better not wander, through the regions of fancy in fearch
of fenfations where there is no fentient.” And is it then
true that the .word fmell means only a fenfation ? A fen¬
fation is no more than an effeft 5 it is a tranfient modifi¬
cation of the mind, which the mind itfelf can never pro¬
duce. It muff then have fome caufe which is external
to tne mind. Now, it is to this caufe, and not to the
feufatiQn, tuat the name^/zBe// is moft frequently applied
ii. fed. 2.
1 Ibid cli.
ii. fed. 3.
* Milton.
f Cowley.
in all languages ; and it is this caufe which Dr Reid fup- Smelling-
pofes capable of exifting in the deferts of Arabia, where —-y——
there is no fentient being to perceive it. But let us hear
himfelf: “ We have confidered Imell as fignifying a
fenfation, feeling, or impreffion upon the mind 5 and in
this fenfe it can only be in a mind or fentient being :
but it is evident that mankind give the name of f?nell
much more frequently to fomething which they con¬
ceive to be external, and to be a quality of body ; they
underhand by it fomething which does not at all infer a
mind, and have not the leaft difficulty in conceiving the
air perfumed with aromatic odours in the deferts of
Arabia, or in fome uninhabited ifiand where the human
foot never trod “ The faculty of fmelling is fome- * Inquiry,
thing very different from the actual fenfation of fmell- See. ch. li,
ing ; for the faculty may remain when we have no fen- S‘
fation. And the mind is no lefs different from the fa*
culty, for it continues the fame individual being when
that faculty is loft. What is fmell in the rofe ? It is a
quality or virtue of the rofe, or of fomething proceeding
from it, which we perceive by the fenfe of fmelling j
and this is all we know of the matter. But what is
fmelling ? It is an a£t of the mind, but is never imagined
to be a quality of the mind. Again, the fenfation of
fmelling is conceived to infer neceifarily a mind of fen¬
tient being; but fmell in the rofe infers no fuch thing.
We fay, this body fmells fweet and that flinks 5 but we
do not fay, this mind fmells fweet and that funks; there¬
fore, fmell in the rofe, and the fenfation which it caufes,
are not conceived, even by the vulgar, to be things of
the fame kind, although they have the fame name -r.”
There are fome other remarks on Dr Reid’s opinion 1
in the work upon v^hich we have been commenting,
which we {hall pafs by ; we may, however, notice the
author’s concluding argument : after mentioning fome
examples, he obferves, “ Now in thefe inftances wye fee
men and animals that muff have perception of fmell, if
I may be permitted to fay fo, altogether different from
each other. Is not fmell fenfation when the fpaniel finds
fport in the field for his mafter ; when the {hark pur-
fues through the ocean its expefted viftim ; and when
the camel condiuffs the thirfty wanderer to a fountain of
freffi water acroff the burning fands of the Arabian de-
feit ? If no animal bad the fenfation of fmell, there
would be no odour; for aroma and oils may be thought
to be material compofitions, but are neither agreeable
nor difagreeable feelings.” If men and animals differ in
their perceptions of fmell, (and no doubt, difference oi
organization will caufe them to do fo) the conclufion
ftiould not be, we think, that fmell is merely fenfation,
biu that there is a (finally fomething external which is
Re caufe of their fenfations, and about which they differ.
A rofe put to the noftrils of a man and then to thofe of
a dog, may excite very different fenfations; but we can¬
not think that the peculiarity of the rofe, which excites
thefe diffe rent fenfations, varies by thus changing the
pofition of the. rofe. If at table one perfon miftakes
mutton for beef, and another thinks that it is venifon,
the conclufion may be, that it is neither venifon nor
beef; but no man in his fenfes can conclude that there
is no meat at the table. But, “ is not fmell fenfation
when the fpaniel finds fport for his mafter in the field ?”
I here is fenfation no doubt; but we may be permitted
to a Ik, what would become of the fpaniel’s fenfation of
fmell and of his mailer’s fport, were there no game in
3 F 3 the
f Ibid. Itch
S M E [4!
^Smelling, > \y]5at 0f the fhark’s fenfabon of fmell and
— v purfuit, were there no victim in the ocean ? and what
of the camel and the thiilly wanderer, were there no
fountain of freih water in the Arabian deferts ? “ The
fmell of a rofe fignifies two things, fays Dr Reid ; F/ry?,
A fenfation which can have no exiflence but when it is
or mind,
virtue in
the rofe, or in effluvia proceeding from it, which hath a
permanent exiftence independent of the mind j and
which, by the conflitution of nature, produces the fen¬
fation in us. Ey the original conflitution of our nature
we are both led to believe that there is a permanent
caufe of the fenfation, and prompted to feek after it j
and experience determines us to place it in the rofe. The
names of all fmells, taftes, founds, as well as heat and
cold, have a like ambiguity in all languages 5 but it de-
ferves our attention, that thefe names are but rarely, in
Common language, ufed to fignify the fenfations 5 for the
mofl part, they iignify the external qualities which are
* Inquiry, indicated by the fenfations We have been induced
diap. ii. t]lus difeufs this topic at fome length, becaufe we re¬
gretted to fee Dr Reid’s opinion and reafoning mifrepre-
fented; and wre fhall now conclude, not as this modern
Berkleian does, “ that, if no animal had the fenfation
of fmell, there would be no odour j” but, that if there
were no odour or external caufe of fmell, no animal
would have this fenfation.
The fenfe of fmell becomes fometimes too acute,
either in confequence of fome defedl or difeafe of the
organ, or from too great a fenfibility of the whole ner¬
vous fyftem, fuch as we fometimes obferve in fevers, in
phrenitis, and in hyllerical difeafes. It is however more
frequently blunted in confequence of affedlions of the
brain and nerves, arifing from blows on the head, or
from internal caufes; or this may happen on account of
too great a drynefs of the organ, owing to a fuppreflion
of the accuftomed humours, or to their being conveyed
off by fome other channel : or it may arife from too
great a quantity of tears and of mucus choaking up the
noftrils. We have inftances of both in cafes of common
cold, in wdiich, at the beginning of the difeafe, the nof¬
trils are dry, but as it advances, begin to difeharge a
great deal of humour, or become obrtrufted by a thick
mucus. Whatever hinders the free entrance of the air
into the nolirils or its paffage through them, mull alfo
injure the fenfe of fmell. It is alfo fometimes fo de¬
praved as to perceive fmells when there is no odorous
body prefent, or to perceive fmells different from thofe
that are really prefent. Some of the particles of the
pdorous effluvia, after having remained for fome time in
the caverns of the noftrils, iffuing forth again and affedl-
ing the organ, will fometimes caufe this fpecies of falfe
perception, even in the mofl healthy perfons.
The fenfe of fmelling may be dlminifhed or deftroy-
ed by difeafes; as by the moifture, drynefs, inflamma¬
tion, or fuppuration of the olfadtory membrane, the com-
preffion of the nerves which fupply it, or fome fault in
the brain itfelf at their origin. A defeat, or too great
a degree of folidity of the imall fpongy bones of the up¬
per jaw, the caverns of the forehead, &c. may likewife
impair this fenfe j and it may be alfo injured by a col¬
lection of fetid matter in thefe caverns, which is conti-
nuallv exhaling from them, and alfo by immoderate ufe
of fnuff. When the nofe abounds with moifture, after
perceived, and can only be in a feniient being
SeconJhj, It fignifies fome power, quality, or
2 ] SMI .
gentle evacuations, fuch things as tend to take off irri- Smelling
tation and coagulate the thin fharp ferum may be ap- [I
plied \ as the oil of anife mixed with fine flour, cam- ,
phor diffolved in oil of almonds, &c. the vapours of am¬
ber, frankincenfe, gum-maflic, and benjamin, may like¬
wife be received into the nofe and mouth. For moift-
ening the mucus when it is too dry, fome recommend
fnuff made of the leaves of marjoram, mixed with oil of
amber, marjoram, and anifeed j or a flernutatory of cal¬
cined white vitriol, twelve grains of which may be mix¬
ed with two ounces of marjoram water and filtrated.
The fleam of vinegar upon hot iron, and received up
the noftrils, is alfo of ufe for foftening the mucus, re¬
moving obftruCtions, &c. If there be an ulcer in the
nofe, it ought to be dreffed with fome emollient oint¬
ment, to which, if the pain be very great, a little lau¬
danum msy be added. If it be a venereal ulcer, 12
grains of corrofive fublimate may be diffolved in a pint
and a half of brandy, a table fpoonful of which may be
taken twice a day. The ulcer ought likewife to be
wafhed with it, and the fumes of cinnabar may be re¬
ceived up the noftrils.
If there be reafon to fufpeft that the nerves wfflich fup¬
ply the organs of fmelling are inert, or want ftimulating,
volatile falls, or ftrong fnuffs, and other things which oc-
cafion fneezing, may be applied to the nofe $ the fore¬
head may likewife be anointed with balfam of Peru, to
which may be added a little oil of amber.
SMELT. See Salmo, Ichthyology Index.
SMELTING, in Metallurgy, the fufion or melting
of the ores of metals, in order to feparate the metalline
part from the earthy, ftony, and other parts. See ORES,
ReduBion of.
SMEW. See Mergus, Ornithology Index.
SMILAX, rough bindweed, a genus of plants be¬
longing to the clafs of dicecia and order of hexandria ;
and in the natural fyftem ranging under the nth or¬
der, Sarmentaceee. See Botany, and Materia Me¬
dic a Index.
SMITH, Sir Thomas, w’as born at Walden in Ef-
fex in 1512. At 14 he wras fent to Queen’s college
Cambridge, where he diftinguithed himfelf fo much,
that he was made Henry VIII.’s fcholar together with
John Cheke. He w7as chofen a fellow of his col¬
lege in 1531, and appointed two years after to read
the public Greek le&ure. The common mode of read¬
ing Greek at that time wras very faulty j the fame found
being given to the letters and diphthongs, <, », v, tt, oi, tu.
Mr Smith and Mr Cheke had been for fome time fenfible
that this pronunciation wras wrong : and after a good
deal of confultation and refearch, they agreed to intro¬
duce that mode of reading which prevails at prefent.
Mr Smith was le&uring on Ari/lotle de Republica in
Greek. At firft he dropped a word or two at'intervals
in the new pronunciation, and fometimes he would
flop as if he had committed a miftake and correCf him¬
felf. No notice was taken of this for two or three
days \ but as he repeated more frequently, his audience
began to wonder at the unufual founds, and at laft fome
of his friends mentioned to him w7hat they had remark¬
ed. He owned that fomething was in agitation, but
that it was not yet fnfficiently digefted to be made pub¬
lic. They entreated him earneftly to dffcover his pro-
jedt : he did fo •, and in a Ihort time great numbers re-
forted to him for information, The new pronunciation
w’as
SMI [ 413 ] SMI
Smith, was adopted with enthufiafm, and foon became univerfal from him, which he amply repaid. “ To pofterity par- Smith,
at Cambridge. It was afterwards oppofed by Bithop haps his prints (fays Mr Walpole) wall carry an idea of
Gardiner the chancellor 5 but its fuperiority to the old fomething burlefque j perukes of an enormous length '^al£°le s
mode was fo vilible, that in a lew years it fpread over ail flowing over fuits of armour, compofe wonderful habits. 0fE?igra-
England. It is equally flrange that fafhion could introduce the^err.
In 1539 he travelled into foreign countries, and flu- one, and eltablifli the pra£tice of reprefenting the other
died for lome time in the univerfliies of France and Ita- when it was out of fafliion. Smith excelled in exhibi-
ly. Oa his return he was made regius profeffor of ci¬
vil law at Cambridge. About this time he puolilhed a
treatife on the mode of pronouncing Englifh. He was
ufeful likewife in promoting the reformation. Having
gone into the family of the duke of Somerfet, the pro-
teftor during the minority of Edward VI. he was eim
ployed by that nobleman in public affairs} and in 1548
was made fecretary of ftate, and received the honour of
knighthood. While that nobleman continued in office,
he was fent ambaffador, firft to Brulfels and afterwards to
France.
Upon Mary’s acceffion he loft all his places, but was
fortunate enough to preferve the friendffiip of Gardiner
and Bonner. He was exempted from perfecution, and
was allowed, probably by their influence, a penfion of
look During Elizabeth’s reign he w’as employed in
public affairs, and was fent three times by that prin-
cefs as her ambaffador to France. He died in 1577.
His abilities were excellent, and his attainments un¬
commonly great : He was a philofopher, a phyfician, a
chemift, mathematician, linguiit, hiftorian, and architeft.
He wrote, 1. A treatife called the Englifh Common*
•wealth. 2. A letter De Recta et Emendata Linguce Gne-
cce Pronunciatione. 3. De Moribus Turcarum. 4. De
Druidum Moribus.
Smith, Edmund, an Engliffi poet, the only fon of
Mr Neale an eminent merchant, by a daughter of Ba¬
ron Lechmere, was born in 1668. By his father’s death
he was left young to the care of Mr Smith, who had
married his father’s After, and who treated him with fo
much tendernefs, that at the death of his generous guar¬
dian he affumed his name. His writings are not many,
and thofe are fcattered about in mifcellanies and collec¬
tions : his celebrated tragedy of Phaedra and Hippolitus
was a&ed in 1707 ; and being introduced at a time
when the Italian opera fo much engroffed the polite
wrorld, gave Mr Addifon, who wrote the prologue, an
opportunity to rally the vitiated tafte of the public.
However, notwithftanding the efteem it has always
been held in, it is perhaps rather to be confidered as a
Ane poem than as a good play. This tragedy, with a
Poem to the memory of Mr John Philips, three or four
Odes, with a Latin oration fpoken at Oxford in lau~
detn Thomce Bodleii, were publiftied as his works by
his friend Mr Oldifworth. Mr Smith died in 1710,
iunk into indolence and intemperance by poverty and
difappointments; the hard fate of many a man of
genius.
Smith, John, an excellent mezzotinter, flouriffied
about 1700 j but neither the 'ime of his birth nor
death is accurately known. He united foftnefs with
ftrength, and Aniffied with freedom He ferved his
time with one Fillet a rainier in Moornelds ; and as
foon as he became his own mafter, learned from Becket
the fecret of mezzotinto, and being farther inftrudted
by V an der Vaart, was taken to work in Sir Godfrey
Kneller s houfe j and as he was to be the publiflier of
that mafter s works, doubtlefs received conAderable hints
ting both, as he found them in the portraits of Knel¬
ler, who was lefs happy in what-he fubftituted to ar¬
mour. In the Kit-cat club he has poured full bottoms
chiefly over night gowns. If thofe ftreams of hair were
incotnmode in a battle, I know nothing (he adds) they
were adapted to that can be done in a night-gown.
Smith compofed two large volumes, with proofs of his
own plates, for which he afked 50I. His Aneft w’orks
are Duke Schomberg on horfeback; that duke’s fon.
and fucceffor Maynhard : the earls of Pembroke, Dor-
fet, and Albemarle 5 three plates with two Agures in
each, of young perfons or children, in which he (hone j
William Cowper j Gibbons and his wife ; Oueen Anne 5
the duke of Gloucefter, a whole length, with a flower¬
pot ; a very curious one of Queen Mary, in a high head,
fan, and gloves; the earl of Godolphin j the duchefs of
Ormond, a whole length, with a black ; Sir George
Rooke, &c. There is a print by him of James II. with,
an anchor, but no infcription ; which not being Aniffied
when the king went away, is fo fcarce that it is fome-
times fold for above a guinea. Smith alfo performed
many hiftoric pieces; as the loves of the gods, from
Titian, at Blenheim, in ten plates 5 Venus Handing in a
(hell, from a pidfure by Corregio, and many more, of
which perhaps the moft delicate is the holy family with
angels, after Carlo Maratti.”
Smith, Dr Adam, the celebrated author of the Philofophi-
Inquiry into the Nature and Caufes of the Wealth oDnl Tranf-
Nations, was the only fon of Adam Smith comptroller aii^ons»/
of the cuftoms at Kirkaldy, and of Margaret Douglas t!fe Rp’alf,
daughter of Mr Douglas of Strathenry. He was hom Edinburgh,
at Kirkaldy on the 5th June 1723, a few months after voi. iii. °
the death of his father. His conftitution during his
infancy was inflrm and Ackly, and required all the care
of his furviving parent. When only three years old he
was carried by his mother to Strathenry on a viftt to
his uncle Mr Douglas ; and happening one day to be
ambftng himfelf alone at the door of the houfe, he was
ftolen by a party of thofe vagrants who in Scotland are
called tinkers. Luckily he was miffed, immediately, and
the vagrants purfued and overtaken in Leflie wood ;
and thus Dr Smith was preferved to extend the bounds
of fcience, and reform the commercial policy of Eu¬
rope.
He received the rudiments of his education in the
fchool of Kirkaldy under David Miller, a teacher of
conAderable eminence, and whofe name deferves to be
recorded on account of the great number of eminent
men which that feminary produced while under his di-
redlion. Dr Smith, even while at fchool, attracted no¬
tice by his paflionate attachment to books, and by the
extraordinary powers of his memory *, while his friend¬
ly and generous difpofltion gained and fecured the af-
fe&ion ofhis fchoolfellows. Even then he was remark¬
able for thofe habits which remained with him through
life, of fpeaking to himfelf when alone and of abfence
in company. He was fent in 1737 to the univerAty of
Glafgow, where he remained till 1740, when he went
to j,
SMI [ 4
Baliol college Oxford, as an exhibitioner on Snell’s
foundation. His favourite purluits while at the uni-
verfity were mathematics and natural philofophy. Af¬
ter his removal to England he frequently employed him-
felf in tranflating, particularly from the French, with a
view to the improvement of his own tlyle : a practice
which he often recommended to all who wiflied to cul¬
tivate the art of compofition. It was probably then al-
fo that he applied himfelf with the greateft care to the
fludy of languages, of which, both ancient and modern,
his knowledge was uncommonly extenfive and accu¬
rate.
After feven years refidence at Oxford he returned to
Kirkaldy, and lived two years with his mother without
any fixed plan for his future life. He had been defign-
ed for the church of England ; but dilliking the eccle-
fiaftical profeffion, he refolved to abandon it altogether,
and to limit his ambition to the profpefl: of obtaining
fome of thofe preferments to which literary attainments
lead in Scotland. In 1748 he fixed his refidence in E-
dinburgh, and for three years read a courfe of iefhires
on rhetoric and belles lettres under the patronage of
Lord Karnes.. In 1751 he was defied profeffor of lo¬
gic in the univerfity of Glafgow, and the year follow¬
ing was removed to the profefforihip of moral phi-
lofopby, vacant by the death of Mr Thomas Cragie,
the immediate fucceffor of Dr Hutchefon. In this fi-
tuation he remained 13 years, a period he ufed frequent¬
ly to look back to as the moll ufeful part of his life.
His leflures on moral philofophy were divided into four
parts: The firft contained natural theology ; in which
he confide red the proofs of the being and attributes of
God, and thofe truths on which religion is founded :
the fecond comprehended ethics, ftriflly fo called, and
confided chiefly of thofe doflrines which he afterwards
publilhed in his theory of moral fentiments : in the
third part he treated more at length of that part of mo¬
rality called jujlice; and which, being fufceptible of
precife and accurate rules, is for that reafon capable of
a full and accurate explanation : in the laft part of his
leflures he examined thofe political regulations which
are founded, not upon the principle of juftice, but of
expediency ; and which are calculated to increafe the
riches, the power, and the profperity of a ftate. Un¬
der this view he confidered the political infiitutions re¬
lating to commerce, to finances, to ecclefiaftical and
military governments : this contained the fubftance of
Iris Wealth of Nations. In delivering his lectures he
trufted almofl entirely to extemporary elocution : his
manner was plain and unaffected, and he never failed to
interefl his hearers. His reputation foon rofe very high,
and many ftudents reforted to the univerfity merely up¬
on his account.
When his acquaintance with Mr Hume firfl com¬
menced is uncertain j but it had ripened into frienufhip
before the year 17^2.
In 1759 he publifhed his Theory of Moral Senti¬
ments 7 a work which defervedly extended his reputa¬
tion : for, though feveral of its conclufions be ill-
founded, it mull be allowed by all to be a fingular ef¬
fort of invention, ingenuity, and fubtilty. Befides, it
contains a great mixture of important truth ; and,
though the author has fometimes been milled, he has had
the merit of directing the attention of philofophers to a
view of human nature, which had formerly in a great
4
[4 ] S M I
m.eafure efcaped their notice. It abounds everywhere Smith,
■with the purefi. and moll elevated maxims concerning
the pradlical condufl of life} and when the fubjedt of
his work leads him to addrels the imagination and the
heart, tue variety and felicity of his iliuflrations, the
richnefs and fluency of his eloquence, and the Ikili with
which he wins the attention and commands the paffions
of his readers, leave him among our Britilh moralifls
without a rival.
Ipwards the end of 1763 Dr Smith received an in¬
vitation irom Mr Charles I ownfend to accompany the
duke of Buccleugh on his travels 5 and the liberal
terms in which tnis propofal was made induced him to
refign his office at Glafgow. He joined the duke of
Buccleugh at London early in the year 1764, and fet
out with him for the continent in the month of March
following. After a flay of about ten days at Paris,
they proceeded to Thouloufe, where they fixed their
refidence for about 18 months j thence they went
by a pretty extenfive route through the fouth of France
to Geneva, where they pafied two months. About
Chriflnias 1765 they returned to Paris, and remained
there till Oftober following. The fociety in which
Dr Smith paffed thefe ten months may be conceived in
confequence of the recommendation of Mr Hume. Tur-
got, Quefnai, Necker, d’Alembert, Helvetius, Mar-
montel, Madame Riccoboni, were among the number
of his acquaintances 5 and fome of them he continued
ever after to reckon among the number of his friends.
In Otfober 1766 the duke of Buccleugh returned to
England.
. Dr Smith fpent the next ten years of his life with
his mother at Kirkaldy, occupied habitually in intenfe
ftudy, but unbending his mind at times in the company
of fome of his old fchoolfellows, who Hill continued to
refide near the place of their birth. In 1776 he pub-
liffied his Inquiry into the Nature and Caufes of the Wealth
of Nations; a book fo uni verfally known, that any pa¬
negyric on it would be ufelefs. The variety, impor¬
tance, and (may we not add) novelty, of the informa¬
tion wffiich it contains j the fkill and comprehenfivenefs
of mind difplayed in the arrangement 5 the admirable
illuftrations with which it abounds ; together with a
plainnefs and perfpicuity which makes it intelkble to all
—render it unqueftionably the mofl perfedl work which
has yet appeared on the general principles of any branch
of legiflation.
He fpent the next two years of his life in London,
where he enjoyed the fociety of fome of the mofl emi¬
nent men of the age; but he removed to Edinburgh in
1778, in confequence of having been appointed, at the
requeft of the duke of Buccleugh, one of the commif-
fioners of the cuftoms in Scotland. Here he fpent the
lafl twelve years of his life in an affluence which was
more than equal to all his wants. But his ftudies feem-
ed entirely fufpended till the infirmities of old age re¬
minded him, when it was too late, of what he yet owed
to the public and to bis own fame. The principal mate¬
rials of the works which he had announced had long
ago been polledled, and little probably was wanting but
a few years of health and retirement to complete them.
The death of his mother, who had accompanied him to
Edinburgh in 1784, together with that of his cgufin
Mifs Douglas in 1788, contributed to frufirate thefe
projedls. They had been the objefts of his affeflion
for
S M O [4
Smith for more than 60 years, and in their fociety he had en-
ft joyed from his infancy all that he ever knew of the en-
Sraoke. dearments of a family. He was now alone and help-
v lefs; and though he bore his lofs with equanimity, and
regained apparently his former cheerfulnefs, yet his
health and llrength gradually declined till the period
of his death, which happened in July 1790. Some
days before his death he ordered all his papers to be
burnt except a few effays, which have fince been pub-
lilhed.
Of the originality and comprehenfivenefs of his views j
the extent, the variety, and the corre&nefs of his infor¬
mation 5 the inexhauflible fertility of his invention—he
has left behind him lafting monuments. To his private
worth, the moft certain of all teflimonies may be found
in that confidence, refpedl, and attachment, which fol¬
lowed him through all the various relations of life. He
was habitually abfent in converfation, and was apt
when he fpoke to deliver his ideas in the form of a lec¬
ture. He was rarely known to ftart a new topic him-
felf, or to appear unprepared upon thofe topics that were
introduced by others. In his external form and appear¬
ance there w!as nothing uncommon. When perfectly at
eafe, and when warmed with converfation, his geftures
were animated and not ungraceful j and in the fociety
ot thofe he loved, his features were often brightened by
a fmiie of inexprefiible benignity. In the company of
Grangers, his tendency to abfence.and perhaps ftill more
his confcioufnefs 01 that tendency, rendered his manners
fonaewhat embarraffed; an trffeft which was probably
not a little heightened by thofe fpeculative ideas of pro¬
priety which his reclufe habits tended at once to per-
fed in his conception, and to diminilh his power of re¬
alizing,
SMITHIA, a genus of plants belonging to the din-
delphta clafs ; and in the natural method ranking under
the 3 2d order, Pafn/ionacea?. See Botany Index.
SMil HER 1, a fmith’s drop j alio the art of a fmith,
by which iron is wrought into any lhape by means of
fire, hammering, filing, &c.
SMI I ING-line, in a (hip, is a fmall rope faflened
to the mizen-yard arm, below at the deck, and is always
furled up with the mizen-fail, even to the upper end
of the yard, and thence it comes down to the poop,
its ufe is to loofe the mizen-fail without linking down
the yard, which is eafily done, becaufe the mizen-fail is
iurled up only with rope-yarns ; and therefore when
this rope is pulled hard, it breaks all the rope-yarns
and fo the fail falls down of itfelf. The Tailor’s phrafe is’
fnnie the mi%en (whence this rope takes its name), that
is, hale by this rope that the fail may fall down.
. SMOKE, a denfe elallic vapour, arifing from burn¬
ing bodies. As this vapour is extremely difagreeable
to the fenfes, and often prejudicial to the health, man¬
kind have fallen upon feveral contrivances to enjoy the
beiiefit of fire; without being annoyed by fmoke. The
moil umverfal of thefe contrivances is a tube leadiho-
irom the chamber in which the fire is kindled to the
t0j- j-r b,uI!d'in?’ tbrough which the fmoke afeends,
•and 1S difperfed into the atmofphere. Thefe tubes are
called chimneys; which, when conftruftcd in a proper
manner, carry oft the fmoke entirely ; but, when im¬
properly confirmed, they carry off'the fmoke imper-
RM.y, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants. As
our maiuns at prefent feem to have a very imperfect
5 ] S M O
knowledge of the manner in which chimneys ought to Smoke,
be built, we can hardly perform a more acceptable fer- -v—'
vice to the public than to point out the manner in
which they ought to be conftru&ed, fo as to carry off
the fmoke entirely ; as well as to explain the caufes
from which the defefls fo often complained of generally
proceed, and the method of removing them.
Thofe who would be acquainted with this fubjedl, T™nfac-,
fhould begin by confidering on what principle fmoke t’r,',ls °f tr'£
afeends in any chimney. At firft many are apt to think Phiiofopli-
that fmoke is in its nature, and of itfelf, fpecifically cal Society.
lighter than air, and rifes i« it for the fame reafon that
cork rifes in water. Thefe fee no caufe why fmoke
Ihould not rife in the chimney though the room be ever
fo clofe. Others think there is a power in chimneys to
draw * up the fmoke, and that there are different forms
of chimneys which afford more or lefs of this power.
rI hefe amufe themfelves with fearching for the belt form.
The equal dimenfions of a funnel in its whole length is
not thought artificial enough, and it is made, for fancied
reafons, fometimes tapering and narrowing from below
upwards, and fometimes the contrary, &c. &c. A,
fimple experiment or two may ferve to give more cor-
reift ideas. Having lighted a pipe of tobacco, plunge the
Hem to the bottom of a decanter half filled with cold
water ; then putting a rag over the bowl, blow through
it, and make the fmoke defeend in the ftem of the pipe,
from the end of which it will rife in bubbles through'
tne water j and being thus cooled, will not afterwards
ihe. to go out through the neck of the decanter, but re¬
main fpreading itfelf and refting on the furface of the
water. I his (hows that fmoke is really heavier than
air, and that it is carried upwards only when attached
to or a fled upon by air that is heated, and thereby ra¬
refied and rendered fpecifically lighter than the air in
its neighbourhood.
Smoke being rarely feen but in company with heat-
ed ah, and its upward motion being vifible, though that
of the rarefied air that drives it is not fo, has naturallv
given rile to the error. It is now well known that air
is a fluid which has weight as well as others, though
about 800 times lighter than water ; that heat makes
the particles of air recede from each other, and take up
more fpace, fo that the fame weight of air heated will
have more bulk than equal weights of cold air which
may furround it, and in that cafe muff rife, being forced
upwards by fuch colder and heavier air, which prefles
to get under it and take its place. That air is fo ra¬
refied or expanded by heat, may be proved -to their com-
prehenfion by ajjlank blown bladder, which laid before
a fire, will foon (well, grow tight, and burfl.
Another experiment may "be to take a glafs tube
about an inch in diameter, and 12 inches long’ open at p;,.,
both ends, and fixed upright on legs fo that it need not ccccxcvitj
be handled, for the hands might warm it. At the end
of a quill fallen fitfe or fix inches of the fineft light fila¬
ment of filk, fo that it may be held either above the
upper end of the tube or under the lower end, your
warm hand being at a diftance by the length of the
quill. If there were any motion of air through the
tube, it would manifeft itfelf by its effeft on the filk ;
but if the tube and the air in it are of the fame tempe¬
rature with the furrounding air, there will be no fuch
motion, whatever may be the form of the tube, whether
■Clocked oi flraight, narrow below and widening up-
■vvardsj,
s M O [ 416 ] S
or the contrary, the air in it will be quiefcent. the opening of the chimney
Smoke, wards
Warm the tube, and you will find as long as it continues
W'arm, a conftant current of air entering below and pal¬
ling up through it till difcharged at the top ; becaufe
the w’armth of the tube being communicated to the air
it contains, rarefies that air, and makes it lighter than
the air without; which therefore preffes in below, forces
it upwards, follows and takes its place, and is rarefied
in its turn. And, without warming the tube, if you
hold under it a knob of hot iron, the air thereby heat¬
ed will rife and fill the tube, going out at its top ; and
this motion in the tube will continue as long as the
knob remains hot, becaufe the air entering the tube be¬
low, is heated and rarefied by pafling near and over that
knob.
That this motion is produced merely by the difference
of fpecific gravity between the fluid within and that
without the tube, and not by any fancied form of the
tube itfelf, may appear by plunging it into Avater con¬
tained in a glafs jar a foot deep, through which fuch
motion might be feen. The water within and without
the tube being of the fame fpecific gravity, balance
each other, and both remain at refl. But take out the
tube, flop its bottom with a finger, and fill it with olive
oil, which is lighter than w-ater j then flopping the
top, place it as before, its lower end under water, its
top a very little above. As long as you keep the bot¬
tom flopped the fluids remain at reft j but the moment
it is unftopt, the heavier enters below, forces up the
lighter, and takes its place : and the motion then
ceafes, merely becaufe the new fluid cannot be fuccef-
fively made lighter, as air may be by a warm tube.
In faft, no form of the funnel of a chimney has any
fhare in its operation or effeft refpefling fmoke except
its height. The longer the funnel, if ereft, the greater
its force when filled with heated and rarefied air to
draw in below and drive up the fmoke, if one may, in
compliance with cuftom, ufe the expreflion draw, when
in faff it is the fuperior weight of the furrounding at-
mofphere that preffed to enter the funnel below, and fo
drives up before it the Imoke and warm air it meets
with in its paffage.
What is it then which makes a fmoky chimney, that
is, a chimney which, inftead of conveying up all the
fmoke, difcharges a part of it into the room, offending
the eyes and damaging the furniture ?
The caufes of this effeft may be reduced to nine, dif¬
fering from each other, and therefore requiring different
remedies.
1. Smoky chimneys in a new houfe are fuch frequently
from mere want of air. The workmanfkip of the rooms
being all good, and juft out of the workman’s hands, the
joints of the boards of the flooring, and of the pannels
of wainfcotting, are all true and tight 5 the more fo as
the walls, perhaps not yet thoroughly dry, preferve a
dampnefs in the air of the room which keeps the wood¬
work fwelled and clofe. The doors and the falhes too,
being worked with truth, (hut with exa&nefs, fo that
the room is as tight as a fnuff-box, no paffage being
left open for air to enter except the key-hole, and even
that is fometimes covered by a little dropping (butter.
Now if fmoke cannot rife but as connedfted with rare¬
fied air, and a column of fuch air, fuppofe it filling the
funnel, cannot rife unlefs other air be admitted to fup-
ply its place j and if therefore no current of air enter
. 3
M O
there is nothing to prevent
the fmoke from coming out into the room. If the motion
upwards of the air in a chimney that is freely fupplied
be obfervcd by the rifing of the fmoke or a leather in
it, and it be confidered that in the time fuch feather
takes in lifing from the fire to the top or the chimney,
a column of air equal to the content of the funnel muft
be difcharged, and an equal quantity fupplied from the
room below, it will appear abfolutely impoflible that
this operation ihould go on if the tight room is kept
(hut; for were there any force capable of drawing con-
ftantly fo much air out of it, it muft foon be exhaufted
like the receiver of an air-pump, and no animal could
live in it. Thofe therefore who flop every crevice in a
room to prevent the admiflion of fre(h air, and yet would
have their chimney carry up the fmoke, require incon-
fiftencies, and expedf impoflibilities. Yet under this fi-
tuation it is not uncommon to fee the owner of a new
houfe in defpair, and ready to fell it for much lefs than
it coft ; conceiving it uninhabitable becaufe not a chim¬
ney in any one of its rooms will carry off the fmoke
unlefs a door or window be left open. Much ex¬
pence has alfo been made to alter and amend new chim¬
neys which had really no fault: in one houfe particu¬
larly which Dr Franklin knew that belonged to a no¬
bleman in Weftminfter, that expence amounted to no
lefs than 300I. after his houfe had been, as he thought,
finifhed and all charges paid. And after all, feveral of
the alterations were ineffedlual, for want of underfland-
ing the true principles.
Remedies. When you find on trial that opening the
door or a window enables the chimney to carry up all
the fmoke, you may be fure that want of air from -with¬
out was the caufe of its fmoking. “ I fay from with¬
out (adds Dr Franklin), to guard you againft a com¬
mon miftake of thofe wTho may tell you the room is
large, contains abundance of air fufficient to fupply any
chimney, and therefore it cannot be that the chimney
•wants air. Thefe reafoners are ignorant that the large-
nefs of a room, if tight, is in this cafe of fmall import¬
ance, fince it cannot part with a chimneyfull of its air
without occafioning fo much vacuum 3 which it requires
a great force to effeft, and could not be borne if ef-
fedfed.”
It appearing plainly then, that fome of the outward
air muft be admitted, the queftion will be, how much is
abfolutely neceffary ? for you would avoid admitting
more, as being contrary to one of your intentions in
having a fire, viz. that of warming your room. To
difcover this quantity, (hut the door gradually while a
middling fire is burning, till you find that before it is
quite (hut the fmoke begins to come out into the room 3
then open it a little till you perceive the fmoke comes
out no longer. There hold the door, and obferve the
width of the open crevice between the edge of the door
and the rabbet it (hould (hut into. Suppofe the di-
ftance to be half an inch, and the door eight feet high 5
you find thence that your room requires an entrance
for air equal in area to 96 half inches, or 48 fquare
inches, or a paffage of 6 inches by 8. This, however,
is a large fuppofition 3 there being few chimneys that,
having a moderate opening and a tolerable height of
funnel, will not be fatisfied wdth fuch a crevice of a
quarter of an inch : Dr Franklin found a fquare of 6
by 6, or 36 fquare inches, to be pretty good medium
that
Smoke.
S M O [4
Sffiok?. that will ferve for moft chimneys. High funnels with
““'"v-'"-’ fmall and low openings may indeed be lupplied through
a lefs fpace ; becaufe, for reafons that will appear here¬
after, the force of levity, if one may fo fpeak, being
greater in fuch funnels, the cool air enters the room
with greater velocity, and confequcntly more enters in
the fame time. This, however, has its limits 5 for ex¬
perience fhows, that no increafed velocity fo occafioned
has made the admiffion of air through the key-hole
equal in quantity to that through an open door, though
through the door the current moves flowly, and through
the key-hole with great rapidity.
It remains then to be confidered, how and where
this neceffary quantity of air from without is to be ad¬
mitted fo as to be lead inconvenient : for if at the door,
left fo much open, the air thence proceeds diredtly to
the chimney, and in its way comes cold to your back
and heels as you fit before your fire. If you keep the
door fhut, and raife a little the fafh of your window,
you feel the fame inconvenience. Various have been
the contrivances to avoid this j fuch as bringing in freili
air through pipes in the jams of the chimney, which
pointing upwards fhould blow the fmoke up the funnel $
opening palfiges into the funnel above, to let in air for
the lame purpofe. But thefe produce an eft’e£t con¬
trary to that intended : for as it is the conllant current
of air pa fling from the room through the opening of
the chimney into the funnel which prevents the fmoke
from coming out into the room, if you fupply the funnel
by other means or in other ways with the air which it
wants, and efpecially if that air be cold, you diminifh the
force of that current, and the fmoke in its efforts to en¬
ter the room finds lefs refiftance.
.Fbe wanted air mull then indifpenfably be admitted
into the room, to fupply what goes off through the
opening of the chimney. M. Gauger, a very ingenious
and intelligent French writer on the fubjedt, propofes
with judgement to admit it above the opening of the
chimney; and to prevent inconvenience from its cold-
nefs, he direfts that it may be fo made, that it lhall
pafs in its entrance through winding cavities made be¬
hind the iron back and fides of the fire-place, and un¬
der the iron hearth-plate } in which cavities it will be
warmed, and even heated, fo as to contribute much, in-
flead of cooling, to the warming of the room. This
invention is excellent in itfelf, and may be ufed rvith
advantage in building nerv houfes; becaufe the chim¬
neys may then be fo difpofed as to admit conveniently
the cold air to enter fuch paflages : but in houfes built
without fu~h views, the chimneys are often fo fituated
as not to afford that convenience without great and ex-
penfive. alterations. Eafy and cheap methods, though
not quite fo perfeff in themfelves, are of more general
utility • and fuch are the following.
In all rooms vyheve there is a fire, the body of air
warmed and rarefied before the chimney is continually
changing place, and making room for other air that is
to be warmed in its turn. Part of it enters and goes
up the chimney, and the reft rifes and takes place near
the ceiling. If the room be lofty, that warm air re¬
mains above our heads as long as it continues warm,
and we are little benefited by it, becaufe it does not
defeend till it is cooler. Few can imagine the difference
of climate between the upper and lower parts of fuch a
room, who have not tried it by the thermometer, or by
Vol. XIX. Part II. } y
7 ] S M O
going up a ladder till their heads are near the celling. Smoke.
It is ttien among this Warm air that the wanted quan- ——y*—
tity of outward air is beft admitted, With which being
mixed, its coldnefs is abated, and its inconvenience di-
minifhed fo as to become fcarce obfervable. This may
be ealily done by drawing down about an inch the upper
fafh of a window j or, if not moveable, by cutting fuch
a crevice through its frame ; in both which cafes it wull
be well io place a thin Ihelf of the length to conceal
the opening, and Hoping upwards, to diiect the entering
air horizontally along and under the ceiling. In fome
houfes the air may be admitted by fuch a crevice made
in the wamfeot, cornice, or plaftering, near the ceiling
and over the opening of the chimney. This, if pradti-
cable, is to be chofen, becaufe the entering cold air
will there meet wdth the warmeft rifing air from before
the fire, and be looneft tempered by the mixture. The
fame kind of flielf fhosld alfo be placed here. AnotherFi'»\ 2.
way, and not a very difficult one, is to take out an up¬
per pane of glafs in one of your faffies, fet it in a tin
frame,^ giving it two ipringing angular fides, and then
replacing it, with hinges below on wdiich it may be
turned to open more or lefs above. It wdll then have
the appearance of an internal Iky-light. By drawing
this pane in, more or lefs, you may admit what air you.
firid neceffary. Its pofition wall naturally throw that
air up and along the ceiling. This is wffiat is called in
I ranee a IVias i/i das? As this is a German queftion,
the invention is probably of that nation, and takes its
name from the frequent afking of that queftion when it
firft appeared. In England fome have of late years cut
a round hole about five inches diameter in a pane of the
fafti and placed againft it a circular plate of tin hung on
an axis, and cut into vanes j which, being leparatelv
bent a little obliquely, are ailed upon by the entering
air, fo as to force the plate continually round like the
vanes of a windmill. This admits the outward air,
and by the continual whirling of the vanes, does in
fome degree difperfe it. The noife only is a little incon¬
venient.
2. A fecond caufe of the fmoking of chimneys is,
their openings in the room being too laige; that is, too
wide, too high, or both. Archite&s in general have no
other ideas of proportion in the opening of a chimney
than what relate to fymmetry and beauty refpe&ing the
dimenfions of the room ; while its true proportion re-
fpecling its fundtion and utility depends on quite other
principles; and they might as properly proportion the
ftep in a ftaircafe to the height of the ftory, inftead of
the natural elevation of men’s legs in mounting. The
proportion then to be regarded, is wdiat relates to the
height of the funnel. For as the funnels in the different
ftcries of a houfe are neceffarily of different heights or
lengths, that from the kuveft floor being the higheft or
longeft, and thofe of the other floors fhorter and ffiorter,
till we come to thofe in the garrets, which are of courfe
the ffiorteft ; and the force of draft being, as already
faid, in proportion to the height of funnel filled with ra¬
refied air, and a current of air from the room into the
chimney, fufficient to fill the opening, being neceffary
to oppofe and prevent the fmoke from coming out into
the room j it follows, that the openings of the longeft
funnels may be larger, and that thofe of the Ihorter fun¬
nels fliould be fmailer. For if there be a large opening
to a chimney that does not draw ftrongly, the funnel
3 G ' may
Smoke.
S M O [ 4
may happen to he furnifhed with the air which it de¬
mands by a partial current entering on one fide of the
opening, and leaving the other fide free of any oppofincr
current, may permit the fmoke to iffue there into the
room. Much too of the force of draft in a funnel de¬
pends on the degree of rarefaction in the air it contains,
and that depends on the nearnefs to the fire of its paf-
lage in entering the funnel. If it can enter far from
tne fire on each fide, or far above the fire, in a wide or
high opening, it receives little heat in pafling by the
fire, and the contents of the funnel are by thofe means
lefs different in levity from the furrounding atmofphere,
and its force in drawing confequently weaker. Hence
if too large an opening be given to chimneys in upper
rooms, thofe rooms will be fmoky : On the other hand,
if too fmall openings be given to chimneys in the
lower rooms, the entering air operating too direCtly and
violently on the fire, and afterwards ftrengthening the
draft as it afcends the funnel, will confume the fuel too
rapidly.
^ Remedy.. As different circumftances frequently mix
themfelves in thefe matters, it is difficult to give precife
dimenfions for the openings of all chimneys. Our fa¬
thers made them generally much too large: we have
leflened them 5 but they are often {fill of greater dimen¬
fions than they fhould be, the human eye not being ea-
fily reconciled to fudden and great changes. If you fu-
Jpeft that your chimney fmokes from the too great di-
menfion of its opening, contraCl it by placing moveable
boards fo as to lower and narrow it gradually till you
find the fmokc no longer iffues into the room. The pro¬
portion fo found wdll be that wHch is proper for that
chimney, and you may employ the bricklayer or mafon
to reduce it accordingly. However, as in building new
houfes Something muff be fometimes hazarded, Dr
Franklin propofes to make the openings in the lower
rooms about 30 inches fquare and 18 deep, and thofe in
the upper only 18 inches fquare and not quite fo deep ;
tue intermediate ones dimmifhing in proportion as the
height of the funnel is diminifhed. In the larger open-
ings, billets of twTo feet long, or half the common length
of cordwood, may be burnt conveniently j and for the
finaller, fuch v;ood may be farved into thirds. Where
coals, are the fuel, the grates wall be proportioned to the
openings. The fame depth is nearly neceffary to all,
the funnels being all made of a fire proper to admit a
chimney-fweeper. If in large and elegant rooms cuf-
tom or fancy fhould require the appearance of a larger
cni.mney,. it may be formed of expenfive marginal deco¬
rations, in marble, &c. But in time perhaps, that
which is fitteft in the nature of things may come to be
thought handfomeft.
3. Another caufe of fmoky chimneys is too Jlort a
funnel. This happens neceffarily in feme cafes, as where
a chimney is required in a low building •, for, if the fun¬
nel be railed high above the roof, in order to ftrengthen
its draft, it is then in danger of being blown down, and
cruthing the roof in its fall.
Remedies. Contract the opening of the chimney, fo
as to oblige all the entering air to pafs through or very
near the fire ; whereby it will be more heated and rare¬
fied, the funnel itfelf be more warmed, and its contents
have more of what may be called the force of levity, fo
as to rife flrongly and maintain a good draft at the
opening.
18 ] s m o
. Or you may in Tome cafes, to advantage, build addi- Smoke,
tional itoiies over the low building, wrhich will fupport '■"■““Nr-—
a high funnel. r
If the low building be ufed as a kitchen, and a con¬
traction or the opening therefore inconvenient, a large
one being neceffary, at leaft when there are great din-
neis, for the free management of fo many cooking uten-
fils ; in fuch cafe the belt expedient perhaps would be
to build two more funnels joining to the fir ft, and hav¬
ing three moderate openings, one to each funnel, inftead
ot one large one. When there is occafion to ufe but
one, the other two may be kept fliut by Hiding plates,
hereafter to be defcnbed 5 and two or all of them may
be ufed together when wanted. This will indeed be an
expence, but not an ufelefs one, fince your cooks will
work with more comfort, fee better than in a finoky
kitchen what they are about, your vi&uals will be
cleaner dreffed and not tafte of fmoke, as is often the
cafe ; and to render the effca more certain, a ftack of
three funnels may be fafely built higher above the roof
than a fingle funnel.
I he cafe of too fhort a funnel is more general than
would be imagined, and often found where one would
not expedt it. For it is not uncommon, in ill-contrived
buildings, inftead of having a funnel for each room or
fire-place, to bend and turn the funnel of an upper room
fo as to make it enter the fide of another funnel that
comes from below. By thefe means the upper room
funnel is made ftiort of courfe, fince its length can only
be reckoned from the place where it enters the lower
room funnel j and that funnel is alfo fhortened by all
the diftance between the entrance of the fecond funnel
and the top of the ftack : for all that part being readily
fupplied with air through the fecond funnel, adds no
ftrength to the draft, efpecially as that air is cold when
there is no fire in the fecond chimney. The only eafy
remedy here is,, to keep the opening of that funnel Ihut
in which there is no fire.
4. Another very common caufe of the fmoking of
chimneys is, their overpowering one another. For in-
ftance, if there be two chimneys in one large room, and
you make fires in both of them, the doors and windows
clofe fhut, you will find that the greater and ftronger
fire, ftiall overpower the weaker, from the funnel of
which it will draw air down to fupply its own demand •
which air defeending in the weaker funnel, will drive
down its fmoke, and force it into the room. If, inftead
of being in one room, the two chimneys are in two dif¬
ferent rooms, communicating by a door, the cafe is the
fame whenever that door is open. In a very tight houfe
a kitchen chimney on the loweft floor, when it had a
great fire in it, has been known to overpower any other
chimney in the houfe, and draw air and fmoke into its
room as often as the door communicating with the ftair-
cafe was opened.
Remedy. Take care that every room have the means
of fupplying itfelf from without with the air which its
chimney may require, fo that no one of them may be
obliged to borrow from another, nor under the neceflity
of lending. A variety of thefe means have been already
deferibed.
5. Another caufe of fmoking is, when the tops of
chimneys are commanded by higher buildings, or by a hill,
fo that the wind blowing over fuch eminences falls like
water over a dam, fometimes almoft perpendicularly 0*
the
Emoke.
F‘g- 3-
S M O [ 419
the tops of the chimneys that lie in Its way, and beats
~ down the {moke contained in them.
To illuftrate this, let A (fig. 3.) reprefent a fmall
building at the fide of a great rock B, and the wind
coming in the direction CD j when the current of air
comes to the point D, being hurried forward with great
velocity, it goes a little forward, but foon defeends
downward, and gradually is reflefted more and more in¬
ward, as reprefented by the dotted lines EE, &c. fo
that, defeending downwards upon the top of the chim¬
ney A, the fmoke is beat back again into the apart¬
ments.
It is evident that houfes fituated near high hills or
thick woods will be in fome meafure expofed to the
fame inconvenience} but it is likewife plain, that if a
houfe be fituated upon the Hope of a hill (as at F,
fig. 3.), it will not be in any danger of fmoke when the
wind blows towards that fide of the hill upon which it
is fituated j for the current of air coming over the houfe-
top in the direftion GH, is immediately changed by the
flope of the hill to the direftion HC, which powerfully
draws the fmoke upward from the top of the chimney.
But it is alfo evident, that a houfe in this fituation will
be liable to fmoke when the wind blows from the hill;
for the current of air coming downward in the dire&ion
CH, will beat downward on the chimney F, and pre¬
vent the fmoke from afeending with freedom. The ef-
fe£l will be much heightened if the doors and windows
are chiefly in the lowermoft fide of the houfe.
Remedy. That commonly applied to this, cafe is a
turncap made of tin or plate iron, covering the chimney
above and on three fides, open on one fide, turning on
a fpindle ; and which being guided or governed by a
vane always prefents its back to the current. This
may be generally effe&ual, though not certain, as there
may be cafes in which it will not fucceed. Raifing your
funnels if practicable, fo as their tops may be higher,
or at leaft equal, with the commanding eminence, is
more to be depended on. But the turning cap, being
eafier and cheaper, fliould firft be tried. “ If obliged to
build in fuch a fituation, I would choofe (fays Dr
Franklin) to place my doors on the fide next the hill,
and the backs of my chimneys on the fartheft fide ; for
then the column of air falling over the eminence, and of
courfe prefling on that below, and forcing it to enter
the doors or was-i/l-daszs on that fide, would tend to
balance the preffure down the chimneys, and leave
the funnels more free in the exercife of their func¬
tions.”
6. There is another cafe which is the reverfe of that
laft mentioned. It is where the commanding eminence
is farther from the wind than the chimney commanded.
To explain this a figure may be neceflary. Suppofethen
a building whofe fide AB happens to be expofed to the
wind, and forms a kind of dam againft its progrefs.
Suppofe the wind blowing in the direftion FE. The
air obftrufled by this dam or building AB will like
water prefs and fearch for paflages through it; but find¬
ing none, it is beat back with violence, and fpreads it-
felf on every fide, as is reprefented by the curved lines
c, e, e. It will therefore force itfelf down the
{mall chimney C, in order to get through by fome door
or window open on the other fide of the building. And
if there be a fire in fuch chimney, its fmoke is of courfe
beat down, and fills the room.
] S M O
Remedy. There is but one remedy, which is to raife Smoke,
fuch a funnel higher than the roof, lupporting it if ne-
ceffary by iron bars. For a turncap in this cafe has no
effedt, the dammed-up air prefling down through it in
whatever pofition the wind may have placed its onen-
ing.
Dr Franklin mentions a city in which many heufes
are rendered fmoky by this operation. For their kitch¬
ens being built behind, and connedted by a paffage with
the houfes, and the tops of the kitchen-chimneys lower
than the tops of the houfes, the whole fide of a ftreet
when the wind blows againfl: its back forms fuch a dam
as above delcribed j and the wind fo obftructed forces
down thofe kitchen-chimneys (efpecially when they have
but weak fires in them) to pafs through the paflage and
houfe into the ftreet. Kitchen-chimneys fo formed and
fituated have another inconvenience. In fummer, if you
open your upper room windows for air, a light breeze
blowing over your kitchen-chimney towards the houfe,
though not ftrong enough to force down its fmoke as
aforefaid, is fufticient to waft it into your windows, and
fill the rooms with it; which, befides the difagreeable-
nefs, damages your furniture.
7. Chimneys, otherwife drawing well, are fometimes
made to fmoke by the improper and inconvenientJ^tuation
of a door. When the door and chimney are on the
fame fide of the room, if the door being in the corner
is made to open againft the wall, which is common, as
being there, when open, more out of the way, it fol¬
lows, that when the door is only opened in part, a cur¬
rent of air ruflnng in pafles along the wall into and
acrofs the opening of the chimney, and flirts fome of the
fmoke out into the room. This happens more certainly
when the door is {hutting, for then the force of the cur¬
rent is augmented, and becomes very inconvenient to
thofe who, warming themfelves by the fire, happen to
fit in its way.
The remedies are obvious and eafy. Either put an
intervening fereen from the wall round great part of
the fireplace ; or, wdiich is perhaps preferable, Ihift the
hinges of your door, fo as it may open the other way,
and when open throw the air along the other wall.
8. A room that has no fire in its chimney is fome¬
times filled with fmoke which is received at the top of its
funnel, and defeends into the room. Funnels without
fires have an effedl according to their degree of cold-
nefs or warmth on the air that happens to be contained
in them. The furrounding atmofphere is frequently
changing its temperature *, but flacks of funnels covered
from winds and fun by the houfe that contains them,
retain a more equal temperature. If, after a warm fea-
fon, the outward air fuddenly grows cold, the empty
warm funnels begin to draw ftrongly upward ; that is,
they rarefy the air contained in them, which of courfe
nfes, cooler air enters below to fupply its place, is ra¬
refied in its turn, and rifes ; and this operation continues
till the funnel grows cooler, or the outward air warmer,
or both, when the motion ceafes. On the other hand,
if after a cold feafon the outward air fuddenly grows
warm and of courfe lighter, the air contained in the
cool funnels being heavier defeends into the room ; and
the warmer air which enters their tops being cooled in
its turn, and made heavier, continues to defeend ; and
this operation goes on till the funnels are warmed by the
palling ©f warm air through them, or the air itfelf grows
3 G 2 cooler.
S M O
* cooler. When the temperature of the air and of the
funnels is nearly equal, the difference of warmth in the
air between day and night is fufficient to produce thefe
currents : the air will begin to afcend the funnels as the
cool of the evening comes on, and this current will con¬
tinue till perhaps nine or ten o’clock the next morning,
when it begins to helitate j and as the heat of the day
approaches, it fets downwards, and continues fo till to-
tvards evening, when it again hefitates for fome time,
and then goes upwards conftantly during the night, as
before mentioned. Now when fmoke iffuing from the
tops of neighbouring funnels paffes over the tops of fun¬
nels which are at the time drawing downwards, as they
otten are in the middle part of the day, fuch fmoke is
of neceffity drawn into thefe funnels, and defcends with
the air into the chamber.
The remedy is to have a Aiding plate that will (hut
perfectly the offending funnel. Dr Franklin has thus
defcribed it: “ The opening of the chimney is contract¬
ed by brick-work faced with marble Aabs to about two
feet between the jams, and the breaft brought down to
within about three feet ot the hearth. An iron frame is
placed juft under the breaft, and extending quite to the
back of the chimney, fo that a plate of the fame metal
may Aide horizontally backwards and forwards in the
grooves on each fide of the frame. This plate is iuft fo
large as to fill the whole fpace, and Aiut the chimney
entirely when thrufi: quite in, which is convenient when
there is no fire. Draw it out, fo as to leave between
its further edge and the back a fpace of about two inches;
this fpace is fufficient for the fmoke to pafs; and fo large
a part of the funnel being ftopt by the rell: of the plate,
the paffage of warm air out of the room, up the chim-
ney, is obftruCled and retarded ; and by thofe means
much cold air is prevented from coming in through cre¬
vices, to fupply its place. This effeft is made manifefi:
three ways. i. When the fire burns brifkly in cold
weather, the howling or whiftling noife made by the
wind, as it enters the room through the crevices, when
the chimney is open as ufual, ceafes as foon as the plate
is Aid in to its proper diftance. 2. Opening the door
of die room about half an inch, and holding your hand
againfi the opening, near the top of the door, you feel
the cold air coming in againft your hand, but weakly,
if the plate be in. Let another perfon fuddenly draw it
out, fo as to let the air of the room go up the chimney,
with^ its ufual freedom where chimneys are open, and
you immediately feel the cold air ruAiing in ftrongly.
3. If fomething be fet againft the door, juft fufficient’
when the plate is in, to keep the door nearly ftiut, by
refilling the preffure of the air that would force it open :
then, when the plate is draw out, the door will be for¬
ced open by the increafed preffure of the outward cold
air endeavouring to get in to fupply the place of the
warm air that now paffes out of the room to go up the
chimney. In our common open chimneys, half the fuel
is wafted, and its effeft loft ; the air it has warmed be¬
ing immediately drawn off.”
9. Chimneys which generally draw well, do neverthe-
iefs fometimes give fmoke into the rooms, it being driven
down byjlrong winds patfmg over the tops of their funnels,
though not defcending from any commanding eminence.
This cafe is moft frequent where the funnel is Arort and
the opening turned from the wind. It is the more
grievous, when it happens to be a cold wind that produ-
[ 420 ]
S M O
ces tiie effe<5t, becaufe when you moft want your fire
you are fometimes obliged to extinguifti it. To under-
ftand this, it may be confidered that the riling light air,
to obtain a free iffue from the funnel, mull pulh out of
its way or oblige the air that is over it to rife. In a
time of calm or of little wind this is done vifibly ; for
we fee the fmoke that is brought up by that air rife in a
column above the chimney : but when a violent current
of air, that is, a ftrong wind, paffes over the top of a
chimney, its particles have received fo much force, w-hich
keeps them in a horizontal direction and folWiv each
other lo rapidly, that the riling light air has not ftrength
lumcient to oblige them to quit that direftion and move
upwards to permit its ifl'ue.
Remedies. In Venice, the cuftom is to open or widen
the top of the flue, rounding it in the true form of a fun¬
nel. In other places the contrary is pradited ; the tops
of the flues being narrowed inwards, fo as to form a Ait
for the iffue of the fmoke, long as the breadth of the fun¬
nel, and only four inches wide. This feems to have been
contrived on a fuppofition that the entry of the wind
ssould thereby be obftrutled and perhaps it might have
been imagined, that the whole force of the riling warm
an being condenled, as it were, in the narrow opening,
would thereby be ftrengthened, fo as to overcome the re¬
finance of wind. This, however, did not always fucceed ;
for when the wind was at north-eaft and blew freffi, the
frnoke was forced down by fits into the room where Dr
Franklin commonly fat, fo as to oblige him to ftiift the
fire into another. The pofition of the Ait of this fun¬
nel was indeed north-eaft and fouth-weft. Perhaps if
it ^had lain acrofs the wind, the effe& might have been
different. But on this we can give no certainty. It
feems a matter proper to be referred to experiment;
Poliibly a turncap might have been lerviceable, but it
was not tried.
With all the fcience, however, that a man lhall flip-
po.e himfelf poffefted of in this article, he may Ibmetimes
meet with cafes that ftiall puzzle him. “ I once lodr^d
(fays Dr Franklin) in a houfe at London, which in a
little room had a Angle chimney and funnel. The open¬
ing was very fmall, yet it did eot keep in the fmoke,
and all attempts to have a fire in this room were fruit-
lefs._ I could not imagine the reafon, till at length cb-
ferving that the chamber over it, which had no fireplace in
it, was always filled with fmoke when a fire was kindled
below, and that the frnoke came through the cracks and
crevices of the wa-infeot; I had the wainfeot taken down,
and difeovered that the funnel which went up behind it
had a crack many feet in length, and wide enough to
admit my arm; a breach very dangerous with regard to
fire, and occafioned probably by an apparent irregular
fettling of one fide of the houfe. The air entering this
breech freely, deftroyed the drawing force of the funnel.
The remedy would have been, filling up the breach, or
rather rebuilding the funnel : but the landlord rather
chofe to ftop up the chimney.
“ Another puzzling cafe I met with at a friend’s
country houfe near London. His beft room had a
chimney in which, he told me, he never could have a
fire, for all the fmoke came out into the room. I flat¬
tered myfelf I could eafily find the caufe and preferibe
the cure. I opened the door, and perceived it was not
want of air. I made a temporary contraction of the
opening of the chimney, and found that it was not its
S M O r 421 1 S M O
Staokp, being too large that caufed the frnoke to iffue. I went
Smoks- out anci looked up at the top of the chimney : Its fun-
, ~d"k'  nel was joined in the fame ftack with others ; fome of
7 them Hiorter, that drew very well, and I faw nothing to
prevent its doing the fame. In fine, after every other
examination I could think of, I was obliged to own the
infufficiency of my {kill. But my friend, who made no
pretenfion to fuch kind of knowledge, afterwards difco-
vered the caufe him-felf. He got to the top of the fun¬
nel by a ladder, and looking down found it filled with
twigs and ftraw cemented by earth and lined rvith fea¬
thers. It feems the houfe after being built, had Hood
empty fome years before he occupied it j and he con¬
cluded that fome large birds had taken the advantage of
its retired fituation to make their nefi: there. I he rub-
bi(h, coniiderable in quantity, being removed, and the
funnel cleared, the chimney drew well, and gave fatis-
faftioH.”
Chimneys whofe funnels go up in the north wall of a
houfe, and are expofed to the north winds, are not fo apt
*0 draw well as thofe in a feuth wall ; becaufe when
rendered cold by thofe winds, they draw downwards.
Chimneys inclofed in the body of a houfe are better
than thofe whofe funnels are expofed in cold walls.
Chimneys in {lacks are apt to draw better than fepa-
rate funnels, becaufe the funnels that have conftant fires
in them warm the others in fome degree that have
none.
SMOKE-Joch, This ingenious machine is of German
origin, and Meffinger, in his CcrUeShon of Mechanical
Performances, fays it is very ancient, being reprefented
in a painting at Nurenbergh, which is known to be old¬
er than the year 1350.
Plate Its conftruflion is abundantly fimple. An upright
ccccxcvn. iron fpindle GA (fig. 5.), placed in the narrow part of
5* the kitchen chimney, turns round on two points H and
I. The upper one H pafl’es through an iron bar, which
is built in acrofs the chimney ; and the lower pivot l is
of tempered Heel, and is conical or pointed, refting in a
conical bell-metal focket fixed on another crofs bar.
On the upper end of the fpindle is a circular fly G, con¬
fiding of 4, 6, 8, or more thin iron plates, fet obliquely
on the fpindle like the fails of a windmill, as we fliail
defcribe more particularly by and by. Near the lower
end of the fpindle is a pinion A, which works in the
teeth of a contrate or face wheel B, turning on a ho¬
rizontal axis BC. One pivot of this axis turns in a
cock fixed on the crofs bar, which fupports the lower
end of the upright fpindle HI, and the other pivot turns
in a cock fixed on the fide wall of the chimney ; fo
that this axle is parallel to the front of the chimney.
On the remote end of this horizontal axle there is a
fmall pulley C, having a deep angular groove. Over
this pulley there paffes a chain CDE, in the lower bight
of which hangs the large pulley E of the fpit. This
end of the fpit turns loofely between the branches of the
fork of the. rack or raxe F, but without reding on it.
This is on the top of a moveable dand, which can be
{bitted nearer to or farther from the fire. The other
end turns in one of the notches of another rack. The
number of teeth in the pinion A and wheel B, and the
diameters of the pulleys C and E, are fo proportioned
that the fly G makes from 12 to 20 turns for one turn
of the fpit.
The manner of operation of this ufeful machine is
eafily underdood. The air which contributes to the
burning of the fuel, and pafies through the midd of it,
is greatly heated, and expanding prodigioufly in bulk,
becomes lighter than the neighbouring air, and is there¬
fore pufhed by it up the chimney. In like manner, all
the air which comes near the fire is heated, expanded,
becomes lighter, and is driven up the chimney. This
is called the draught or fuBion, but would with greater
propriety be termed the drift of the chimney. As the
chimney gradually contrads in its dimenfions, and as
the fame quantity of heated air paffes through every
feftion of it, it is plain that the rapidity of its afeent
mud be greateft in the narrowed place. There the fiy
G fhould be placed, becaufe it will there be expofed to
the dronged current. The air, driking the fly vanes
obliquely, pufhes them afide, and thus turns them round
with a confiderable force. If the joint of meat is ex¬
actly balanced on the fpit, it is plain that the only re-
fidance to the motion of the fly is what arifes from the
friftion of the pivots of the upright fpindle, the fridlion
of the pinion and wheel, the fri6lion of the pivots of
the horizontal axis, the friclion of the fmall end of the
fpit, and the friflion of the chain in the top pulleys'.
The whole of this is but a mere trifle. But there is fre¬
quently a confiderable inequality in the weight of the
meat on different fides of the fpit : there mud therefore
be a fufficient overplus of force in the impnlfe of the
afeending air on the vanes of the dy, to overcome this
want of equilibrium occadoned by the unflplfulnefs or
negligence of the cook. There is, however, common¬
ly enough of power when the machine is properly con-
flrufted. The utility of this machine- will, we hope,
procure us the indulgence of fome of our readers, while
we point out the circumdances on which its performance
depends, and the maxims which fhould be followed in
its condrudlion.
The upward current of air is the moving power, and
fhould he increafed as much as poflible, and applied in
the mod advantageous manner. Every thing will in-
creafe the current which improves the draught of the
chimney, and fecures it from fmoking. A fmoky chim¬
ney mud always have a weak current. For this parti¬
cular, therefore, we refer to what has been delivered in
the article Pneumatics, N° 359 j and the article
Smoke.
With refpeft to the manner of applying this force, it
is evident that the bed conftruidion of a windmill fails
will be nearly the bed conftru&ion for the fly. Ac¬
cording to the ufual theory of the impulfe of fluids,
the greated efteflive impulfe (that is, in the dire&ion of
the fly’s motion) will be produced if the plane of the
vane be inclined to the axis in an angle of 54 degrees
46 minutes. But, fince we have pronounced this the¬
ory to be fo very defedlive, we had better take a deter¬
mination founded on the experiments on the Impulfe of
fluids made by the academy of Paris. Thefe authorife
us to fay, that 49^ or 50 degrees will be the bed angle
to give the vane : but this mud be underdood only of
that part of it which is clofe adjoining to the axis. The
vane itfelf mud be twided, or Weathered as the mill¬
wrights term it, and mud be much more oblique at its
outer extremity. The exadl pofition cannot he deter¬
mined with any precifion ) becaufe this depends on the
proportion
Smoke
Jack.
S M O [42
proportion of the velocity of the vane to that of the
 current of heated air. This is fubjeft to no rule, beins
changed according to the load of the jack. We ima-
gine that an obliquity of 65 degrees for the outer ends
ot the vanes will be a good pofition for the generality
of cafes. . Meflinger defcnbes an ingenious contrivance
for changing this angle at pleafure, in order to vary the
velocity of the motion. Each vane is made to turn
round a midrib, which Hands out like a radius from the
ipindle, and the vane is moved by a ftiff wire attached to
one ot the corners adjoining to the axle. Thefe wires
are attached to a ring which Aides on the fpindle like
the ipreader of an umbrella j and it is Hopped on any
part of the fpmdle by a pin thrufl through a hole in the
ipindle and ring. We mention this briefly, it being
eafily underflood by any mechanic, and but of little con-
iequence, becaufe the machine is not fufceptible of much
precilion.
It is eafy to fee that an increafe of the furface of the
vanes will increafe the power : therefore they fliould oc¬
cupy the whole fpace of the circle, and not confifl of
lour narrow arms like the fails of a windmill. It is bet¬
ter to make many narrow vanes than a few broad ones :
as will appear plain to one well acquainted with the
mode of impulfe of fluids afting obliquely. We recom¬
mend eight or twelve at leafl j and each vane Ihould
oe io broad, that when the whole is held perpendicular
between the eye and the light, no light fliall come
through the fly, the vanes overlapping each other a very
? J-Jnafter’ We. alfo recommend the making them
ot Hitt plate. Their weight contributes to the Heady
motion and enables the fly, which has acquired a con-
ttderable velocity during a favourable pofition of things
to retain a momentum fufficient to pull round the fpit
while the heavy fide of the meat is riling from its lowefl
pofition. In fuch a fituation a light fly foon lofes its
momentum, and the jack flaggers under its load.
It is plain, from what has been faid, that the fly Ihould
occupy the whole of that fedlion of the vent where it is
placed. The vent muft therefore be brought to a round
rfV,n t1hat.Place» that none of the current may pafs
ulelelsly by it.
It is an important queftion where the fly Ihould be
placed. If m a wide part of the vent, it will have a
great lurface, and a£t by a long lever ; but the current
in that place is flow, and its impulfe weak. This is a fit
lubject of calculation. Suppofe that we have it in our
choice to place it either as it is drawn in the figure, or
farther up at g, where its diameter muft be one half of
ivhat it is at G. Since the fame quantity of heated air
palfes through both fe&ions, and the fedion g has only
one-tourth of the area of the fedion G, it is plain that
the mr muft.be moving four times fafter, and that its im-
Pu ^r.ls times greater. But the furface on which it
is acting is the fourth part of that of the fly G; the ac¬
tual impulfe therefore is only four times greater, fuppo-
fing both flies to be moving with the fame relative ve¬
locity in refpeft of the current; that is, the rim of each
moving with the fame portion of the velocity of the cur¬
rent. This will be the cafe when the fmall fly turns
eight times as often in a minute as the large fly : for
the air is moving four times as quick at g, and the dia¬
meter o ^ is one-half of that of G. Therefore, when
the imall fly is turning eight times as quick as the great
2 1
S M O
flancetlfrom!tVqU-!im?rlimpU,f' ““"S al haIf lIle ^
a ice t om t.ie axis. I he momentum or eneray there- Jack.
fore of the current ts double. Therefore, fopp^nu the v~
ptoton wheel, and pulleys of both jacks to be the LI
he jack wtth the foul! fly, placed i„ ,he narrow partof
the veiu, will be it) times more powerful.
By this example, more eafily underflood than a ge¬
ne, al procefs, it appears that it is of particular impor¬
tance to place the fly in an elevated part of the vent
where t.ie area may be much contra&ed. In order ftill
farther to increafe the power of the machine, it would
be very proper to lengthen the fpindle ftill more, and to
put another fly on it at a confiderable diftance above the
firft, and a third above this, &c.
As the velocity of the current changes by every
change of the fire, the motion of this jack mutt'be very
uniteady. lo render it as adjuftable as may be to the
particular purpofe of the cook, the pulley E has feveral
grooves of different diameters, and the fpit turns more
or .lets flowly, by the fame motion of the fly, according
as it hangs m the chain by a larger or fmaller pulley or
groove. r J
Such is the conftrudtion of the fmoke-jack in its molt
iimple form. Some are more artificial and complicated
having, m place of the pulleys and conne&ing chain a’
pmdie coming down from the horizontal axis BC On
the upper end of this fpindle is a horizontal contrate
wheel, driven by a pinion in place of the pulley C. On
the lower end is a pinion, driving a contrate wheel in
place of the pulley E. This conftruftion is reprefent-
e in fig. 6. Others are conftru&ed more fimply in Fig- 6 *
the manner reprefented in fig. 7. But our firit con-Fig ,
ftruction has great advantage in point of fimplicity, and S’
allows a more eafy adjuftment of the fpit, which may be
brought nearer to the fire or removed farther from it
without any trouble ; whereas, in the others, with a
train of wheels and pinions, this cannot be done with¬
out feveral changes of pins and ferews. The only im-
perfecrion of the pulley is, that by long ufe the grooves
become flippery, and an ill-balanced joint is apt to hold
back the fpit, while the chain Aides in the grooves.
Ibis may be completely prevented by making the
?ur0°V^-flaVnftejdr°f ang.ular (whIch greatly diminifhes
the .richon), and furmfliing them with fhort ftuds or
pins which take into every third or fourth link of the
chain. If the chain be made of the fimpleft form, with
at links, and each link be made of an exaft length
(making, them all on a mould), the motion will be as
eafy as with any vvheelwork, and without the leaft chance
ot flipping.
It is always of importance to avoid this flipping of
the chain by balancing the loaded fpit. For this pur¬
pofe it will be extremely convenient to have what is
called a balance-Jkewer. Let a part of the fpit, imme¬
diately adjoining to the pulley, be made round, and let
an arm be made to turn on it ftiffly, fo that it may be
made faft in any pofition by a ferew. Let a leaden ball
be made to Aide along this arm, with a ferew to fafter.
it. at any diftance from the fpit. When the meat is
ipitted, lay it on the racks, and the heavieft fide will
immediately place itfelf undermoft. Now turn round
the balance-fkewer, fo that it may point ftraight up¬
wards, and make it faft in that pofition by the ferew.
Put the leaden ball on it, and Hide it inwards or out¬
wards
I
S M O [ 423 ] S M O
S:no^e- wards till It exaftly balances the heavy fide, which will
Jock. appear by the fpit’s remaining in any polition in which
it is put.
The greatefl difliculty is to keep the machine in re¬
pair. The effential part of it, the fir it mover, the fly,
and the pinion and wheel, by which its motion is tranl-
mitted to the reft of the machine, are fituated in a place
of diflicult accefs, and where they are expofed to vio¬
lent heat and to the fmoke and loot. The whole weight
of the fly, refting on the lower pivot I, muft exert a
great preffure there, and occaflon great fridtion, even
when this pinion is reduced to the linalleft fize that is
compatible with the neceffary ftrength. The pivot muft
be of hardened fteel, tapered like an obtufe cone, and
muft turn in a conical focket, all'o of hardened fteel or
of bell-metal •, and this feat of prelfure and fridtion muft
be continually fupplied with oil, which it confumes very
quickly. It is not fufficient that it be from time to time
fmeared with an oiled feather ; there muft be an iron
cup formed round the focket, and kept filled with oil.
It is furprifing how quickly it difappears 5 it foon be¬
comes clammy by evaporation, and by the foot which
gathers about it. The continued rubbing of the pivot
and focket wears them both very fall j and this is in-
creafed by hard powders, fuch as fandy dull, that are
hurried up by the rapid current every time that the
cook ftirs the fire. Thefe, getting between the rub¬
bing parts, caufe them to grind and wear each other
prodigioufly. It is a great improvement to invert thefe
rubbing parts. Let the lower end of the fpindle be of
a confiderable thicknefs, and have a conical hollow nice¬
ly drilled in its extremity. Let a blunt-pointed coni¬
cal pin rife up in the middle of the oil eup, on which
the conical hollow of the fpindle may reft. Here will
be the fame fteady fupport, and the fame friflion as in
the other way ; but no grinding duft can now lodge be¬
tween the pivot and its focket: and if this upright pin
be ferewed up through the bottom of the cup, it may
be ferewed farther up in proportion as it rvears; and
thus the upper pivot g will never defert its hole, a thing
which foon happens in the common way. We can fay
from experience, that a jack conftrufted in this way will
not require the fifth part of the repairs of one done in
the other way.
It is of importance that the whole be fo put toge¬
ther as to be eafily taken down, in order to fweep the
vent, or to be repaired, &c. For this purpofe, let the
crofs bar which carries the lowTer end of the upright
fpindle be placed a little on one fide of the perpendicu¬
lar line from the upper pivot hole. Let the cock which
carries the oil-cup and the pivot of the horizontal axis
BC be ferewed to one fide of this crofs bar, fo that the
centre of the cup may be exa£lly under the upper pivot
hole. By this conftru&ion we have only to unfererv
this cock, and then both axles come out of their places
at once, and may be replaced without any trouble. We
Fig. 8. have flcetched in fig. 8. the manner in which this may
be done, where M reprefents a feftion of the lower crofs
bar. BCDE is the cock, fixed to the bar by the pins
which go through both, with finger nuts a and 6 on the
oppofite fide. F 2 is the hard fteel pin with the conical
top 2, on which the lower end I of the upright fpindle
AG refts, in the manner recommended as the heft and
moft durable. The pivot of the horizontal axis turns
i#i a hole at E the ton of the cock.
After all, we muft acknowledge that the fmoke-jack Smoke¬
rs inferior to the common jack that is moved by a weight. ^aclc
It is more expenfive at firft, and requires more frequent
repairs j its motion is not fo much under command ; it ■ '
occafions foot to be thrown about the fire, to the great
annoyance of the cook ; and it is a great encumbrance
when we would clean the vent.
SMOKE-Farthings. The pentecoftals or cuftomary
oblations offered by the difperfed inhabitants within a
diocefe when they made their proceflion to the mother
or cathedral church, came by degrees into a ftanding an¬
nual rent called fmoke-far things.
SMOKE-Silver. Lands were holden in fome places by
the payment of the fum of 6d. yearly to the (heriff,
called jnioke-fiiver (Par. 4. Edw. VI.). Smoke-filver
and fmoke-penny are to be paid to the minifters of di¬
vers parifhes as a modus in lieu of tithe-wood : and in
lome manors formerly belonging to religious houfes,
there is ftill paid, as appendant to the faid manors, the
ancient Peter-pence, by the name offmoke-money (Twifd,.
FUJI. Vindicat. 77.).—The biftiop of London anno 1444
iffued out his cornmiffion, Ad levandum le fmoke-far-
things, &c.
SMOLENSKO, a large and ftrong city of Ruffia,
and capital of a palatinate of the fame name, with a
caftle feated on a mountain, and a bifhop’s fee. It is
ftrong by its fituation, being in the middle of a wood,
and furrounded by almoft inacceffible mountains. It has
been taken and retaken feveral times by the Poles and
Ruffians; but thefe laft have had pofieflion of it ever
fince the year 1687. It is feated on the river Nieper,
near the frontiers of Lithuania, 188 miles fouth-weft of
Mofcow. E. Long. 31. 22. N. Lat. 54. 50.
Smolensko, a duchy and palatinate of Ruffia, bound¬
ed on the north by Biela, on the eaft by the duchy of
Mofcow, on the fouth by that of Severia and the pala¬
tinate of Meiflaw, and on the weft by the fame palati¬
nate and by that of Witepfk. It is full of forefts and
mountains : and the capital is of the fame name.
SMOLLET, Dr Tobias, an author whofe writings
will tranfmit his name with honour to pofterity, was
born in the year 1720 at a fmall village within two
miles of Cameron, on the banks of the river Leven.
He appears to have received a claffical education, and
was bred to the practice of phyfic and furgery j and in
the early part of his life ferved as a furgeon’s mate in
the navy.
The incidents that befel him during his continuance
in this capacity ferved as a foundation for Roderic Ran¬
dom, one of the moft entertaining novels in the Englifh
tongue. He was prefent at the fiege of Carthagena $
and in the before mentioned novel he has given a faith¬
ful, though not very pleafing, account of the manage¬
ment of that ill-condudled expedition, which he cenfures
in the warmeft terms, and from circumftances which fell
under his own particular observation.
His connection with the lea feems not to have been
oi long continuance ; and it is probable that he wrote
feveral pieces before he became known to the public by
his capital productions. The firft piece we know of
with certainty is a Satire in two parts, printed firft in
the years 1746 and 1747, and reprinted in a Collection
of his Plays and Poems in 1777. About this period, or
fome time before, he wrote for Mr Rich an opera intitled
Alcefte, which has never been performed nor printed.
At-
S M 0 [4
At thc age of 18 he wrote a tragedy intiiled The
.Regicide, founded on the ftory of the affaffination of
James I. of Scotland. In the preface to this piece,
pubh(lied by fubfcription in the year 1749, he bitterly
exclaimed againft falfe patrons, and the duplicity of
theatrical managers. The warmth and impetuofity of
his temper hurried him, on this occafion, into unjuft re¬
flexions againft the late George Lord Lyttleton and
Mi Garrick : the chara&er of the former he charafter-
ifed m the novel of Peregrine Pickle, and he added a
burlelque of the Monody written by that nobleman on
the death of his lady. Againft Mr Garrick he made
illiberal ill-founded criticifms j and in his novel of Ro-
deric Random gave a very unfair reprefentation of his
treatment of him refpefting this tragedy. Of this con-
du& he afterwards repented, and acknowledged his er¬
rors ; though in the fubfequent editions of the novel the
paifages which were the hafty effuftons of difappointment
Were not omitted.
However, in giving a fketch of the liberal arts in
ms Hiftory of England, he afterwards remarked, “ the
exhibitions of the ftage were improved to the moft ex-
quifite entertainment by the talents and management of
Garrick, who greatly furpaffed all his predeceffors of
this and perhaps every other nation, in his genius for
acting, in the fweetnefs and variety of his tones, the ir-
refiftibie magic of his eye, the fire and vivacity of his
action, the eloquence of attitude, and the whol§: pathos
of expreflion.
Not fatisfied with this public declaration, he wrote
an apology to Mr Garrick in ftill fironger terms. With
thefe ample conceflions, Mr Garrick was completely fa-
tisfied 5 fo that in 1757, wlien Dr Smollet’s comedy of
the Reprifals, an afterpiece of two a&s, was performed
at Drury Lane theatre, the latter acknowledged himfelf
Highly obliged for the friendly care of Mr Garrick ex¬
erted in preparing it for the ftage ; and flill more for
his acting the part of Lufignan in Zara for his benefit,
on the fixth inftead of the ninth night, to which he was
only intitled by the cuftom of the theatre.
The Adventures of Roderic Random, publifhed in 1748,
2 vois i2mo, a book which ftill continues to have a moft
extenfive fale, firft eftablithed the Doftor’s imputation.
All the firft volume and the beginning of the fecond ap¬
peal to confift of real incident and charafler, though
certainly a good deal heightened and difguifed. The
Judge his grandfather, Crab and Potion the twro apo-
thecavies, and ’bquire Gawky, were characters wmll
known in that part of the kingdom where the fcene w^as
laid. Captains Oakhum and "Whiffle, Doaors Mack-
ihane and Morgan, were alio faid to be real perlonages}
but their names we have either never learned or have
now forgotten. A bookbinder and barber long eager¬
ly contended for being fhadowed under the name of
Strap. The Dodor feems to have enjoyed a peculiar
felicity in defcribing fea charaaers, particularly the
officers and lailors of the navy. His T runnion. Hatch¬
way, and Pipes, are highly finiffied originals; but
what exceeds them all, and perhaps equals any charac¬
ter that has yet been painted by the happieft genius of
ancient or modern times, is his Lieutenant Bowling.
This is indeed nature itfelfj original, unique, and fui
generis.
.By the publication of this work the DoClor had ac¬
quired fo great a reputation, that henceforth a certain
2
24 ] S M O
degree of luccefs was infiired to every thing known or Smollet.
fufpe&ed to pioceed from his hand. In the courfe of *   y'""“
a few years, the Adventures of Peregrine Pickle ap¬
peared ; a work of great ingenuity and contrivance in
the compofition, and in'which an uncommon degree of
erudition is difplayed, particularly in the defcription of
the entertainment given by the Republican Dotfor, af¬
ter the manner of the ancients. Under this perfonage
the late Dr Akenfide, author of I he Pleafures of Ima¬
gination, is fuppofed to be typified j and it would be
difficult to determine whether profound learning or ge¬
nuine humour predominate moft in this epifode. An¬
other epifode of The Adventures of a. Lady of Quality,
likew’ife inferted in this work, contributed greatly to its
fuccefs, and is indeed admirably executed ; the materials
it is faid, the lady herfelf (the celebrated Lady Vane)
furnifhed. y
Thefe were not the only original compofilions of this
ftamp with which the DoXor has favoured the public.
Ferdinand Count Fathom, and Sir Launcelot Greaves,
are ftili in the lift of what may be called reading novels^
and have gone through feveral editions; but there is no
injuftice in placing them in a rank far below the former.
No doubt invention, chara&er, compofition, and con¬
trivance, are to be found in both ; but then fituations
are defcribed which are hardly poflible, and characters
are painted which, if not altogether unexampled, are at
kaft incompatible with modern manners ; and which
ought not to be, as the fcenes are laid in modern
times.
The laft work which we believe the DoCfor publifhed
was of much the fame fpecies, but caft into a different
form—The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker. It con-
fifts of a feries of letters, written by different perfons to
their refpeCtive correfpondents. He has here carefully
avoided the faults which may be juftly charged to his two
former productions. Here are no extravagant charac¬
ters nor unnatural fituations. On the contrary, an ad¬
mirable knowledge of life and manners is difplayed ; and
moft ufeful leffons are given applicable to interefting but
to very common fituations.
We know not whether the remark has been made,
but there is certainly a very obvious fimilitude between
the charafters of the three heroes of the DoCtor’s chief
productions. Roderic Random, Peregrine Pickle, and
Matthew Bramble, are all brothers of the fame family.
The fame fatirical, cynical difpofition, the fame gene-
rofity and benevolence, are the diftinguifhing and cba-
raCteriftical features of all three ; but they are far from
being fervile copies or imitations of each other. They
differ as much as the Ajax, Diomed, and Achilles of
Homer. This was undoubtedly a great effort of ge¬
nius ; and the Doctor feems to have defcribed his own
charadter at the different ftages and fituations of his
life.
Before he took a houfe at Chelfea, he attempted to
fettle as praClitioner of phyfic at Bath ; and with that
view' wrote a treatife on the waters; but was unfuceefs-
ful, chiefly becaufe he could not render himfelf agree¬
able to the women, whofe favour is certainly of great
confequence to all candidates for eminence, whether in
medicine or divinity. This, however, was a little ex¬
traordinary ; for thofe who remembered Dr Smollet at
that time, cannot but acknowdedge that he was as grace¬
ful and handfome a man as any of the age he lived in ;
befides,
S M O
[ 425 ]
S M O
Smollet belldes, there was a certain dignity in his air and man-
ner which could not but infpire refpeft wherever he ap¬
peared. Perhaps he was too foon difcouraged ; in all
probability, had he perfevered, a man of his great learn-
ing, profound fagacity, and intenfe application, befides
being endued with every other external as well as inter¬
nal accompliihment, mu ft have at laft fucceeded, and,
had he attained to common old age, been at the head of
his profeflion.
Abandoning phyfic altogether as a profeffion, he fix¬
ed his refidence at Chelfea, and turned his thoughts en¬
tirely to writing. Yet, as an author, he was not near
fo fuccefsful as his happy genius and acknowledged me¬
rit certainly deferVed. He never acquired a patron
among the great, who by his favour or beneficence re¬
lieved him from the neceftity of writing for a fubfiftence.
The truth is, Dr Smollet poiTeffed a loftinefs and eleva¬
tion of fentiment and charafter which appear to have
difqualified him for paying court to thofe who were ca¬
pable of conferring favours. It would be rvrong to call
this difpofition pride or haughlinefs 5 for to his equals
and inferiors he was ever polite, friendly, and generous.
Bookfellers may therefore be faid to have been his on¬
ly patrons ; and from them he had conftant employ¬
ment in tranftating* compiling, and reviewing. He
trjinflated Gil Bias and Don Quixote, both fo happily,
that all the former.tranflations of thefe excellent pro¬
ductions of genius have been almoft fuperfeded by his.
His name likewife appears to a tranfiation of Voltaire’s
Profe Works *, but little of it was done by his own
hand ; he only revifed it, and added a few notes. He
was concerned in a great variety of compilations. His
Hiftory of England was the principal work of that
kind. It had a moft exlenfive fale ; and the Doclor is
faid to have received 20003. for writing it and the con¬
tinuation.
In 1755 he fet on foot the Critical Review, and
continued the principal manager of it till he went abroad
for the firft time in the year 1763. He was perhaps
too acrimonious fometimes in the conduct of that work ;
and at the fame time difplayed too much fenfibility
when any of the unfortunate authors attempted to reta¬
liate whole works he had perhaps juftly cenfured.
Among other controverfies in which his engagements
in this publication involved him, the moft material in
its confequences was that occafioned by his remarks on
a pamphlet publilhed by Admiral Knowles. That,,gen-
tleman, in defence of his conduct on the expedition to
Rochfort, publiftiei a vindication of himfelf j which fal¬
ling under the DoCtor’s examination, produced fome
very fevere ftriCtures both on the performance and on
the character of the writer. The admiral immediately
commenced a profecution againft the printer j declaring
at the fame time that he defired only to be informed
who the writer was, that if he proved to be a gentle¬
man he might obtain the fatisfaftion of one from him.
In this affair the DoCtor behaved both with prudence
and with fpirit. Defirous of compromifing the difpute
with the admiral in an amicable manner, he applied to
his friend Mr Wilkes to interpofe his good offices with
his opponent. The admiral, however, was inflexible j
and juft as fentence was going to be pronounced againft
the printer, the DoClor came into court, avowed him-
feif the author of the StriCIures, and declared himfelf
ready to give Mr Knowles any fatisfaClion he chofe.
Vol. XIX. Part II.
The admiral immediately commenced a frefli aftion SgroNet-
againft the DoClor, who was found guilty, fined 100L, ‘
and condemned to three months imprifonment in the
King’s Bench. It is there he is faid to have written
the Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves, in which he
has deferibed fome remarkable charaflers, then his fel-
low-prifoners.
When Lord Bute was called to the chief adminiftra-
tion of affairs, he was prevailed upon to write in defence
of that nobleman’s meafures; which he did in a weekly
paper called the Briton. This gave rife to the famous
North Briton j wherein, according to the opinion of
the public, he was rather baffled. The truth is, the
DoClor did not feem to poffefs the talents neceffary for
political altercation. He wanted temper and coolnefs j
and his friends accufed his patron of having denied him
the neceffary information, and even negleCled the fulfil¬
ling of fome of his other engagements with him. Be
that as it will, the DoClor is faid not to have forgotten,
him in his fubfequent performances.
Befides the Briton, Dr Smollet is fuppofed to have
written other pieces in fupport of the caufe he efpoufed.
The Adventures of an Atom, in two volumes, are known
to be his produClion.
His conftitution being at laft greatly impaired by a
fedentary life and afflduous application to ftudy, he
went abroad for his health in June I7^3> anc^ continued
in France and Italy two years. He wrote an account
of his travels in a feries of letters to fome friends, which
were afterwards publifhed in two volumes oClavo, 1766.
During all that time he appears to have laboured under
a conftant fit of chagrin. A very flight perufal of thefe
letters will fufficiently evince that this obfevvation is
founded in faCl, and is indeed a melancholy inftance of
the influence of bodily diflemper over the bell; difpofi¬
tion.
His relation of his travels is aClually cynical j for
which Sterne, in his Sentimental Journey, has animad¬
verted on him under the charaCler of Smelfungus. The
DoClor lived to return to his native country : but his
health continuing to decline, and meeting with frefli
mortifications and difappointments, he went back to
Italy, where he died in OClober 21. 1771. He was em-
played, during the laft years of his life, in abridging the
Modern Univerfal Hiftory, great part of which he had
originally written himfelf, particularly the hiftories of
France, Italy, and Germany.
He certainly met with many mortifications and dif¬
appointments; which, in a letter to Mr Garrick, he
thus feelingly expreffes : “ I am old enough to have
feen and obferved, that we are all playthings of For¬
tune', and that it depends upon fomething as infignifi-
cant and precarious as the toffing up of a halfpenny,
whether a man rifes to affluence and honours, or conti¬
nues to his dying day ftruggling with the difficulties and
difgraces of life.”
It would be needlefs to expatiate cn the charaCler of
a man fo well known as Dr Smollet, who has, befides,
given fo many ftriClures of his own charaCler and man¬
ner of living in his writings, particularly in Humphrey
Clinker; where he appears under the appellation of
Mr Ser/e, and has an interview with Mr Bramble •, and
his manner of living is deferibed in another letter, where
young Melford is fuppofed to dine with him at his houfe
in Chelfea. No doubt he made money by his connec-
3 H tiotjs
S M U
Smollet,
Smu^o-ler
Burn's
Lanv Dic¬
tionary,
vol. ii.
lions with the bookfellers j and had he been a rigid
_ £conomiit, or endued with the gift of retention (an ex-
rrefTion of his own), he might have lived and died very
independent. However, to do juftice to his memory,
his difficulties, whatever they were, proceeded not from
extravagance or want of economy. He was hofpitable,
but not oftentatioufly fo 5 and his table was plentiful, but
not extravagant. _ No doubt he had his failings 5 but
JliaI it would oe difficult to name a man who was fo re-
ipedfable for the qualities of his head, or more amiable for
the virtues of his heart.
Since his death a monument has been ere&ed to his
memory near Leghorn, on which is infcribed an epitaph
written in Latin by his friend Dr Armftrong, author
°f The Art of Preferving Health, and many other ex¬
cellent pieces. An infcription written in Latin waslike-
wife inlcribed on a pillar eredted to his memory on the
banks of the Leven, by one of his relations.
To thefe memoirs we are extremely forry to add, that
fo late as 1785 the widow of Dr Smollet was refiding in
indigent circumftances at Leghorn. On this account
the tragedy of Venice Preferved was afted for her bene¬
fit at Edinburgh on the 5th of March, and an excellent
prologue fpoken on that occalion.
The pieces inferted in the pofthumous colle&ion of
Dx Smollet s plays aud poems are, J he Ivegicide, a
tragedy : The Reprifal, a comedy ; Advice and Re¬
proof, two fatires ; 'Lire Tears of Scotland ^ Verfes on
a Young Lady 5 a Love Elegy, in imitation of Tibullus j
t wo Songs; a Burlefque Ode ; Odes to Mirth, to
Sleep, to Leven Water, to Blue-ey’d Ann, and to In¬
dependence.
_ SMUGGLERS, perfons who import or export prohi¬
bited goods without paying the duties appointed by the
law.
The duties of cuftoms, it is faid, were originally in-
flituted, in order to enable the king to afford protec¬
tion to trade againfl pirates : they have fince been con¬
tinued as a branch of the public revenue. As duties
impofed upon the importation of goods ntceflarily raife
their price above wdrat they rmght otherwife have been
fold for, a temptation is prefented to import the com¬
modity clandeftinely and to evade the duty. Many
perfons, prompted by the hopes of gain, and confider-
ing the violation of a pofitive law of this nature as
in no refpect criminal (an idea in which they have
been encouraged by a great part of the community,
who make no fcruple to purchafe fmuggled goods),
have engaged in this illicit trade. It w^as impoffible
that government could permit this practice, which is
highly injurious to the fair trader, as the fmuggler is
enabled to underfell him, while at the fame time’he im¬
pairs the national revenue, and thus wholly deftroys the
end for which thefe duties were appointed. Such penal¬
ties are therefore inflifted as it was thought would pre¬
vent fmuggling.
Many laws have been made with this view7. If any
goods be ffiipped or landed without warrant and pre¬
fence of an officer, the veflel ffiall be forfeited, and the
wharfinger ffiall forfeit icol. and the matter or ma¬
riner of any ffiip inward bound ffiall forfeit the value of
the goods: and any carman, porter, or other affiffing,
fhail be committed to gaol, till he find furety of his
good behaviour, or until he fhail be difeharged by ti e
court of exchequer (13 & 14 C. II. c. li.) If goods
[ 426 ]
S M U
be relanded after drawback, the veflel and goods fhail Smuggler?,
be forfeited ; and every perfon concerned therein ffiall--y—**'
forfeit double the value of the drawback (8 An.c. 13.)
Goods taken in at fea ffiall be forfeited, and alfo the
veflel into wnich they are taken j and every perfon con¬
cerned therein ffiall forfeit treble value (9 G. II. c. 35.)
A veflel hovering near the coaft ffiall be forfeited, if
under 30 tons burden ; and the goods ffiall alfo be for¬
feited, or the value thereof (5 G. Ill.c. 43.) Perfons
receiving or buying run goods ffiall forfeit 2ol. (8 G.
c. 18.) A concealer of run goods ffiall forfeit treble
value (8 G. c. 18.) Offering run goods to fale, the
fame ffiall be forfeited, and the perfbn to whom they
are offered may feize them ; and the perfon offering
them to fale fhall forfeit treble value (11 G. c. 3®.) A
porter or other perfon carrying run goods {hall forfeit
treble value (9 G. II. c. 35.) Perfons armed or dif-
guifed carrying run goods fhail be guilty of felony,
and tranfported for feven years (8 G. c. 18. 9 G. IL
c- 3S-)
But the laft ffatute, 19 G. II. c. 34. is for this pur-
pofe injlar omnium ; for it makes all forcible a<Rs of
fmuggling, carried on in defiance of tire laws, or even
in difguife to evade them, felony without benefit of cler¬
gy : enabling, that if three or more perfons fhall afi
fumble, wdth fire-arms or other offenfive weapons, to af-
filt in the illegal exportation or importation of goods,
or in refeuing the fame after feizure, or in refeuing of¬
fenders in cuffody for fuch offences: or fhall pafs with
fuch goods in difguife ; or (hall wound, {boot at, or af-
fault, any officers of the revenue when in the execution
of their duty 5 fuch perfons fhall be felons, without the
benefit of clergy.
When we confider the nature, and ftill more the hi-
ftory of mankind, we muff allow that the enabling of
fevere penal laws is not the way to prevent crimes. It
were indeed much to be wifhed that there w-ere no fuch
thing as a political crime ; for the generality of men,
but efpecially the lower orders, not difeerning the pro¬
priety or utility of fuch laws, confider them as oppref-
five and tyrannical, and never hefitate to violate them
when they can do it with impunity. Inflead therefore Smith's
of puniffiing fmugglers, it rvould be much better to re- Wealth
move the temptation. But the high duties which have
been impofed upon the importation of many different'01’in'
forts of foreign goods, in order to difeourage their con-
fumption in Great Britain, have in many cafes ferved
only to encourage fmuggling ; and in all cafes have re¬
duced the revenue of the cufloms below what more mo¬
derate duties wmuld have afforded. The faying of Dr
Swift, that in the arithmetic of the cuftoms two and
two, inftead of making four, make foiuetimes only one,
holds perfebtly true vuth regard to fuch heavy duties,
which never could have been impofed, had not the mer¬
cantile fyftem taught us, in many cafes, to employ tax¬
ation as an inftrument, not of revenue, but of mono-
Pol7;
The bounties which are fometimes given upon the
exportation of home produce and manufablures, and the
drawbacks which are paid upon the re-exportation of
the greater part of foreign goods, have given occaficn
to many frauds, and to a fptcies of fmuggling more de-
ftrubtive of the public revenue than any other. In or¬
der to obtain the bounty or drawback, the goods, it is
well known, are fometimes (hipped and font to fea, but
foon
S M Y [ 4:
loon afterwards clandeftinely relanded in fome oilier part
of the country. • ,
Heavy duties being impofed upon almolt ail goods
imported, our merchant importers fmuggle as much,
and make entry of as little as they can. Our merchant
exporters, on the contrary, make entry of more than
they export j fometimes out'of vanity, and to pafs for
great dealers in goods which pay no duly j and fome¬
times to gain a bounty or a drawback. Our exports,
in confequence of thefe different frauds, appear upon
the cuftomhoufe books greatly to overbalance our im¬
ports ; to the unfpeakable comfort of thofe politicians
who meafure the national profperity by what they call
the balance of trade.
SMUT, in Hujbandry, a difeafe in corn, when the
grains, inftead of being filled with flour, aie fun of a
Itinking black powder. See Wheat.
SMYRNA, or Ismir, at prefent the largeff^ and
riche ft citv of Afla Minor, is fituated in north latitude
58° 28', and in E. Long. 270 25' from Greenwich, and
about 183 miles weft by foutb of Conftantinopk. The
town extends along the (bore about half a mile on a
gentle declivity. The houfes of the Englifti, French,
and Dutch confuls are handfome ftruefures; thefe, with
moft of thofe occupied by the Chriftian merchants, are
waftied on one fids by the fea, forming a ftreet named
Yranli-flreet, from its being folely inhabited by Euro¬
pean Chriftians. In the year 1763 the whole _ of this
quarter was confumcd by fire 1 the lols tuftained by
this calamity in merebandjfe was eftimated at a million
and a half of Furkifti dollars, or near 200,000!. fter-
ling. The port is one of the fineft of the Levant, it
being able to contain the largeft fleet ; and indeed
there are feldom in it fewer than 100 fhips of different
nations.
A caftle ftands at its entrance, and commands all the
{hipping which fail in or out. There is likewife an old
ruinous caftle, near a mile in circumference, which ftands
in the upper part of the city, and, according to tradi¬
tion, was built by the emprefs Helena : and near it is
an ancient ftrufture, faid to be the remains of a palace
where the Greek council was held when Smyrna was
the metropolis of Afia Minor. They alfo fhow the
ruins of an amphitheatre, where it is {aid St Polycarp,
the firft biftiop, fought with lions.
This city is about four miles in circumference, and
n.early of a triangular form 5 but the lide next the
mountain is much longer than the other Tides. The
houfes are low, and moftly built with clay walls, on ac¬
count of the earthquakes to which the country is fub-
je£t ; but the caravanferas and fome other of the public
buildings have an air of magnificence. The ftreets are
wide, and almoft a continued bazar, in which a great
part of the merchandife of Europe and Afia is expofed
to fale, with plenty of provifions •, though thefe are not
io cheap as i-n many other parts of Turkey, on account
of the populoufnefs of the place, and the great refort
of foreigners. It is faid to contain 15,000 Turks
10,000 Greeks, 1800 Jews, 200 Armenians, and 200
Franks : but the whole population is computed at
120,000. The Turks have 19 mofques; two churches
belong to the Greeks •, one to the Armenians •, and the
Jews have eight fynagogues. The Romanifts have
three convents. There is alfo one of the fathers Della
Terra Santa. Here refides an archbiftiop of the Greek
7 ] . SNA
church 5 a Latin biftiop who has a falary from Rome,
with the title of biftiop of Smyrna ?/z par tibia infidehum ;
and the Englifti and Dutch fadories have each their _
chaplain.
The walks about the town are extremely pleafani,
particularly on the weft fide of I1 rank itreel, where
there are feveral little groves of orange and lemon trees,
which being always clothed with leaves, blofloms, and
fruit, regale feveral of the fenfes at the lame time, ^-be
vines which cover the little hills about Smyrna afford^
both a delightful profped and plenty of grapes, or
which good wine is made. Ihefe hills are agreeably
interfperfed with fertile plains, little forefts or olives
and other fruit-trees, and many pleaiure-houfes, to
which the Franks ufually retire during the lummer. In
the neighbourhood of Smyrna is great plenty of game
and wild-fowl, and particularly deer and wild-hogs.
The fea alfo abounds with a variety of good filh. Ine
European Chriftians are here allowed all imaginable li¬
berties, and ufually clothe themfelves after the Euro¬
pean manner.'
The chief commerce of this city confrfts in raw filk,
frlk-ftuffs, grograms, and cotton yarn.
However, the unheakhfulnefs of the fituation, and
more efpecially the frequent earthquakes, from which,
it is faid, they are icarcely ever free for two years to¬
gether, and which have been felt 40 days fucceflrvely,
are an abatement of the pleaiure that might otherwise
be enjoyed here. A very dreadful one happened in
June r688, which overthrew a great number of the
houfes 3 and the rock opening where tne caftle flood,
fwallowed it up, and no lefs than 5000 perfons periflied
on this occalion.
In the year 1758, fo defolating a plague raged here,
that fcarcely a fufficient number of the inhabitants fur-
vived to gather in the fruits of the earth. In the year
1772, three-fourth parts of the city were confumed by
fire ; and fix years after it was vifited by the moft dread¬
ful earthquakes, which continued from the 25th of June
to the 5th of July ) by which lucceflive calamities the
city has been fo much reduced, that its former confe¬
quence is never likely to be leftored.
The ladies here wear the oriental drefs, confifting of
large trowfers or breeches, which reacn to the ancle j
long veils of rich filk or velvet, lined in winter with
coftly furs 5 and round their waift an embroidered zone
with clafps of filver or gold. Their hair is plaited,
and defeends down the back often in great profufion.
The girls have fometimes above twenty thick treffes,
befides two or three encircling the head as a coronet,
and fet off with flowers and plumes of feathers, pearls,
or other jewels. They commonly ftain it of a chei'nut
colour, which is the moft defued. Their apparel and
carriage are alike antique. It is remarkable that the
trowfers are mentioned in a fragment of Sappho as part
of the female drefs.
SMYRNIUM, Alexanders ; a genus of plants be¬
longing to the clafs of pentandria, and to the order of
digynia ; and in the natural fyftem ranging under the
45th order, Umbellatcc. See Botany Index.
SNAFFLE, in the manege, is a very {lender bit-
mouth without any branches, much ufed in England 7
the true bridles being referved for war.
SNAIL, in Zoology. See Helix, Conchology
Index, and Limax, Helminthology Index
Smyrna
11.
Snail.
2 H 2
<4 V A V V
\
'b’na^kf
S N
SNAKE, in Zoology.
Oi'HiOLOG Y Index.
A [4
See Anguis- and Serpens,
23 ]
S N ' E
S’NAKE-Stones, Ammonite, in Natural Hi/lory, the
name of a large genus of foffil fhells, very few if any of
which are yet known in their recent ftate, or living
either on our own or any other fhores ; fo that it feems
wonderful whence fo vail a number and variety of them
ihould be brought into our fubterranean regions. They
feem indeed difperfed in great plenty throughout the
world, but nowhere are found in greater numbers, beau¬
ty, and variety, than in our ifland.
Mr Harenberg found prodigious numbers of them on
the banks of a river in Germany. He traced this river
through its feveral windings for many miles, and among
a great variety of oelemnitae, cornua ammonis, and coch-
i'tae, of various kinds ; he found alfo great quantities of
wood of recent petrifaftion, which ftill preferved plain
marks of the axe by which it had been cut from the
trees then growing on the fliore. The water of this river
he found in dry feafons, when its natural fprings were
not dimted with rains, to be confiderably heavier than
common water ; and many experiments fliowed him
that it contained ferruginous, as well as ftony particles,
in great quantity, whence the petrifactions in it appear¬
ed the lefs wonderful, though many of them of recent
date.
Of the cornua ammonis, or ferpent-ftones, he there
obferved more than 30 different fpecics. They lie im-
merfed in a bluifh foffil ftone, of a foft texture and fatty
appearance, in prodigious numbers, and of a great va¬
riety of fizes, from the larger known forts down to
fuch as could not be feen without very accurate infpec-
tion or the affiftance of a microfcope. Such as lie in
the fofteft of thefe ffones are foft like their matrix, and
eafily crumble to pieces 5 others are harder. In a piece
ol this Hone, of the bignefs of a finger, it is common to
find 30 or more of thefe foffils j and often they are feen
only in form of white fpecks, fo minute that their fi¬
gure cannot be diftinguifhed till examined by the mi¬
crofcope.
A hey all confift of feveral volufae, which are different
in number in the different fpecies, and their ftrise alfo
are extremely various ; fome very deep with very high
ridges between them, others very flight; fome flraight,
others crooked j others undulated, and fome ternuna-
ting in dots, tubercles, or cavities, towards the back,
and others having tubercles in two or three places.
I hey are all compofed of a great number of chambers
or cells, in the manner of the nautilus Grascorum, each
having a communication with the others, by means of a
pipe or fiphunculus. There is a fmall white ftiell fiflr of
Barbadoes, which feems truly a recent animal of this
genus ; and in the Eaft Indies there is another alfo,
fmall and grayilh ; but the large and beautifully marked
pries are found only foflil.
They are compofed of various foflil bodies, often of
quarry ftone, fometimes of the matter of the common
pyrites, and of a great variety of other fubftances j and
though they appear ufually mere flones, yet in fome the
pearly part of the original (hell is preferved in all its
beauty. Sometimes alfo, while the outer fubftance is
of the matter of the pyrites, or other coarfe, flony, or
mineral matter, the inner cavity is filled with a pure
white fpar of the common plated texture. This gives
a great beauty to the fpecimen. The cornua ammonis,
SiisTke
II
Snerrzins
or fnake-ftones, are iound in many parts of England
particularly in Yorkfliire, where they are very plentiful
in the alum rocks of feveral fizes.
SNAKE-Root See Poly gala, Botany Index. ' v
^ See PoLYG°™, Botany Index.
SINAI EDHAGON. See Antirrhinum, Botany
Index.
SNEEZING, a convulfive motion of the mufcles of
the bread, whereby the air is expelled from the nofe
with much vehemence and noife. It is caufed by the
irritation of the upper membrane of the nofe, occafioned
by acrid fubftances float.ng in the air, or by medicines
called Jt crnutalory.
1 his irritation is performed either externally by
ftrcng fmeJls, as marjoram, rofes, &c. or by dull float¬
ing in the air, and taken in by infjriration j or by (harp
pungent medicines, as creffes and other fternutatories
which vellicate the membrane of the nofe 3 or internally
by the acrimony of the lympha or mucus, which* natu-
rally moiftens that membrane. The matters calf forth
in fneezing come primarily from the nofe and throat :
. pituitary membrane continually exuding a mucus
thither 3 and, fecondarily, from the breafl, the trachea
and tlie bronchia of the lungs.
. Tke pradtice of faluting the perfon who fneezed ex-
iffed in Africa, among nations unknown to the Greeks
and Romans. The accounts we have of Monomotapa
inform us *, that when the prince fneezes, all his fub- * ,
jefts in the capital are advertifcd of it, that they may ,4^
offer up prayers for his fafely. The author of the con-
queft of Peru affures us, that the cacique of Guachoia
having fneezed in prefence of the Spaniards, the In¬
dians of. his train fell proftrate before him, If retched
forth their hands, and difplayed to him the accuftomed
marks of. refpedf, while they invoked the fun to en¬
lighten him, to defend him, and to be his conftant
guard.
Every body knows that the Romans faluted each
other on thefe occafions: and Pliny relates f, that Tibe-f-W*. «/?-
rms exadled thefe figns of homage when drawn in hisiYaf-lib-"•
chariot. Superftition, whofe influence can debafe every Cap' '*•
thing,, had degraded this cuflom for feveral a<res, by
attaching favourable or unfavourable omens to fntezino-
according to the hour of the day or night, according to
the figns of the zodiac, according as a work was more
or lefs advanced, or according as one had fneezed to the
right or to the left J. If a man fneezed at rifing from t Stand
table or from, his bed, it was neceffary for him to fit or Hameri
lie down again. You are ftruck with aftonithment, fa id Cammcnt.
i imotheus to the Athenians, who wiflied to return into
the harbour with, their fleet §, becaufe he had fneezed 3$ Erontin.
jou are ftruck with aftonifhment, becaufe among ic,ocobb- *• caP*
there is one man whofe brain is moift. ’ *i-
Polydore Virgil pretends, that in the time of Gre¬
gory the Great, there reigned in Italy an epidemic dif-
lemper,. which, carried off by fneezing all thofe who
weie feized by it 3 and that this pontiff ordered prayers
to be made againft it, accompanied by certain figns of
the. crofs. But befides that, there are very few cafes in
which fneezing can be confidered as dangerous, and that
it is frequently a favourable fymptom Jj': it is evident »
that.we ought not to date from the fixlh century ttitcrat.Hal-
ongin Oi a cuftcm which lofes itfelf in the obfeurity of At? Pkyj.
antiquity. Avicenna and Cardan lay, it is a fort of con-
vulfton, which gives occaficn to dread an epilepfy, ami
that
S N E r 429 ] S N O
Sni:ezi^^. that this difeafe is endeavoured- to be warded off by
V—-y—— prayers. Clement of Alexandria confiders it as a mark
of intemperance and effeminacy, which ought to be
profcribed. And he inveighs bitterly againft thofe who
endeavour to procure fneezing by external aid. Mon¬
taigne, on the contrary, explains this fab! in a tone ra¬
ther cynical. It is lingular enough, that fo many ridi¬
culous, contradi&ory, and fuperftitious opinions, have
not abolilhed thofe cuftomary civilities which are Hill
preferved equally among high and low ; and which only
the Anabaptifts and Quakers have rejebled, becaufe
they have renounced falutalions in every cafe.
Among the Greeks fneezing was almoft always a good
omen. It excited marks of tendernefs, of refpecf, and
attachment. TL'he genius of Socrates informed him by
* Plutarch fneezing, when it was neceflary to perform any action
dc gen. So- q'he young Parthenis, hurried on by her paffion, refol-
crat'-n ved to write to Savpedon an avowal of her love f ; Hie
\jlrijlen- j-neezes jp tpe moq tencier and impaffioned part of her
letter : This is fufficient for her ; this incident fupplies
the place of an anfwer, and perfuades her that Sarpedon
is her lover. Penelope, haraffed by the vexatious court-
fliip of her fuitors,,begins to curfe them all, and to pour
% Homeri forth vows for the return of Uiyffes _t. Her fon iele-
Odyjf. lib. maebus interrupts her by a loud ineeze. She inllantly
xvil- exults with joy, and regards this fign as an affurance of
the approaching return of her hufband. Xenophon was
haranguing his troops j a foldier fneezed in the mo¬
ment when he was exhorting them to embrace a dange¬
rous but neceffiry refolution. The whole army, moved
by this prefage, determine to purfue the projebf of their
general-, and Xenophon orders facrifices to Jupiter the
\ Xenoph. preferver §.
Anab. This religious reverence for fneezing, fo ancient and
fo univerfal even in the times of Homer, always excited
the curiofity of the Greek philofophers and of the rab¬
bins. Thefe la it have fpread a tradition, that, after the
creation of the world, God made a general law to this
purport, that every living man fhould fneeze but once
in his life, and that at the fame inftant he fhould render
n Arad, des up his foul into the hand of his Creator j|, without any
Infcrip. preceding indifpofition. Jacob obtained an exemption
Vu1,1V' from the common law, and the favour of being informed
of his laft hour : He fneezed and did not die ; and this
Hgn of death was changed into a fign of life. Notice
cf this was fent to all the princes of the earth ; and they
ordained, that in future fneezing fhould be accompanied
with forms of bleffing, and vows for the perfons who
fneezed. t
Ariflotle remounts hkewife to the fources of natural
religion. He obferves, that the brain is the origin of
the nerves, of our fentiments, our fenfations, the feat of
* Arijlot. the foul, the image of the Divinity * ; that upon all
tn Prob. t]lefe accounts> the fubftance of the brain has ever been
held in honour -, that the firft men fwore by their head )
that they durfl hot touch nor eat the brains of any ani¬
mal ; that it ivas even a facred word which they dared
not to pronounce. Filled with thefe ideas, it is not
wonderful that they extended their reverence even to
fieezing. Such is the opinion of the moft ancient and
fugacious philofophers of Greece.
According to mythology, the firft fign of life Pro¬
metheus’s artificial man gave was by fternutation. 'Phis
fuppofed creator is faid to have ftolen a portion of the
Solar rays j and filling with them a phial, which he had
made on purpofe, fealed it up hermetically. He inftant- Sneezing
ly dies back to his favourite automaton, and opening H.
the phial holds it clofe to the ftatue ; the rays flill re- , ‘
taining all their a&ivity, infinuate themfelves through
the pores, and fet the fiftitious man a fneezing. Pro¬
metheus, tranfported with the fuccefs of his machine,
offers up a fervent prayer, with wifhes for the preferva-
tion cf fo fingular a being. His automaton obferved
him, remembering his ejaculations, was very careful, on
the like occalions, to offer thefe wilhes in behalf of his
defeendants, who perpetuated it from father to fon in
all their colonies.
SNIGGLING, a method of filhing for eels, chiefly
ufed in the day-time, when they are found to hide
themfelves near wears, mills, or flood-gates. It is per¬
formed thus : Take a flrong line and hook, baited with
a garden-worm, and obferving the holes where the eels
lie hid, thruft your bait into them by the help of a
flick and if there be any, you fhall be fare to have
a bite ; and may, if your tackling hold, get the largeft
eels.
SNIPE, in Ornithology. See Scolopax and Shoot¬
ing .
SNORING, in Medicine, otherwife called Jlertor, is
a found like that of the cerchnon, but greater and more
manifeft.
Many confound tbofe affedlions, and make them to
differ only in place and magnitude, calling by the name
of Jlertor that found or noile which is heard or fuppofed
to be made in the paffage between the palate and the
noftrils as in thofe who fleep ; that boiling or bubbling
noife, which in refpiration proceeds from the larynx or
head, or orifice of the afpera arteria, they call cerchon ;
but if the found comes from the afpera arteria ilfelf,
it is called cerchaos, that is, as fome underftand it, a
rattling, or as others a ftridulous or wheezing roughnels
of the afpera arteria. In dying perfons this affection is
called by tire Greeks rhenchos, which is a fnoring
or rattling kind of node, proceeding as it were from a
conflift between the breath and the humours in the afpe¬
ra arteria.
This and fuch like affections are owing to a weak-
nefs of nature, as when the lungs are full of pus or hu¬
mours : to which purpofe we read in the Prognoftics of
Hippocrates, “ it is a bad fign when there is no expec¬
toration, and no difeharge from the lungs, but a noife as
from an ebullition is heard in the afpera arteria from a
plenitude of humour.” ExpeCloration is iuppreffed either
by the vifeidity of the humour, which requires to be dif-
charged, and which adhering to the afpera arteria, and "
being there agitated by the breath, excites that bubbling
noife or ftertor 5 or by an obftru&ion cf the bronchia j
or, laftly, by a* compreffion of the afpera arteria and
throat, whence the paffage is ftraitened, in. which the
humours being agitated, excite fuch a kind of noife as
before deferibed. Hence Galen calls thofe who are
ftrait-breafted Jlertorous. That author afiigns but two
caufes of this fymptom, which are either the ftraitnefs
of the paffage of refpiration or redundance of humours,
or both together ; but it is neceffary to add a third, to
wit, the weak nefs of the faculty, which is the caufe of
the rhenchos in dying perfons, where nature is too weak
to make difeharges.
From, what has been faid we conclude, that this
fymptom, or this fort of fervour or ebullition in the
throat,.
toroati> 15 not always mortal, but only when nature is
oppreiied with the redundance of humour, in fuch a
manner, that the lungs cannot difcharge themfelves by
ipitting ; or the paffage appointed for the breath (being
the afpera arteria) is very much obftruaed, upon which
account many dying perfons labour under a llertor with
their mouths gaping.
. SNOW, a well known meteor, formed by the freez-
mg of the vapour of water in the atmofphere. It differs
■u-om hail and hoar-froaft, in being as it were cryffalli-
zed, wnich they are not. This appears on examining a
•lake of fnow by a magnifying glafs ; when the whole
ot it will appear to be compofed of fine (hining fpicula
diverging like rays from a centre. As the flakes fall
down through the atmofphere, they are continually
joined by more of thefe radiated fpicula, and thus in-
creaie in bulk like the drops of rain or hailftones. Dr
Drew, in a difeourfe of the nature of fnow, obferves
that many parts thereof are of a regular figure, for lhe,
moft part liars of fix point*, and are as perfed and
tranfparent ice as any we fee on a pond, &c. Upon
each of thefe points are other collateral points, fet at
the fame angles as the main points themfelves : among
•which there are divers other irregular, which are chief¬
ly broken points, and fragments of the regular ones.
Omeis aim, by various winds, feem to have been thaw¬
ed and frozen again into irregular duffers ; fo that it
ieenis as if the whole body oflhow were an infinite mafs
of icicles irregularly figured. That is, a cloud of va¬
pours being gathered into drops, the faid drops forth¬
with defeend j upon which defeent, meeting with a
freezing air as. th#y pals through a colder region, each
drop is immediately.frozen into an icicle, ffiooting itfelf
forth into feveral points ; but thefe (fill continuing their
defeent, and meeting with fome intermitting gales of
warmer air, or in their continual waftage to and fro
touching upon each other, fome of them are a little
til awed, blunted, and again frozen into duffers, or en¬
tangled fo as to fall down in what we c&MJlakes.
I he lightnefs of fnow, although it is firm ice, is ow¬
ing to the excefs of its furface, in comparifon to the
matter contained under it ; as gold itfelf may be ex¬
tended in furface till it ride upon the leaff breath of
air.
. •^•e whitenefs of fnow is owing to the Imall particles
into which it is divided ; for ice, when oounded, will
become equally white. An artificial fnow has been
made by the following experiment. A tall phial of
aquafortis being placed by the fire till it is warm, and
filings of pure filver, a few at a time, being put into it :
after a brilk ebullition, the filver will diffolvc flowly.
1 he phial being then placed in a cold window, as 'it
cools the filver particles will (hoot into cryftals, feveral
of which running together will form a flake of fnow,
which will defeend to the bottom of the phial. While
they are defeending, they reprefent perfedly a ihower
of filver fnow, and the flakes will lie upon one another
at the bottom, like real fnow upon the ground.
. According to Signior Beccaria, clouds of fnow differ
in nothing from clouds of rain, but in the circumffance
of cold that freezes them. Both the regular diffufion
of the fnow, and the regularity of the flru&ure of its
parts (particularly fome figures of fnow or hail which
fall about Turin, and which he calls rofette), ffunv that
clouds of fnow are aded upon by fome uniform caufe
4
43° J S N O
hke ek-dricity ; and he endeavours to fliow how ele&ri-
city is capable of forming thefe figures. He was con-
n-med im his . conjedures by obferving, that his appara¬
tus -or obi Giving the eledncity of the atmofphere never
?mCdvf7-beve cdriiied by fnovv as wdl as Pro-
mfior V/inthrop fometimes found his apparatus eledri-
fied by fnow when driven about by the wind, though it
had not been afteded by it when the fnow itfelf wa*
faking. more intenfe eledricily, according to Bec-
cana, unites the particles of hail more clofelv than the
more moderate eledricity does thofe of fnow, in the
fame manner as we fee that the drops of rain which
fall from thunder-clouds are larger than thofe which fall
from others, though the former defeend through a lefs
ipace. 0
But we are not to confider fnow merely as a curious
and beautiful phenomenon. The Great Difpenfer of
univerlal bounty has fo ordered it, that it is eminently
ublervient, as well as all the works of creation, to his
benevolent defigns. . Were we to judge from appearan¬
ces only, we might imagine, That io far from being ufe-
ui }° tiie earth, the cold humidity of fnow would be
oetnmental to vegetation. But the experience of all
ages aflerts the contrary. Snow, particularly in thofe
northern regions where the ground is covered with it
for feveral months, frudifies the earth, by guarding the
corn or other vegetables from the intenfer cold of the
air, and especially from the cold piercing winds. It has
been a vulgar opinion, very generally received, that fnow
fertilizes the lands on which it falls more than rain in
confequence of the nitrous Salts which it is fimpofed to
acquire by freezing. But it appears from the experi-
ments of Margraaf, in the year 1751, that the chemi-
. difference between rain and Snow water is exceed-
mgry fmall; that the latter contains a lefs proportion of
earth than the former j but neither of them contain ei¬
ther earth or any kind of fait in any quantity which
can.be fenfibly efficacious in promoting vegetation. Al¬
lowing, therefore, that nitre is a fertilizer of lands, which
many are upon good grounds difpofed utterly to denv
yet fo very fmall is the quantity of it contained in fnow’
that it cannot be fuppofed to promote the vegetation of
plants upon which the fnow has fallen. The pecu¬
liar agency of fnow, as a fertilizer in preference to rain
may. admit of a very rational explanation, without re¬
curring to nitrous Salts fuppofed to be contained in it. It
may be rationally aferibed to its fuinifliing a coverino- to
the roots of vegetables, by which they are guarded from
the influence of the atmofpheric cold, and the internal
neat of the earth is prevented from efcaping.
The internal part of the earth, by fome principle
which we do not underliand, is heated uniformly to the
48th degree of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. This degree
of heat is greater than that in which the watery juices
of vegetables freeze, and it is propagated from the in¬
ward parts of the earth to the furface, on which the ve¬
getables grow. The atmofphere being variably heated
by the adtion of the fun in different climates, and in the
fame climate at different feaibns, communicates to the
nuface of the earth and to fome diffance below it the
degree of heat or cold which prevails in itfelf. Diffe¬
rent vegetables are able to preferve life under different
degrees of cold, but all of them periffi when the cold
which reaches their roots is extreme. Providence has
thereiOie, in the coldeft climates, provided a covering
of
s N 0 [ 43
Snow, of (now for the roots of vegetables, by which they are
protected from the influence of the atmofpherical cold.
The f.iow keeps in the internal heat of the earth, which
furrounds the roots of vegetables, and defends them from
the cold of the atmofphere.
Snow or ice water is always deprived of its fixed air,
•which efcapes during the procefs of congelation. Ac¬
cordingly, as fome of the inhabitants of the Alps who
ufe it for their conftant drink have enormous wens upon
their throats, it has been aferibed to this circumifance.
If this were the caufe of thefe wens, it would be eafy
to remove it by expofing the fnow-water to the air for
fome time. But feveral eminent phyfeians have reject¬
ed the notion that fnow-v -Her is the caufe of the'e wens ;
for in Greenland, where Inow-water is commonly ufed,
the inhabitants are not affefled with fuch fwellings : on
the other hand, they are common in Sumatra where
fnow is never feen.
Sxow, in fea-affrirs, is generally the largefi. of all two-
mafled veflels employed by Europeans, and the molt
convenient for navigation.
The fails and rigging on the mainmafl; and foremafl;
of a fnow are exaflly fimilar to thofe on the fame mails
in a (hip \ only that there is a fmall mail behind the
mainmafl: of the former, which carries a fail nearly re-
fembling the mizen of a (hip. The root of the mall is
fixed on a block of wood on the quarter-deck abaft the
mainmafl: ; and the head of it is attached to the after¬
top of the maintop. The fail which is called the /ry-
fail\s exte.-.cd from its malt towards the Hern of the
veffel.
When the Hoops of war are ragged as fnows, they
are furnifhed with a horfe, which anfwers the purpole
of the tryfinl-maft, the fore-part of the fail being at¬
tached by rings to the faid horfe, in different parts of
its height.
SNOW-Grotto, an excavation made by the waters on
the fide of Mount Etna, by making their way under
the layers of lava, and by carrying away the bed of
pozzolana below them. It occurred to the proprietor,
that this place was very luitable for a magazine of
fnow : for in Sicily, at Naples, and particularly at Mai-
* ta, they are obliged for want of ice to make ufe of fnow
for cooling their wine, fherbet, and other liquors, and
for making fweetmeats.
This grotto was hired or bought by the- knights of
Malta, who having neither ice nor fnow on the burning
rock which they inhabit, have hired feveral caverns on
Etna, into which people whom they employ colleft and
preferve quantities of fnow to be fent to Malta when
needed. The grotto has therefore been repaired with¬
in at the expence of that order ; flights of iteps are cut
into it, as well as two openings from above, by which
they throw in the fnow, and through which the grotto
is enlightened. Above the grotto they have alfo le¬
velled a piece of ground of confiderable extent : this
they have inclofed with thick and lofty walls, fo that
when the winds, which at this elevation blo\v with great
violence, carry the fnow from the higher parts of the
mountains, and depofit it in the inclofure, it is retained
and artiaffed by the walls. The people then remove it
Eta the grotto through the two openings ; and it is
there laid up, and preferved in fuch a manner as to re¬
fit the force of the fummer heats } as the layers of lava
I ] S N O
with which the grotto is arched above prevent them Snow,
from making any impreffion. tmewdon-
When the feafon for exporting the fnow comes on, it ^ ~ p
is put into large bags, into which it is preffed as clofely
as poffible ; it is then carried by men out of the grotto,
and laid upon mules, which convey it to the fhore,
where fmall veffels are waiting to carry it away.
But before thofe lumps of fnow are put into bags,
they are wrapped in frelh leaves; fo that while they
are conveyed from the grotto to the fhore, the leaves
may prevent the rays of the fun from making any im-
preflion upon them.
The Sicilians carry on a confiderable trade in fnow,
which affords employment to fome thoufands of mules,
horfes, and men. They have magazines of it on the
fummits of their loftieft mountains, from which they
dirtribute it through all their cities, towns, and houfes ;
for every perfon in the ifland makes ufe of fnow. They
confider the practice of cooling their liquors as abfolute-
ly neceffary for the prefervation of health ; and in a cli¬
mate the heat of which is conftanlly relaxing the fibres,
cooling liquors, by communicating a proper tone to the
fibres of the ftomach, muff greatly ffrengthen them for
the performance of their functions.
In this climate a fcarcity of fnow is no -efs dreaded
than a fcarcity of corn, wine, or oil. We are inform¬
ed by a gentleman who was at Syracufe in the year
I777» when there was a fcarcity of fnow, the people of
the town learned that a fmall veffel loaded with that ar¬
ticle was pa fling the coafl : without a moment’s delibe¬
ration they ran in a body to the fliore, and demanded
her cargo ; which when the crew refufed to deliver up,
the Syracufans attacked and took, though with the lofs
of feveral men.
Snoji-Drop. See Chionanthus, Botany Index.
SNOWDON hill, the name of a mountain in Caer-
narvon-fhire in Wales, generally thought to be the high-
eft in Britain 5 though fome have been of opinion that
its height is equalled, or even exceeded, by mountains
in the Highlands of Scotland. The mountain is fur-
rounded by many others,- called in the Welfti language
Crib Coch, Crib y Di/Ull, Lliweddy yr Arran, &c.
According to Mr Pennant *, this mountainous traff * Journey
yields fcarcely ?„ny corn. Its produce is cattle and flieep r,10 Sn0!W-
which, during fummer, keep very high in the mounl^fl?z'
tains, followed by their owners with their families, who
refide during that feafon in havodtys, or “ fummer dairv-
houfes,” as the farmers in the Swifs Alps do in their
fennes. Thefe houfes confift of a long low room, with
a hole at one end to let out the fmoke from the fire
which is made beneath. Their furniture is very fimple 5
ft ones are fubftituted for ftools, and their beds are of
hay, ranged along the Hides. They manufacture their
own clothes, and dye them with the lichen otnphaloides
and lichen parietinus, moffes collected from the rocks.
During fummer the men pafs their time in tending their
herds or in making hay, &c. and the women in milking
or in making butter and cheefe. For their own ufe they
milk both ewes and' goats, and make cheefe of the
milk. Their diet confifts of milk, cheefe, and butter j
and their ordinary drink is whey ; though they have
by way of referve, a few bottles of very ftrojig beer
which they ufe as a cordial when fick. They are people -
of good underftanding, wary, and circumfpefl j tall,
thin, ,
s N O
t^in, ana of ftrong conflitutions. In the
tiiey defcend into the hen dref, or “ old dwelling ”
here they pafs their time in inaftivity.
1 he view from the higheft peak of Snowdon is very
extenfive. From it Mr Pennant farv the county of
Cnefter, the hign hills of Yorkfhire, part of the north of
Fngland, Scotland, and Ireland ; a plain view of the ifle
of Man ) and that of Anglefea appeared like a map ex¬
tended under his feet, with every rivulet viiible. Our
author took much pains to have this view to advantage j
fat up at a farm on the weft till about 12, and walked
up the whole way. The night was remarkably fine
arid ftarry ; towards morning the ftars faded away, lea¬
ving an interval of darknefs, which, however, was foon
difpelled by the dawn of day. The body of the fun ap-
peared moft diftinft, wnth the roundnefs of the moon
before it appeared too brilliant to be looked at. The
iea, wnich. bounded the weftern part of the profpect
appeared gilt wuth the fun-beams, firft in {lender ftreaks*
and at length glowed with rednefs. The profpea: was
diIcloled like the gradual drawing up <Y a curtain in a
theatre j till at laft the heat became fufficiently ftrono-
to raife mills from the various lakes, which in a flight
degree obfeured the prolpeft. The lhadow of the moun¬
tain extended many miles, and fhowed its bicapitated
rorm ; the Wyddfa making one head, and Crib y Diftill
the other.. At. this time he counted between 20 and
30 lakes either in Caernarvon or in Merionethshire. In
making another vifit, the Iky was obfeured very foon
after he got up. A vaft mill involved the whole cir¬
cuit of the mountain, and the profpea down was hor¬
rible. It gave an idea.of numbers of abyffes, concealed
by a thick fmoke furioully circulating around them.
\ ery often a guft of wind made an opening in the
clouds, which gave a fine and diftina villa of "lake and
valley. Sometimes they opened in one place, at others
in many at once } exhibiting a moft ftrange and perplex-
ing fight of water, fields, rocks, and chafms. They then
clofed again, and every thing was involved in darknefs j
in a few minutes they would feparate again, and repeat
the above-mentioned feene with infinite variety. From
this profpedl our traveller defeended with great reluc¬
tance 5 but betore he had reached the place where his
horfes were left, he was overtaken by a thunder ftorm.
Ihe rolling, of the thunder-claps, being reiterated by
the mountains, was inexpreflibly awful; and after he
had mounted, he was in great danger of being fwept
away by the torrents which poured down in confequence
of a very heavy rain.
It is very rare (Mr Pennant obferves) that the tra¬
veller gets a proper day to afeend this hill : it indeed
often appears clear ; but by the evident attraftion of the
clouds by this lofty mountain, it becomes fuddenly and
unexpeftedly enveloped in mill, when the clouds have
juft before appeared very high and very remote. At
times, he obferved them lower to half their height ; and
notwitliftanding they have been difperfed to the right
and left, yet they have met from both fides, and united
to involve the fummit in one great obfeurity.
I he height ol Snowdon was meafured, in 1682, by
Mr Cafwell,. with inftruments made by Flamftead : ac¬
cording to his menfuration, the height is 3720 feet; but
more modern computations make it only 3568, reckon¬
ing from the quay at Caernarvon to the higheft peak.
The ftone that compofes this mountain is exceflively
3
. [ 432 ] S O A
winter-time haid. Large coarfe cryftals, and frequently cubic py- SnotvrW
ntes, are found m the fiffures. An immenfe quantity of " "
water ruflies down the lides of Snowdon and the neiU-
bourmg mountains, infomuch that Mr Pennant fuppofes.
if collected into one ftream, they would exceed the wa¬
ters of the Thames.
SNUFF, a powder chiefly made of tobacco, the ufe
here'^^1 ^ ^ kn°Wn t0 need ^ description
Tobacco is ufually the bafis of fnuffj other matters
°n!y redrt-° glVe 11 a more agreeable feent, &c.
1 le kinds of fnuft, and their feveral names, are infinite
and new ones are daily invented ; fo that it would be
not tor fay impoflib^ to give a detail of them.
We Ihall only fay, that there are three principal forts •
the firft granulated j the fccond an impalpable powder •
and the third the bran, or coarfe part remaining after
lifting the fecond fort.
“ Every profeffed, inveterate, and incurable fnuff-
taker (fays Lord Stanhope), at a moderate computa¬
tion, takes one pinch in ten minutes. Every pinch,
with the agreeable ceremony of blowing and wiping the’
nofe and other incidental circumftances, confumes a mi¬
nute and a. half. One minute and a half out of every
ten, allowing 16 hours, to a fnuff-taking day, amounts
to two hours and 24 minutes out of every natural dav
or one day out of every ten. One day out of every iq
amounts to 36 days and a half in a year. Hence if we
fuppole the pradice to be perfifted in 40 years, two en¬
tire years of the fnuff-taker’s life will be dedicated to
tickling his nofe, and two more to blowing it. The
expence of fnuff, fnuff boxes, and handkerchiefs, will be
the fubjed of a fecond effay j in which it will appear,
that this luxury encroaches as much on the income of
the fnuff taker as it does on his time; and that by a
proper application of the time and money thus loft to
the public, a fund might be conftituted for'the difchar<7e
of the national debt.” See Nicotiana.
SNYDERS, Francis, a Flemilh painter, born at
Antwerp in 1579, and bred under his countryman Hen-
ry Van. Balen. His genius firft difplayed itfelf in paint¬
ing fruit : he afterwards attempted animals, huntiifgs,
&c. in which he exceeded all his predeceffors. He
alfo painted kitchens, &c..and gave dignity to fubjeds
that feemed incapable of it. He was made painter to
Ferdinand and Ifabella, archduke and duehefs, and be¬
came attached to the houfe of the cardinal infant of
Spain. The king of Spain and the eledor Palatine
adorned their palaces with huntings by this artift. Ru¬
bens, Joidaens, and Snyders, ufed to cc-operate in the
enriching of each other’s pidures according to their
feveral talents j and thus they became more valuable
than if finilhed by either of them fingly. Snyders died
in 1657.
SOAL-fish. See Pleurgnectes, Ichthyology
Index.
SOAP, a compofition of cauftic, fixed alkaline fait,
and oil, fometimes hard and dry, fometimes foft and li¬
quid ; much ufed in walhing, whitening linens, and by
dyers and fullers.—Soap may be made by feveral me¬
thods, which, however, all depend upon the fame prin¬
ciple. The foap which is ufed in medicine is made
without heat.
In manufadures where large quantities of it are pre- *
pared, foap is made with heat. A lixivium of quicklime
and
S O A [ 433 ]
and foda is made, but is lefs concentrated than that foap.
above referred to, and only fo much that it can fuftam
a frelh e^e. A part of this lixivium is to be even di¬
luted and mixed with an equal weight of oil of olives.
The mixture is to be put on a gentle fire, and agita¬
ted that the union may be accelerated. When the mix¬
ture begins to unite well, the reft of the lixivium is to be
added to if, and the whole is to be digefted with a
very gentle heat, till the foap be completely made. > A
trial is to be made of it, to examine whether the juft
proportion of oil and alkali has been obferved. Good
foap of this kind ought to be firm, and very white when
cold ; not fubjeft to become moift by expomre. to air,
and entirely mifcible with pure water, to which it com¬
municates a milky appearance, but wit out cm) tops
of oil floating on the furface. When the foap has not
thefe qualities, the combination has not been well made,
or the quantity of fait or oil is too great, which faults
muft be corrected. , , , r ,
In foft or liquid foaps, green or black foaps cheaper
oils are employed, as oil of nuts, of hemp, of filh, &cc.
Thefe foaps, excepting in confidence, are not eifentially
different from white foap. .
Fixed alkalies are much difpofed to unite with oils
that are not volatile, both vegetable and animal, fince
this union can be made even without heat, i he com¬
pound refulting from this union partakes at the lame
time of the properties of oil and of alkali ; but the e
properties are modified and tempered by each other,
according to the general rule of combinations.. Alkali
formed into foap has not nearly the fame acrimony as
when it is pure •, it is even deprived of almoit all its
caufticity, and its other faline alkaline properties are
almoft entirely abolhhed. The fame oil contained^ m
foap is lefs combuftible than when pure, from its union
with the alkali, which is an uninflammable body. It
is mifcible, or even foluble, in water, to a certain de¬
gree, by means of the alkali. Soap is entirely foluble
in fpirit of wine •, and ftill better in aquavit* fliarpened
by a little alkaline fait, according to an obfervation of
Mr Geoffrey. . „ . n .
The manufacture of foap in London firft began in
the year 1524-, before which time this city was ferved
with white foap from foreign countries, and with gray
foap fpeckled with white from Briftol, which was fold
for a penny a pound j and alfo with black ioap, w'hich
fold for a halfpenny the pound.
'J'he principal foaps of our own manufacture aie the
foft, the hard, and the ball foap. I he foft foap is ei¬
ther white or green. The procefs of making each ot
thefe {hall noiv be deferibed.
Green foft foap. The chief ingredients ufed m ma¬
king this are lees drawm from pot-afh and lime, boiled
up with tallow and oil. Firft, the ley of a proper de-
gree of ftrength (which muft be eflimated by the weight
of the liquor), and tallow, are put into the coppei to¬
gether, and as foon as they boil up the oil is added 5
the fire is then damped or (topped up, while the ingre¬
dients remain in the copper to unite", when they are
united, the copper is again made to boil, being fed or
filled with lees as it boils, till there be a fuflicient quan¬
tity put into it} then it is boiled off and put into caflcs.
When this foap is firft made it appears uniform 5 but
in about a week’s time the tallow feparates from the
oil into thofe white grains which we fee in common
Vol. XIX. Part II.
S O A
loaiJ. Soap thus made would appear yellow, but by a ^
mixture of indigo added at the end of the boiling, it is
rendered green, that being the colour which refults
from the mixture of yellow and blue.
White foap. Of this one fort is made after the lame
manner as green foft foap, oil alone excepted, which is
not ufed in white. The other fort of white loft foap is
made from the lees of allies of lime boiled up two diffe¬
rent times with tallow. Firft, a quantity of lees and
tallow are put into the copper together, and kept boil¬
ing, being fed with lees as they boil, until the whole is
boiled fufficiently ; then the lees are feparated or dit-
charged from the tallowifti part, which part is removed
into a tub, and the lees are thrown away ; this is called
the frtl half-boil: then the copper is filled again with
freftr tallow and lees, and the firft half-boil is put out
of the tub into the copper a fecond time, where it is
kept boiling with frefti lees and tallow till the foap is
produced. It is then put out of the copper into the
fame fort of calks as are ufed for green fott ioap. 1 he
common foft foap ufed about London, generaxly of a
greenifh hue, with fome white lumps, is prepared chief¬
ly with tallow: a blackifti fort, more common m iome
other places, is faid to be made with whale oil.
Hard foap is made with lees from afhes and tallow,
and is moft commonly boiled twice: the firft, called the
half-boil, hath the fame operation as the firft half-boil of
foft white foap. Then the copper is charged with frelh
lees again, and the firft half boil put into it, whem it
is kept boiling, and fed with lees as it boils, till it grams
or is boiled enough : then the ley is difeharged from it,
and the foap put into a frame to cool and harden. Com¬
mon fait is made ufe of for the purpofe of graining the
foap ", for when the oil or tallow has been united with
the ley, after a little boiling, a quantity of fait is thrown
into the mafs, which diffolving readily in water, but
not in the oil or tallow, draws out the water in a con-
fiderable degree, fo that the oil or tailow united with
the fait of the ley fwims on the top. When the ley is
of a proper ftrength, lefs fait is neceffary to raife the
curd than when it is too weak. It muft be obferved,
that there is no certain time for bringing off a boiling
of any of thefe forts of foap : it frequently takes up
part of two days. . . .
Ball foap, commonly ufed in the north, is made with
lees from afhes and tallow. 1 he lees are put into the
copper, and boiled till the watery part is quite gone,
and there remains nothing in the copper but a fort 01
faline matter (the very ftrength or effence of the ley);
to this the tallow is put, and the copper is kept bod¬
ing and ftirring for above half an hour, in which time
the foap is made ; and then it is put out of the cop-
per into tubs or ba{k.ets with (beets in them, and imme-
diately (whilft foft) made into balls. It requires near
24 hours in this procefs to boil away the watery part
of the ley. . , . . . _
When oil unites with alkali m the formation ot^ ioap,
it is little altered in the conneftion of its principles ;
for it may be feparated from the alkali by decompofing
foap with any acid, and may be obtained nearly in its
original ftate. . t
Concerning the decompofition of foap by means oi
acids, we muft obferve, firft, that all acids, even the
weakeft vegetable acids, may occafion this decompofi¬
tion, becaufe every one of them has a greater affinity
’ I than
Soap.
^ ^ ^ C 434 1 S O A
SeCOndI/> lbdl; aclds’.evcri niuc'h of its reputation in jaundice, Cnee it is rtrv
l: n t\r n til of rr-. 1*1 A - 1 1 ^ ~
Woodville'
JVIrdical
So tany,
?■ 350,
than oil with fixed alkali,
when united with any bails, excepting fixed alkali, are
capable ot occafiomng the fame decompoikion j whence
all ammomacal falls, all falls with bales of earth, and all
thole with metallic bafes, are capable of decompofino'
'?ap> tllC fame manner as bifengaged acids are ; with
tms difference, that the oil feparated from the fixed al¬
kali, by the acid ol thefe falts, may unite more or lefs
intimately with the lubftance which was the bafis of the
neutral lalt employed for the decompaction.
boap may alio be decampofed by dilfillation, as Le-
mery has done. When firit expofed to fire, it yields a
phlegm called by him a /pin} ; which neverthelefs is
neither acid nor alkaline, but fome water which enters
into the compofition of foaP. It becomes more and
more coloured and empyreumatic as the fire is increa-
led, winch fhows that it contains the moil fubtle part
oi the oil. h feems even to raife along with it by
it rhei 011 and a£tion of the fire’ a fmali Pal‘t of the
alkali or the loap : for as the liime chemift obferves, it
occallous a precipitate in a folution of corrofive fubli-
mate. Atter this phlegm the oil rifes altered, precife-
Y as “ It; \lab been diltiiled from quicklime, that is,
empyreumatic, foluble in fpirit of wine, at firft fuffi-
ciently fubtle and afterwards thicker. An alkaline re-
fiduous coal remains in the retort, confiding chiefly of
me mineral alkali contained in the foap, and which may
be dilengaged from the coal by calcination in an open
nre? and obtained in its pure (late*
Alkaline loaps are very ufeful in many arts and trades
and allb in chemiflry and medicine. Their principal uti¬
lity confifts in a deterlive quality that they receive from
i leu alkali, which, although it is in fome meafure fatura-
wl . °b’ ^ yet capable of adling upon oily matters,
and of rendering them faponaceous and mifcible with
water. Hence foap is very ufeful to cleafe any fub-
uances from all fat matters with which they happen to
be foiled. Soap is therefore daily ufed for the walking
and whitening of linen, for the cleanfing of vvoollen-
*loths from oll» arjb for whitening filk and freeing it
ii om the refinous yarnilh with which it is naturally co¬
vered.^ Pure alkaline lixiviums being capable of diflbl-
vmg oils more effedlually than foap, might be employed
.or tlie lame purpofes ; but when this aftivitv is not
mitigated by oil, as it is in foap, they are capable of al¬
tering, and even of deflroying entirely by their caufti-
city, molt fubltances, Specially animal matters, as filk,
wool, and others : whereas foap cleanfes from oil almoft
as effectually as pure alkali, without danger of altering
or deliroying ; which renders it very ufeful.
f Soap was imperfeaiy known to the ancients. It is
mentioned by Pliny as made of fat and alhes, and as an
invention of the Gauls. Aretseus and others informs us,
C^‘lr0m he Romans-..Its »«<»«. wcordioK to if elfewhere 2j hours, notice i„ A.W S kAAt
cat ufe from the Romans. Its virtues, according to
Bergius, are detergent, refolvent, and aperient, and its
ule recommended in jaundice, gout, calculous complaints,
and in ob truaions of the vifeera. The efficacy of foap
11 ^^ °x tilePc difeafes was experienced by Sylvius,
and fines recommended very generally by various au-
thers who have written on this complaint j and it has
alio been thought of ufe in fupplying the place of bile
m the primae vim The utility of this medicine in ide-
rf C-S WaS.1mferred chleriy its fuppofed power
difiolving biliary concretions 5 but this medicine has
i a   idiiGc 11 is now
known tnat gali-ffones have been found in many after
dea h who had been daily taking foap for feveral months
and even years. Qt lts good effefts ;n ur;n&ry caIcu.
lous aftetuons, we have the tertimony of feveral, efpe-
cuniy when diflblved in lime-water, by which its efficacy
is ccnnderably mcreafed ; for it thus becomes a powei-
fu lolvent or mucus, which an ingenious modern author
iuppofes to be the chief agent in the formation of cal-
culij it is, hovvever, only in the incipient ftate of the
diieam that thefe remedies promife efeaual benefit ;
though they generally abate the more violent fymptoms
where they cannot remove the caufe. With Boerhaave
loap was a general medicine : for as he attributed molt
complaints to vifcidity of the fluids, he, and molt of the
Boerhaavian fchool, preferibed it in conjundtion with
different refinous and other fubfiances, in gout, rheu-
matifm, and various vifceral complaints. Soap is alio
externally employed as a refolvent, and gives name to
leveral othcinal preparations.
from the properties of foap we may know that it
mutt be a very effectual and convenient anti-acid. It
ablorbs acids as powerfully as pure alkalies and abfor-
bent earths, without having the caurticity of the for-.
mer, and without oppreffing the ttomach by its weight
like the latter. ^ o
La ft ly , we may perceive that foap muft be one of
the belt of all antidotes to Hop quickly, and with the
lealt inconvenience, the bad effe&s 0f acid corrofive poi-
ions, as aquafortis, corrofive fublimate, &c.
Soap imported is fubjeft by 10 Ann. cap. in. to a
duty or 2d. a pound (over and above former duties) •
and by 12 Ann. fiat. 2. cap. 9. to the farther firm of
id. a pound. And by the fame a£b, the duty on foap
made in the kingdom is lid. a pound. By 19 G. Ill
cap. 52. no perfon within the limits of the head office
of exciie in London ftiall be permitted to make any
loap unlefs he occupy a tenement of 10L a year
be afieffed and pay the parifh rates ; or elfewhere^
unlefs 1m be afleffed, and pay to church and poor.
.Places of making are to be entered on pain of rol
and covers and locks to be provided under a forfeiture
of look j the furnace-door of every utenfil ufed in the
manufacture of foap ffiall be locked by the excife offi¬
cer, as foon as. the fire is damped or drawn out, and
-aftenings provided, under the penalty of 50I. ; and
opening or damaging fuch fattening incurs a penalty of
look Officers are required to enter and furvey at all
times, by day or night, and the penalty of obftruaing
is 20I.} and they may unlock and examine every copper,
&c. between the hours of five in the morning and ele¬
ven in the evening, and the penalty of obftruaing is
look Every maker of foap before he begins any ma-
 . v. n . r
if elfewhere 24 hours, notice in writing to the officer
of the time when he intends to begin, on pain of 50I
No maker fliall remove any foap unfurveyed on pain ol
20I. without giving proper notice of his intention,
Ami if any maker lhall conceal any foap or materials,
he lhall forfeit the fame, and alfo 500I. Every barrel
of foap fliall contain 256 lb. avoirdupois, half barrel
128 lb. firkin 64 lb. half-firkin 32 lb. befides the weight
or tare of each cafk: and all foap, excepting hard cake
foap and ball foap, ffiall be put into fuch cafks and no
other, on pain of forfeiture, and 5I. The maker ffiall
weekly
s o c
[ 43
S O C
fllack/l.
Comment.
vol. ii.
weekly enter in wilting at the next oPuce the loap rnade
by him in each week, with the weight and quantity at
each boiling, on pain of 50I. J and within one week
after entry clear off the duties, on pain of double duty.
See, betides the ftatutes above cited, 5 Geo. HI. cap. 43.
12 Geo HI. cap. 46. 11 Geo. cap. 30. 1 Geo. ftat. 2.
cap. 36. r
Acid SOAP. This is formed by the addition 01 con¬
centrated acids to the expreffed oils. Thus .the.oil is
rendered partially foluble in water 5 but the union is not
lufficiently complete to anfwer any valuable purpote.
SoAP-Bern/ 'Tree. See Sap INDUS, Botany Index.
SOAP-Earth. See Steatites, Mineralogy Index.
SOAPWORT. See Saponaria, Botany Index.
SOC (Sax.), fignifies powrer or liberty to minifter
iuftice or execute law's •, alfo the circuit or territory
wherein fuch power is exercifed. Whence our law-
Latin word focca is ufed for a feigmory or lord On p en-
franchifed by the king, with the liberty of holding or
keeping a court of his fockmen : And this kind ot li¬
berty continues in divers parts of England to this day,
and is known by the names otfoke m&fohen.
SOCAGE, in its moft general and extenfive figmfi-
cation, feems to denote a tenure, by any certain and
determinate fervice. And in this fenfe^it is by our
ancient writers conflantly put in oppolition to chivalry
or knight-fervice, where the render was precarious and
uncertain. The fervice muff therefore be certain, in or¬
der to denominate it focage •, as to hold by fealty and
20s. rent ; or, by homage, fealty, and 20s. rent \ or,
by homage and fealty without rent j or, by fealty and
certain corporal fervice, as ploughing the lord’s land for
three days ; or, by fealty only without any other fer¬
vice : for all thefe are tenures in focage.
Socage is of two forts : /ra?-focage, where the fer-
vices are not only certain but honourable j and villein-
focacre, where the fervices, though certain, are of a bafer
nature (fee Villenage). Such as hold by the former
tenure are called, in Glanvil and other fubfequent au¬
thors, by the name of liberifokemanni, or tenants in free-
focage. The word is derived from the Saxon appella¬
tion/oc, which fignifies liberty or.privilege ; and,.being
joined to an ufual termination, is ciWtd. focage, in La¬
tin focagium ; fignifying thereby a free or privileged te¬
nure.
It feems probable that the focage-tenures were the
relics of Saxon liberty 5 retained by fuch perfons.as had
neither forfeited them to the king, nor been obliged to
exchange their tenure for the more honourable, as it
was called, but at the fame time more burthenfome, te¬
nure of knight-fervice. This is peculiarly remarkable
in the tenure which prevails in Kent, called gavelkind,
which is generally acknowledged to be a fpecies of fo-
cage-tenure } the prefervation whereof inviolate from
the innovations of the Norman conquerer is a fa£l uni-
verfally known.. And thofe who thus preferved their
liberties weie faid to hold in free and common?focage.
As therefore the grand criterion and diftinguifiiing
mark of this fpecies of tenure are the having its renders
or fervices afcertalned, it wall include under it all other
methods of holding free lands by certain and invariable
rents and duties 5 and a particular, Petit SF.RJRANTT,
Tenure in BURGAGE, and Gavelkind. See tbefe ar-
1 tides.
Definition. SOCIETY, a number of rational and moral be¬
Sodetr.
ings, united for their common prefervation and happl-
nels. r j 2
Thefe are fiioals of fillies, herds of quadrupeds, and How far
flocks of birds. But till obfervation enable us to de- brutes are
termine with greater certainty, how far the inferior ani- capable-of
mals are able to look through a feries of means to the a'ociat
end which thefe are calculated to produce, how. farUats‘
their conduct may be influenced by the hope ot re¬
ward and the fear of punifliment, and whether they are
at all capable of moral dillinblions—— we cannot with
propriety apply to them the term Society. We call
crows and beavers, and feveral other ipecies of animals,
gregarious; but it is hardly good Englifli to lay that
they are foetal. _ 3
It is only human fociety, then, that can become the Mankind
fubieft of our prefent inveiligation. 'The phenomena the only
which it prefents are highly worthy of our notice. .
Such are the advantages which each individual evi-tQ our
dentlv derives from living in a focial flate } and lb help- 0bfer7atiou.
lefs does any human being appear in a folitary ftate, 4
that we are naturally led to conclude, that if there ever A
was a period at which mankind were folitary beings, ^
that period could not be of long duration ; for their 0
averfion to folitude and love of. fociety would foon in¬
duce them to enter into focial union. Such is the opi¬
nion which we are led to conceive, when we compare
our own condition as members of civilized and en¬
lightened fociety with that of the brutes around us, or
with that of favages in the elkdier and ruder periods of
focial life. When we hear of Indians wandering naked
through the woods, deflitute of arts, unfkilled in agri¬
culture, fcarce capable of moral diflinftions, void of ail
religious fentiments, or poffeffed with the moft abfurd
notions concerning fuperior powers, and procuring
means of fubfiftence in a manner equally precarious with
that of the beafts of prey—we look down with pity on
their condition, or turn from it with horror. When
we view the order of cultivated fociety, and confider
our inftitutions, arts, and manners—we rejoice over our
fuperior wifdom and happinefs.
Man in a civilized ftate appears a being of a fuperior
order to man in a favage ftate 5 yet fome philofophers
tell us, that it is only he who, having been educated in
fociety, has been taught to depend upon others, that
can be helplefs or miferable when placed in a folitary
ftate. They view the favage who exerts himfelf with
intrepidity to fupply his wants, or bears them with for¬
titude, as the greateft hero, and poffefling the greateft
happinefs. And therefore if we agree with them, that
the propenfities of nature may have prompted men to
enter into focial union, though they may have hoped
to enjoy fuperior fecurity and happinefs by engaging
to proteft and fupport each other, we muft conclude
that the Author of the univerfe has deftined man to at¬
tain greater dignity and happinefs in a favage and fo¬
litary than in a focial ftate ; and therefore that thofe
difpofitions and views which lead us to fociety are fal¬
lacious and inimical to our real intereft.
Whatever be the fuppofed advantages of a folitary
ftate, certain it is that mankind, at the earlieft periods,
were united in fociety. Various theories have been
formed concerning the circumftances and principles
which gave rife to this union : but we have elfewhere
fhown, that the greater part of them are founded in er¬
ror ; that they fuppofe the original ftate of man to have
Society.
s ° C [ 436 ] SO
l366^ a1 i°^arageS’,-.and that fuch a fuppofitlon is con- communicating to their pofletity
c
* See Scrip
ture, N°
7—15-
_ 5
Firft ftate
of fociety
according
to authen.
tic hiltory.
6
Theories of
yhdofo-
phers con¬
cerning the
origin of
fociety
tradi&ed by the mold authentic records of antiquity.
For though the records of the earlier ages are gene¬
rally oblcure, fabulous, and imperfedd } yet happily
there is one free from the imperfeddions of the reft, and
of undoubted authenticity, to which we may fafcly have
'*recourfe *. This record is the Pentateuch of Mofes,
which prefents us with a genuine account of the origin
of man ^ and of fociety, perfedtly confonant to what we
have laid down in the article referred to (fee Savage).
According to Mofes, the firft fociety was that of a
hufband and wife united in the bonds of marriage: the
firft government that of a father and hufband, the maf-
ter of his family. Men lived together under the patriar¬
chal form of government while they employed themfelves
chiefly in tending flocks and herds. Children in fuch
circumflances cannot foon rife to an equality with their
parents, where a man’s importance depends on his pro¬
perty, not on his abilities. When flocks and herds are
the chief articles of property, the fon can only obtain
thefe from his father 5 in general therefore the Ion muft be
entirely dependent on the father for the means of fubfift-
ence. If the parent during his life bellow on his children
any part of his property, he may do it on fuch conditions
as fhall make their dependence upon him continue till
the period of his death. WFen the community are by
this event deprived of their head, inftead of continuing
in a ftate of union, and fele£ting fome one from among
themfelves whom they may inveft with the authority of
a parent, they feparate into fo many dirtindt tribes, each
fubje&ed to the authority of a different lord, the mafter
of the family, and the proprietor of all the flocks and
herds, belonging to it. Such was the ftate of the firft
focieties which the narrative of Mofes exhibits to our
attention.
Thofe philofophers who have made fociety, in its va¬
rious ftages between rudenefs and refinement, the fubjedf
of their fpeculations, have generally confidered mankind,
in. whatever region of the globe, and under whatever
climate, as proceeding uniformly through certain regu¬
lar gradations from one extreme to the other. They
regard, them, firft, as gaining a precarious fubfiftence by
gathering the fpontaneous fruits of the earth, preying
on the inhabitants of the waters, if placed on the fea-
fliore, or along the banks of large rivers j or hunting
wild beafts, if in a fituation where thefe are to be found
in abundance j without forefight or induftry to provide
for future wants when the prefent call of appetite is gra¬
tified. Next, they fay, man rifes to the fhepherd ftate,
and next to that of hufbandmen, when they turn their
attention from the management of flocks to the culti¬
vation of the ground. Next, thefe hufbandmen improve
their powers, and better their condition, by becoming
artizans and merchants $ and the beginning of this pe¬
riod is the boundary between barbarity and civiliza¬
tion.
Thefe are the ftages through which they who have
employed themfelves on the natural hiftory of fociety
have generally conducted mankind in their progrefs from
rudenefs to refinement: but they feem to have overlook¬
ed the manner in which mankind were at firft eftablifh-
ed on this earth ; for the circumftances in which the pa¬
rents of the human race were originally placed 5 for the
degree of knowledge communicated to them 5 and for
the inftru&ion which they muft have been capable of
„ _ _ . v. They rather appear Society.
to confider the inhabitants of every different region of v— —^
the globe as aborigines, fpringing at firft from the
ground, or dropped on the fpot which they inhabit; no
lefs ignorant tnan infants of the nature and relations of
the objefts around them, and of the purpofes which they
may accomplifh by the exercife of their organs and fa¬
culties.
The abfurdity of this theory has been fully demon-are fa7ocifuI.
ftrated in another place : and if we agree to receive the
Moiaic account of the original eftablifhment of man¬
kind, we fhall be led to view the phenomena of focial
life in a light very different. We muft firft allow, that
though many of the rudeft tribes are found in the ftate
of hunters or JiJhers; yet the hunting or fifhing ftate
cannot have been invariably the primary form of fociety.
Notwithftanding the powers with which we are endow¬
ed, we are in a great meafure the creatures of circum¬
ftances. Phyfical caufes exert, though indirectly, a
mighty influence in forming the charader and direct¬
ing the exertions of the human race. From the infor¬
mation of Mofes we gather, that the firft focieties of
men lived under the patriarchal form of government,
and employed themfelves in the cultivation of the ground
and the management of flocks. And as we know that
mankind, being fubjeded to the influence both of phy¬
fical and moral caules, are no lefs liable to degeneracy
than capable of improvement ; we may eafily conceive,
that though defeending all from the lame original pair,
and though enlightened with much traditionary know¬
ledge relative to the arts of life, the order of fociety,
moral diflindions, and religious obligations; yet as they
were gradually, and by various accidents, difperfed over
the earth, being removed to fitualions in which the arts
with which they were acquainted could but little avail
them, where induftry was overpowered, or indolence en¬
couraged by the feverity or the profufion of nature, they
might degenerate and fall into a condition almoft as
humble and precarious as that of the brutal tribes. O-
ther moral caufes might alfo concur to debafe or elevate
the human charader in that early period. The particu¬
lar charader of the original fettlers in any region, the
manner in which they were conneded with one another,
and the arts which they were beft qualified to exercife,
with various other caufes of a fimilar nature, would have
confiderable influence in determining the charader of the
fociety.
When laying afide the fpirit of theory and fyftem,
we fet ourfelves, with due humility, to trace fads, and
to l-iften to evidence, though our difeoveries may be
fewer than we fliould otherwife fancy them ; yet the
knowledge which we thus acquire will be more ufeful
and folid, and our fpeculations more confident with the
fpirit of true philofophy. Here, though we learn from
the information of the facred writings, that the firft; fa¬
mily of mankind was not cruelly expofed in this world,
as children whom the inhumanity of their parents indu¬
ces them to defert ; yet we are not, in confequence of
admitting this fad, laid under any neceflity of denying
or explaining away any of the other phenomena which
occur to our obfervation when tracing the natural hiftory
of fociety. Tradition may be corrupted ; arts and fei-
ences may be loft ; the fublimeft religious dodrines may
be debafed into abfurdity.
If then we are defirous of furveying fociety in its ru¬
deft
s O C [ 437 ] S O C
Society, deft form, we muft look, not to the earlieft period of
^ its exifte-nce, but to thofe diftricls of the globe where
external circumftances concur to drive them into a ilate
of ftupidity and wretchednefs. Thus in many places of
the happy clime of Afia, which a variety of ancient re¬
cords concur with the facred writings in reprefenting as
the firit peopled quarter of the globe, we cannot trace
the form of fociety backwards beyond the fhepherd ftate.
In that ftate indeed the bonds which connect fociety ex¬
tend not to a wide range of individuals, and men remain
for a long period in diftinft families ; but yet that ftate
3 is highly favourable to knowledge, to happinefs, and to
Yet in feme virtue. Again, the torrid and the frozen regions of the
particular earth, though probably peopled at a later period, and
r 'aUzed* ^ tribes fprung from the fame flock with the (hepherds
of AGa, have yet exhibited mankind in a much
lower ftate. It is in the parched deierts of Africa and
the wilds of America that human beings have been
found in a condition approaching the neareft to that of
the brutes.
We may therefore with fome propriety defert the
order of time, and take a view of the different ftages
through which philofophers have confidered mankind as
advancing, beginning with that of rudenefs, though we
have fhown that it cannot have been the firft in the pro-
grefs.
Rudest ftate Where the human fpecies are found in the loweft and
er firft ftage rudeft ftate, their rational and moral powers are very
of t'oeiety. faintly difplayed *, but their external fenfes are acute,
and their bodily organs a£live and vigorous. Hunting
and filhing are then their chief employments on which
they depend for fupport. During that portion of their
time which is not fpent in thefe purfuits, they are funk
in liftlefs indolence. Deftitute of forefight, they are
roufed to a61ive exertion only by the preffure of imme¬
diate neceflity or the urgent calls of appetite. Accuf-
tomed to endure the feverity of the elements, and but
fcantily provided with the means of fubftftence, they ac¬
quire habits of reftgnation and fortitude, which are be¬
held with aftonifhment by thofe who enjoy the plenty
and indulgence of cultivated life. But in this ftate of
want and depreflion, when the powers and poffeflions of
every individual are fcarcely fufficient for his own fup¬
port, when even the calls of appetite are repreffed be-
caufe they cannot always be gratified, and the more re¬
fined paflions, which either originate from fuch as are
merely animal, or are intimately connefted with them,
have not yet been felt—.in this ftate all the milder af-
fe&ions are unknown •, or if the breaft is at all fenfible
to their impulfe, it is extremely feeble. Hufhand and
wife, parent and child, brother and brother, are united
by the weakeft ties. Want and misfortune are not pi¬
tied. Why indeed fhould they, where they cannot be
relieved ? It is impoflible to determine how far beings
in this condition can be capable of moral diftin&ions*
One thing certain is, that in no ftate are the human
race entirely incapable of thefe. If we liften, howeverj
to the relations of refpeftable travellers, we muft admit
that human beings have fometimes been found in that
abjeifl: ftate where no proper ideas of fubordination, go¬
vernment, or diftin&ion of ranks, could be formed.
No diftirxft notions of Deity can be here entertained.
Beings in fo humble a condition cannot look through
the order of the univerfe and the harmony of nature to
that Eternal Wifdom and Goodnefs which contrived,
and that Almighty Power which brought Into exift- Society.
ence, the fyftem of things. Of arts they'muft be almoft  r-—*
totally deftitute. hey may ufe fome initruments for
filhing or the chace ; but thefe muft be extremely rude
and fimple. If they be acquainted with any means to
ftielter them from the inclemency of the elements, both
their houfes and clothing will be aukward and inconve¬
nient. JO
But human beings have not been often found in faSccoml
rude a ftate as this. Even thofe tribes which we deno-,,a£e in ^ie
minate favage, are for the moft part farther removed of'
from mere animal life. They generally appear united
under fome fpecies of government, exerciftng the powers
of reafon, capable of morality, though that morality be
not always very lefined j difplaying fome degree of fo-
cial virtues, and afting under the influence of religious
fentiments. Thofe who may be confidered as but one
degree higher in the fcale than the ftupid and wretched
beings whofe condition wre have furveyed, are to be-
found ftill in the hunting and fifhing ftate 5 but they
are farther advanced towards focial life, and are become-
more fenfible to the impulfe of focial affeiftion. By un¬
avoidable intercourfe in their employments, a few’ indi¬
vidual hunters or fifhers contradl a certain degree of
fondnefs for each other’s company, and are led to take
fome part in each other’s joys and forrows •, and wdien.
the focial afteclions thus generated (fee Passion) begin
to exert themlelves, all the other powers of the mind-
are at the fame time called forth, and the circumftances
of the little fociety are immediately improved. We be¬
hold its members in a more comfortable condition, and
find reafon to view the human chara<fter w’ith more com¬
placency and refpeft. Huts are now built, more com-*
modious clothes are fafhioned, inftruments for the annoy¬
ance of wild beafts and even of enemies are contrived 5
in fhort, arts, and fcience, and focial order, and reli¬
gious fentiment, and ceremonies, now make their ap¬
pearance in the rifing fociety, and ferve to chara£lerize
it by the particular form which diftinguifhes each of
them. But though focial order is no longer unknown
nor unobferved, yet the form of government is ftill ex¬
tremely fimple, and its ties are but loofe and feeble. It
will perhaps bear fome refemblance to the patriarchal 5
only all its members are on a more equal footing, and
and at the fame time lefs clofely conne&ed than in the
ftiepherd ftate, to which that form of government feems
almoft peculiar. The old men are treated with venera¬
tion ; but the young are not entirely lubjeft to them.
They may liften refpeclfully to their advice j but they
do not fubmit to their arbitrary commands. Where
mankind are in the ftate of hunters and fifhers, where
the means of fubfiftence are preearioufty acquired, and
prudent forefight does not prompt to accumulate much
provifion for the future, no individual can acquire com¬
parative wealth. As foon as the fon is grown up, he
ceafes to be dependent on his father, as w’dl as on the
fociety in general. Difference of experience therefore
conftitutes the only diftin&ion between the young and
the old ; and if the old have experience, the young have
ftrength and a6livity. Here, then, neither age nor pro¬
perty can give rife to any ftriking diftinclion of ranks.
All who have attained to manhood, and are not difabled
lay unufual deficiency of ftrength or agility, or by the
infirmities of old age, are on an equal footing 5 or if any
one poffefs a pre-eminence over the reft, he owes it to
fupericr
■S O C t 43
Society, fuperior addrefs or fortitude. The whole tribe delibe-
rate •, the old give their advice •, each individual of the
affernbly receives or rejects it at his pleafure (for the
whole body think not of exercifing any compulfatory
power over the will of individuals) ; and the warrior
who is molt dillinguiihed for fhength, addrefs, and va¬
lour, leads out the youth of the tribe to the chace or
againlt the enemy. War, which in the former dage
did not prevail, as they who were ftrangers to focial
fentiments were, at the fame time, fcarce capable of be¬
ing enemies, now firft begins to depopulate the thinly
inhabited regions where thofe hunters and fhhers purfue
their prey. They are fcattered, poffibly in fcanty and
feparate tribes, over an immenfe tract of country; but they
know no medium between the affection which brethren
of the fame tribe bear to each other and the hatred of
enemies. Though thinly fcattered over the earth, yet
•the hunting parties of different tribes wall fometimes
meet as they range the forefts; and when they meet,
they will naturally view each other with a jealous eye ;
for the fuccefs of the one party in the chace may caufe
the other to be unfuccefsful ; and while the one
fnatches the prey, the other muft return home to all
the pangs of famine. Inveterate hoftility will therefore
long prevail among neighbouring tribes in the hunting
date.
If we find them not incapable of focial order, we may
naturally expeft that their conduft will be influenced
by fame fentiments of religion. They have at this pe¬
riod ideas of fuperior beings. They alfo praftife certain
ceremonies to recommend them to thofe beings; but
both their fentiments and ceremonies are fuperftitious
and abfurd.
We have elfervhere (hown (fee Polytheism) how
favage tribes have probably degenerated from the pure
wmrfhip of the one true God to the adoration of a
multitude of imaginary divinities in heaven, earth, and
hell. We have traced this idolatrous worfhip from that
of the heavenly bodies, through all the gradations of
daemon-worfhip, hero-worfhip, and flatue-vvorfhip, to
that "wonderful inflancc of abfurd fuperftition which in¬
duced the inhabitants of fome countries to fall proftrate
in adoration before the vileft reptiles. But though we
are convinced that the heavenly bodies have by all ido¬
laters been confidered as their firft and greateft gods,
we pretend not that the progrefs through the other
ftages of polytheifm has been everywhere in the very
fame order. It is indeed impofiible to exhibit under
one general view an account of arts, manners, and reli¬
gious fentiments, which may apply to fome certain pe¬
riod in the hiftory of every nation. The characters and
circumftances of nations are fcarce lefs various and ano¬
malous than thofe of individuals. Among many of the
American tribes, among the ancient inhabitants of the
forefts of Germany, whofe manners have been fo accu¬
rately delineated by the mafterly pen of Tacitus, and
in fome of the iftands fcattered over the fouthern ocean,
religion, arts, and government, have been found in that
ftatc which sve have defcribed as charaCterifing the fe-
cond ftage of focial life. But neither can we pretend
that all thofe fimple and rude focieties have been de¬
fcribed by hiftorians and travellers as agreeing precifely
in their arts, manners, and religious fentiments ; or that
the difference of circumftances always enables us to ac-
iCQiint in a fatisfaftory manner for the diftinCIion of their
8 ] sod
characters. There is a variety of fa&s in the hiftory of Society.
the early periods of fociety, which no ingenuity, no in-1'"“—v'™"
duftry however painful, can reduce under general heads.
Here, as well as when we attempt to philofophize on
the phenomena of the material world, we find realon to
confefs that our powers are weak, and our obfervation
confined within a narrow fphere, it
But we may now carry our views a little forward, Third ftage
and furvey human life as approaching fomewhat nearer in the pro¬
to a civilized and enlightened ftate. As property is ac- Sre^s ot
quired, inequality and fubordination of ranks neceffarily
follow : and when men are no longer equal, the many 0f ))10perty
are foon fubjeCled to the will of the few. But what and inequa.
gives rife to thefe new phenomena is, that after having hty
often fuffered from the precarioufnefs of the hunting andrai!k> aP*
fifhing ftate, men begin to extend their cares beyond^ear'
the prefent moment, and to think of providing fome
fupply for future wants. When they are enabled to
provide fuch a fupply, either by purfuing the chace with
new eagernefs and perfeverance, by gathering the fpon-
taneous fruits of the earth, or by breeding tame ani¬
mals—thefe acquifitions are at firft the property of the
whole fociety, and diftributed from a common ftore to
each individual according to his wants : But as various
reafons will foon concur to convince the community,
that by this mode of diftribution, induftry and activity
are treated with injuftice, while negligence and indo¬
lence receive more than their due, each individual will
in a ftiort time become his orvn fteward, and a commu¬
nity of goods will be abolifhed. As foon as diftinft
ideas of property are formed, it muft be unequally di¬
ftributed ; and as foon as property is unequally diftribu-
ted, there arifes an inequality of ranks. Here we have
the origin of the depreftion of the female fex in rude
ages, of the tyrannical authority exercifed by parents
over their children, and perhaps of ilavery. The wo¬
men cannot difplay the fame perfeverance, or aftivity,
or addrefs, as the men, in purfuing the chace. They
are therefore left at home; and from that moment are
no longer equals, but flaves and dependants, who muft
fubfift by the bounty of the males, and muft therefore
fubmit with implicit obedience to all their capricious
commands. Even before the era of property, the female
fex were viewed as inferiors; but till that period they
were not reduced to a ftate of abjett llavery.
In this period of fociety new notions are formed of
the relative duties. Men now become citizens, mafters,
and fervants; hufbands, parents, &c. It is impoflible
to enumerate all the various modes of government which
take place among the tribes who have advanced to this
ftage; but one thing certain is, that the authority of
the few over the many is now firft eftabliftied, and that
the rife of property firft introduces inequality of ranks.
In one place, we lhall perhaps find the community fub-
jefted during this period to the will of a fingle perfon ;
in another, power may be lodged in the hands of a
number of chiefs ; and in a third, every individual may
have a voice in creating public officers, and in enabling
laws for the fupport of public order. But as no code of
laws is formed during this period, juftice is not very im¬
partially adminiftered, nor are the rights of individuals
very faithfully guarded. Many aftions, which will af¬
terwards be confidered as heinoufly immoral, are now
confidered as praife-worthy or indifferent. This is the
age of hero-worfhip, and of houfehold and tutelary gods •,
for
/
s o c
S-’d'M.y, lor it is in tliis flage of fociety that the invention of arts,
Vv-; jch gave rife to that woiflnip, contributes mod con,
fpicuoufiy to the public good. War, too, which we
confidered as beginning firit to ravage the earth during
the former period, and which is another caufe of the dei¬
fication ol dead men, will dill prevail in this age, and
be carried on with no lei’s ferocity than before, though
i.i a more fydernatic form.
The prevalence of war, and the means by which fub-
fillence is procured, cannot but have confiderable influ¬
ence on the character and fenliments of focieties and in¬
dividuals. J. he hunter and the warrior are characters
in many refpects different from the llrepherd and the
hufbandman. Such, in pomt of government, arts, and
manners, religious and moral fentiments, were feveral of
the German tribes deferibed by Tacitus 5 and the Bri¬
tons whofe character has been Iketched by the pen of
CaeTar : fuch, too, were the Romans in the early period
of their hidory j fuch too the inhabitants of Ada Minor
about the time of the liege of Troy, as well as the
Greeks whom Homer celebrates as the delfroyers of the
Trojan date : the northern tribes alfb, who poured
through Alia, Africa, and Europe, and overthrew the
Roman empire, appear to have been of a nearly firnilar
character. It feenis to be a general opinion among thoie
who have direCted their attention to the hidory of fo¬
ciety, that, in the fcale afeending from the lowed con¬
dition of human beings to the mod civilized and enlight¬
ened date of fociety, the fliepherd date is the next in
order above the hunting j and that as mankind improve
in knowledge and in moral fentiments, and as the foreds
are gradually depopulated of their inhabitants, indead of
dedroying the inferior animals, men become their guar¬
dians and proteCfors. But we cannot unrefervedly fub-
feribe to this opinion : we believe, that in the fhepherd
Rate focieties have been fometimes found fuperior to the
mod polilhed tribes of hunters ; but upon viewing the
annals of mankind in early ages, we obferve that there
is often no inconliderable refemblance even between
hunters and fhepherds in point of the improvement of
. t1ie rational faculties and the moral fenfe ; and we are
therefore led to think, that thefe two dates are fome¬
times parallel : for indance, feveral of the American
tribes, who dill procure their fubfidence by hunting, ap¬
pear to be nearly in the date which we have deferibed
as the third dage in the progrefs of fociety 5 and the an¬
cient (liepherds of Afia do not appear to have been much
more cultivated and refined. We even believe that
men have lometimes turned tneir attention from hunting
to agriculture, without palling through any intermediate
date. Let us remember, that much depends upon local
circumdances, and fomevvhat undoubtedly on original
infpiration and traditionary indruCHon. In this period
ot fociety the date of the arts wrell deferves our atten¬
tion. We diall find, that the diepherds and the hunters
are in that refpeCt on a pretty equal footing. Whether
we examine the records of ancient hidory, or view the
idands fcattered through the South fea, or range the
wiids ot America, or furvey the fnowy wades of Lap-
land and the frozen coad of Greenland—dill we find the
. u! arts ln thls period, though known and cultivated,
in a very rude date; and the fine arts, or fuch as are
cultivated merely to pleafe the fancy or to gratify ca¬
price, difplaying an odd and fantadic, not a true or na-
a>ral, tade j yet this is the period in which eloquence
[ 4.19 1
S O C
diir.es with the trued luftre : ail is metaphor or glowing Society.
fenliment. Languages are not yet copious; and there-   1
fore ipeech is figurative, expreffive, and forcible. The
tones and geftures of nature, not being yet laid nfide,
as they generally are, from regard to decorum, in more
pohliled ages, give degree of force and expveffion to
the harangues of the rudic or favage orator, which the
molt laborious dudy of the rules of rhetoric and elocu¬
tion could not enable even a more polidied orator to dif-
play- . r3
But let us advance a little farther, and contemplate Fourth
our fpecies in a new light, where they will appear with ; in
greater dignity and amiablenefs of charafter. Let uswhich aSrU
view them as hulbandmen, artizans, and legidators:
Whatever circumhances might turn the attention of the araare
any people from hunting to agriculture, or caufe the Subdivided,
herdfman to yoke Ids oxen for the cultivation of thecotnm5rce
ground, certain it is that this change in the occupation |Jn^fuIar
would produce a happy change on the character andmentare
circumdances of men ; it would oblige them to exert introduced?
a more regular and peifevering indultry. The hunter
is like one of thofe birds that are deferibed as padino-
the winter in a torpid date. The diepherd’s life is ex^
tremely indolent. Neither of thefe is very favourable
to refinement. But different is the condition of the
hufbandman. His labours fucceed each other in regu¬
lar rotation through the year. Each feafon with him
has its proper employments : he therefore mud exert
active perlevering indudry ; and in this date we often •
find the virtues of rude and poliihed ages united. This
L the period where barbarifm ends and civilization be¬
gins. Nations have exided for ages in the hunting
or the Hiepherd date, fixed as by a kind of dagnation,
without advancing farther. But fcarcely any indances
occur in the hiltory of mankind of thofe who once
reached the date of huflbandmen, remaining long in
that condition without rifing to a more civilized and
polilhed date. Where a people turn their attenlion in
any confiderable degree to the objefts of agriculture, a
didinftion of occupations naturally arifes among them.
I he hufbandman is fo clofely employed through the fe¬
veral feafons of the year in the labours of the field, that
he has no longer leifure to exercife all the rude arts
known among his countrymen. He has not time to?
faduon the inftruments of hudbandry, to prepare his
clothes, to build his houfe, to manufa£!ure houfehold
u ten fils, or to tend thofe tame animals which he con¬
tinues to rear. Ihofe diflerent departments therefore
now begin to employ different perfons; each of whom
dedicates his whole time and attention to his own oc-
cupation. The manufacture of cloth is for a confider¬
able time managed exclufively by the women; but fmiths
and joiners arife from among the men. Metals begin
now to be confidered as valuable materials. The inter-
courle of mankind is now placed on a new footing. Be¬
fore, every individual praftifed all the arts that were
known, as far as was neceffary' for fupplying himfelf
with the conveniences of life.. Now he confines him¬
felf to one or to a few of them ; and, in order to ob¬
tain a neceffary fupply of the productions of thofe arts
which he does not cultivate himfelf, he gives in ex¬
change a part of the productions of his own labours..
Here we have the origin of commerce.
After continuing perhaps for fome time in this date3
as arts and diltinCtions multiply in fociety, the ex¬
change-
s o c
[ 44° 1
s o c
Society, cltangc ef one commodity for another is found trouble-
* fome and inconvenient. It is ingenioufly contrived to
adopt a medium of commerce, which being eltimated
not by its intrinfic value, but by a certain nominal va¬
lue which it receives from the agreement of the fociety
among whom it is ufed, ferves to render the exchange
of property, which is fo neceflary for the purpofes of
focial life, eafy and expeditious. Wherever metals
have been known, they appear to have been adopted
as the medium of commerce almoft as foon as fuch a
medium began to be uled : and this is one important
purpofe for which they ferve j but they have frill more
important ufes. Almoft all the neceflary arts depend
on them. Where the metals are known, agriculture
pradliled, and the neceffary arts diftributed among diffe¬
rent orders of artifans—civilization and refinement, if
not obftru£led by fome accidental circumftances, ad¬
vance with a rapid progrefs. With regard to the firft
applying of the precious metals as the medium of com¬
merce, we may obferve, that this was probably not ac-
compliftied by means of a formal contraft. They might
be firft ufed as ornaments j and the love of ornament,
which prevails among rude as much as among civilized
nations, would render every one willing to receive
them in exchange for fuch articles as he could fpare.
Such might be the change produced on fociety with re¬
gard to the neceffary arts by the origin of agriculture.
As foon as ornament and amufement are thought of,
the fine arts begin to be cultivated. In their origin
therefore they are not long pofterior to the neceffary
and ufeful arts. They appear long before men reach
the comfortable and refpeftable condition of hufhand-
men ; but fo rude is their character at their firft origin,
that our Dilettanti would probably view the produc¬
tions of that period with unfpeakable contempt and
difguft. But in the period of fociety which we now
confider, they have afpired to a higher charafter; yet
poetry is now perhaps lefs generally cultivated than
during the fhepherd (late. Agriculture, confidered by
itfelf, is not direflly favourable either to refinement of
manners or to the fine arts. The converfation of fliep-
herds is generally fuppofed to be far more elegant than
than of hulbandmen but though the direft and imme¬
diate effe£ls of this condition of life be not favourable
to the fine arts, yet indire&ly it has a ftrong tendency
to promote their improvement. Its immediate influ¬
ence is extremely favourable to the neceffary and ufe¬
ful arts j and thefe are no lefs favourable to the fine
arts.
One of the nobleft changes which the introduflicn of
the arts by agriculture produces on the form and cir¬
cumftances of fociety, is the introduftion of regular go¬
vernment and laws. In tracing the hiftory of ancient
nations, we fcarcely ever find laws introduced at an ear¬
lier period. Minos, Solon, and Lycurgus, do not ap¬
pear to have formed codes of wifdom and juftice for re¬
gulating the manners of their countrymen, till after the
Cretans, the Athenians, and even the Lacedemonians,
had made fome progrefs in agriculture and the ufeful
arts.
Religion, under all its various forms, has in every
ftage of fociety a mighty influence on the fentiments
and conduft of men (fee Religion) ; and the arts cul¬
tivated in fociety have on the other hand fome influence
on the fyftem of religious belief. One happy effect
2
which will refult from the invention of arts, though per- Society,
haps not immediately, will be, to render the char after
of the deities more benevolent and amiable, and the rites
of their worfliip more mild and humane.
The female fex in this period generally find the yoke
of their fiavery fomewhat lightened. Men now become
eafier in their circumftances j the focial afteftions affume
ftronger influence over the mind ; plenty, and fecurity,
and eafe, at once communicate both delicacy and keen-
nefs to the fenfual defires. All thefe circumftances con¬
cur to make men relax in fome degree that tyrannic
fway by which they before depreffed the fofter fex.
The foundation of that empire, where beauty triumphs
over both wifdom and ftrength, now begins to be laid.
Such are the effefts which hiftory warrants as to attri¬
bute to agriculture and the arts j and luch the outlines
of the charafter of that which we reckon the fourth
ftage in the progrefs of fociety from rudenefs to refine¬
ment.
Let us advance one ftep farther. We have not yet Fifth ftage
furveyed mankind in their moft polilhed and cultivated in the pro-
ftate. Society is rude at the period when the arts firft 8relsofr __
begin to (how themfelves, in comparifon of that Hate u‘
to which it is raifed by the induftrious cultivation ofterature
them. The neighbouring commonwealths of Athens art*, and
and Lacedemon afford us a happy opportunity of com-^c‘e£JceS
paring this with the former ftage in the progrefs of fo- ar<;
ciety. The chief effeft produced by the inftitutions ofa^reh^i'oB
Lycurgus feems to have been, to fix the manners of hisaffumes a
countrymen for a confiderable period in that ftate ton1^ and
which they had attained in his days. Spartan virtuee^aJm8
has been admired and extolled in the language of en- *
thufiafm $ but in the fame manner has the charafter
and the condition of the favage inhabitants of the wilds
of America, been preferred by fome philofophers, to the
virtues and the enjoyments of focial life in the moft po-
lifhed and enlightened ftate. The Spartans in the days
of Lycurgus had begun to cultivate the ground, and
were not unacquainted with the ufeful arts. They
muft foon have advanced farther had not Lycurgus ari-
fen, and by effefting the eftabliihment of a code of laws,
the tendency of which appears to have been in many
particulars direftly oppofite to the defigns of nature,
retarded their progrefs towards complete civilization
and refinement. The hiftory of the Lacedemonians,
therefore, while the laws of Lycurgus continued in
force, exhibits the manners and charafter of a people in
that which w'e have denominated the fourth ftage in the
progrefs of fociety. But if we turn our eyes to their
neighbours the Athenians, we behold in their hiftory
the natural progrefs of opinions, arts, and manners.
The ufeful arts are firft cultivated with fuch fteady in-
duftry, as to raife the community to opulence, and to
furnilh them with articles for commerce wfith foreign
nations. The ufeful arts cannot be raifed to this height
of improvement without leading men to the purfuit of
fcience. Commerce with foreign nations, ikill injfthe
ufeful arts, and a tafte for fcience, mutually aid each
other, and confpire to promote the improvement of the
fine arts. Hence magnificent buildings, noble ftatues,
paintings expreflive of life, aftion^ and paflion j and
poems in wrhich imagination adds new grace and fubli-
mity to nature, and gives the appearances of focial life
more irrefiftible power over the affeftions of the heart.
Hence are moral diftinftions more carefully ftudied, and
the
s o c
Society the ngtits of every individual and eveiy order m fociety
“^v  better underllood and more accurately defined. Moral
fcience is generally the firit feientific purfuit which
ftrongly attrafts the attention of men. Lawgivers ap¬
pear before geometricians and aftronomers. Some par¬
ticular circumftances may caui’e thefe fciences to be cul¬
tivated at a very early period. In Egypt the overflow¬
ing of the Nile caufed geometry to be early cultivated.
Caufes no lefs favourable to the ftudy of aftronomy,
concurred to recommend that fcience to the attention of
the Chaldeans long before they had attained the height
of refinement. But, in general, we find, that the laws
of morality are underflood, and the principles ol morals
inquired into, before men make any confiderable progrefs
in phyfical fcience, or even profecute it with any degree
of keennefs. Accordingly, when we view the flare of
literature in this period (for it is now become an objedl
of fo much importance as to force itfelf on our atten¬
tion), we perceive that poetry, hiftory, and morals, are
the branches chiefly cultivated. Arts are generally
cafual inventions, and long praefifed before rules and
principles on which they are founded aflame the form
of fcience. But morality, if confidered as an art, is
that art which men have fooneft and moil conflanlly oc-
cafion to pradtife. Befides, we are fo conftituted by
the wifdom of nature, that human aciions, and the events
which befal human beings, have more powerful influ¬
ence than any other objedt to engage and fix our at¬
tention. Hence we are enabled to explain why mora¬
lity, and thofe branches of literature more immediately
connected with it, are almoft always cultivated in prefe¬
rence to phyfical fcience. Though poetry, hiftory, and
morals, be purfued with no fmall eagernefs and fuccefs
in that period of fociety which we now confider, -we
need not therefore be greatly furprifed that natu¬
ral philofophy is neither very generally nor very foccefs-
fully cultivated. Were we to confider each particular
in that happy change which is now produced on the
circumftances of mankind, we fliould be led into a too
minute and perhaps unimportant detail, his is the
period when human virtue and human abilities fliine with
moft fplendour. Rudenefs, ferocity, and barbarian, are
now banilhed. Luxury has made her appearance •, but
as yet fhe is the friend and the benefaftrefs of fociety.
Commerce has ftimulated and rewarded induftry, but
has not yet contrafled the heart and debafed the cha-
rafter. Wealth is not yet becortie the foie objecl of
purfuit. The charms of focial intercourfe are known
and reliflied ; but domeftic duties are not yet deferted
for public amufements. The female fex acquire new
influence, and contribute much to refine and polifh the
manners of their lords. Religion now aflumes a milder
and more pleafing form ; fplendid rites, magnificent
temples, pompous facrifices, and gay feftivals, give even
fuperftition an influence favourable to the happinefs of
mankind. The gloomy notions and barbarous rites of
former periods fall into difufe. The fyftem of theology
produced in former ages flill remains: but only the mild
and amiable qualities of the deities are celebrated} and
none but tbe gay, humane, and laughing divinities, are
worfhipred. Philofophy alfo teaches men to difeard
fuch parts of their religion as are unfriendly to good
morals, and have any tendency to call forth or cherifli
unfocial fentiments in the heart. War (for in this pe¬
riod of fociety enough of caufes will arife to arm one
VOL. XIX. Part II. 1
S O G
nation againft another)—war, however, no longer retains Society.
its former ferocity; nations no longer Ilrive to extirpate ’ ,"'r~v '
one another: to procure redrefs for real or imaginary
injuries 5 to humble, not to deftroy, is now its objeft.
Prifoners are no longer murdered in cold blood, iub-
jedled to horrid and excruciating tortures, or condemn¬
ed to hopelefs flavery. They are ranfomed ov exchan¬
ged ; they return to their country, and again fight un¬
der its banners. In this period the arts of government
are likewife better underflood, and pradfifed fo as to
contribute moft to the interefts of fociety. Whether
monarchy, or democracy, or ariftocracy, be the efta-
blilhed form, the rights of individuals and of fociety
are in general refpedled. The interefxs of fociety are
fo well underftood, that the few, in order to pre-
ferve their influence over the many, find it neceflary to
adi rather as the faithful fervants than the imperious
lords of the public, 'i hough the liberties of a nation
in this flate be not accurately defined by law, nor their
property guaranteed to them by any legal inflitutions,
yet their governors dare not violate their liberties, nor
deprive them wantonly of their properties. This is truly
the golden age of lociety: eve:y trace of barbanfm is
entirely effaced 5 and vicious luxury has not yet begun
to fap the virtue and the happinefs of the community.
Men live not in liftleis indolence } but the induftry in
which they are engaged is not of inch a nature as to
overpower their ftrength or exhauft their Ipirits. Lire
focial affedlions have now the ftrongeft influence on men’s
fentiments and condudt.
But human affairs are fcarcely ever ftationary. ^ie Degeneracy
circumftances of mankind are almoft; always changing, anci decline
either growing better or worfe. Their manners are ever of fockty.
in the fame fludluating ftate. They either advance to¬
wards perfedtion or degenerate. Scarcely have they at¬
tained that happy period in which we have juft contem¬
plated them, when they begin to decline till they per¬
haps fall back into a ftate nearly as low as that from
which we fuppofe them to have emerged. Inftances
of this unhappy degeneracy occur more than once in
the hiftory of mankind ; and vre may finifh this fhorfc
fketch of the hiftory of fociety by mentioning in what
manner this degeneracy takes place. Perhaps, ftridfly
fpeaking, every thing but the fimple neceffaries of life
may be denominated luxury : For a long time, how¬
ever, the welfare of fociety is beft promoted, while its
members afpire after fomething more than the mere ne-
ceflaries of life. As long as thefe fuperfluities are to
be obtained only by adlive and honeft exertion •, as long
as they only engage the leiiure hours, without becoming
the chief objedfs of purfuit—the employment which they
give to the faculties is favourable both to the virtue and
the happinefs of the human race.
The period arrives, however, when luxury is no long¬
er ferviceable to the interefts of nations ; when fhe is no
longer a graceful, elegant, adlive form, but a languid,
overgrown, and bloated carcafe. It is the love of lux¬
ury,'which contributed fo much to the civilization of
fociety, that now brings on its decline. Arts are cul¬
tivated and improved, and commerce extended, till enor¬
mous opulence be acquired : the effedf of opulence is to
awaken the fancy, to conceive ideas of new and caprici
ous wants, and to inflame the breaft with new defires.
Here we have the origin of that feffiflmefs which, ope¬
rating in eonjundlion with caprice and the violence of
3 K. unbridle4
[ 441 1
Society.
S O C
Concluding
rtrnaik'.
unbridled paffions, contributes fo much to the corruption
ox virtuous manners. Selfiihnefs, caprice, indolence, ef¬
feminacy, ail join to loofen the bonds of fociety, to brino-
op the> degeneracy both of the ufeful and the fine arls&,
to bamfh at once the mild and the auflere virtues, to de¬
stroy civil order and fubordination, and to introduce in
their room anarchy or defpotifm.
..Scarcely could we have found an example of the beau-
tnul form of fociety which we laft attempted to defcribe
IXI T r t- 1 — /*1 T  . * w _
[ 442 ]
s o c
luch happy circumftances, or to difplay fo amiable and
relpectable a charafter. But when we fpeak of the de¬
clining hate of fociety, we have no difficulty in finding
mttances to which we may refer. Hiftory tells of the
Aflynans, the Egyptians, and the Perfians, all of them
once fkmnfhing nations, but brought low by luxury and
an unhappy con-uption of manners. The Greeks, the
Tomans, and the Aflyrians, owed their fall to the fame
cauies ; and we know not if a fimilar fate does not now
threaten many of thofe nations who have long made a
diitinguifhed figure in the fylfem of Europe. The Por-
tuguefe, the Venetians, and the Spaniards, have already
fallen j and what is the prefent ftate of our neighbours
the French ? They have long been a people defiitute of
religion, corrupted in morals, unfteady in conduft, and
•Saves to pleafure and public amufements. Among them
luxury had arrived at its higheft pitch j and the confe-
quence has been, that after capricioufly fliaking off the
yoke of defpotifm, they have eftablifhed, or rather fet
up (for eftablifhed it cannot be), a motky kind of go-
ernment, which, in the courfe of a few years, has exhi-
Inted fcenes of tyranny and oppreftion, to which we
couot it the annals of the world can furnifli any parallel,
r et tin's is the people whofe manners the other nations
of Europe were ambitious to imitate. May thofe na¬
tions take warning in time, and avoid the rocks upon
which they have fplit.
. Thus have we viewed the feveral ftages in which fo¬
ciety appears in its progrefs from rudenefs to refinement
and decay, i he intelligent reader will perceive, that
Ine various and anomalous phenomena which occur in
the natural hiftory of fociety, cannot eafily be folved ;
becaufe the necexTary information cannot be obtained.
Others have been well accounted for by the refearches
oj curious philofophical inquirers. Local circumftances,
the influence of climate, the intercourfe of nations in
different ftates of civilization, have been taken notice of,
as caufes ferving to accelerate or retard the progrefs of
arts and manners. But our proper bufinefs here was
merely to mark the gradations between barbarifm and
refinement: ana as the painter who is to exhibit a feries
of portraits renrefenting the human form in infancy,
puerility, youth, and manhood, will not think of deli-
neatmg all that variety of figures and faces which each
of thofe periods of life affords, and will find himfelf un¬
able to reprefent in any fingle figure all diverfities ef
101 m and features; fo we have not once thought of de-
fcribing particularly under this article, all the various
national charafters reducible to any one of thofe divi-
fions under which we have viewed the pro^refs of fo¬
ciety, nor have found it poflible to comprehend under
one confident view, all the particulars which may be
gathered from the remains of antiquity, from the rela-
ladons Oi later travellers, and the general records of hi¬
ftory concerning the progreflive charader of mankind
in various regions, and' under the influence of various
accidents and circumftances. This indeed would even
ave been improper, as all that information appears un¬
der other articles in this Work.
^GIEITES, affociations voluntarily formed by a
number of individuals for promoting knowledge, indu-
ftry, or virtue. They may therefore be divkied into
Socletiej.
Never, at leaft, ha^ any nation continuedTong to enioy three claffes focietieff ^ .be divided
iuch happy circumftances, or to difplav fo amiable Ld fur, " ?r0m0tl,ng fcien?e and htera
ture, focieties for encouraging and promoting arts and
manufaftiires, and focieties for diffufing religion and mo¬
rality and relieving diftrefs. Societies belonging to the
firft clafs extend their attention to all the fciences and
literature m general, or devote it to one particular fcience.
J-he lame obtervation may be applied to thofe which are
mftituted for improving arts and manufa&ures. Thofe
of the third clafs are eftablifhed, either with a view to
prevent crimes, as the Philanthropic Society 5 for the
aiffufion of the Chriftian religion among unenlightened
nations, as the Society for the Propagation of the Gofpel
in Foreign Parts 5 or for introducing arts and civiliza¬
tion along with a knowledge of the Chriftian religion,
as the Sierra Leona company.
Ihe honour of planning and inftiluting focieties for
tuoie valuable purpofes is due to modern times. A. li-
terary affociation is faid to have been formed in the
reign of Charlemagne (fee Academy) 5 but the plan
feems to have been rude and defedive. Several others
were inftituted in Italy in the 16th century j but from
the accounts which we have feen of them, they feem to
have been far inferior to thofe which are moft flourifhing
at prefent. The moft enlarged idea of literary focietiel
ieems to have originated with the great Lord Bacon, the
father of modern philofophy, who recommended to the
reigning prince to inftitute focieties of learned men, who
ftiould give to the world from time to time a regular
account of their refearches and difeoveries. It was the
ndeaijf. tblS-great PhdofoPh.er> the learned world
fhould be united, as it were, into one immenfe republic :
which, though confifting of many detached ftates, fhould
hold a ftruft union and preferve a mutual intelligence
with each other, in every thing that regards the com¬
mon mtereft. The want of this union and intelligence
he laments as one of the chief obftacles to the advance-
ment of fcience ; and, juftly confidering the inftitution
of public focieties, in the different countries of Europe,
under the aufpices of the fovereign, to be the beft re¬
medy foi that defedf, he has given, in his fanciful work,
the New Atlantis, the delineation of a philofophical fo’
ciety on the moft extended plan, for the improvement
of all aits and fciences ; a work which, though written
in the language, and tin dared with the colouring of
romance, is full of the nobleft philofophic views. The
plan of Lord Bacon, which met with little attention
from the age in which he lived, was deftined to.produce
its effed in a period not very diftant. The fcheme of a
philofophical college by Cowley is acknowledged to have
had a powerful influence in procuring the eftablifh-
ment of the Royal Society of London by charter from
Charles II. $ •, and Cowley’s plan is manifeftly copied
in aim oft all its parts from that in the New Atlaniis.
The inftitution of the Royal Society of London was
foon followed by the eftabiifliment of the Royal Aca
demy
§ Sprat’s
HJlory of
the Royal
Society,
2d edit.
P- 35.
S O C [ 443 3 S O G
Religious demy of Sciences at Paris; and tliefe two have ferved
and Hu- as models to the philofophical academies of higheft re¬
mane So- pUlation jn the other kingdoms of Europe.
c'eUcS' , The experience of ages has (hown, that improvements
of a public nature are bed carried on by focieties of li¬
beral and ingenious men, uniting their labours without
regard to nation, feft, or party, in one grand purfuit
alike interelfing to all, whereby mutual prejudices are
worn off, and a humane philofophical fpirit is cherilhed.
Men united together, and frequently meeting for the
purpofe of advancing the fciences, the arts, agriculture,
manufaftures, and commerce, may oftentimes fugged
fuch hints to one another as may be improved to im¬
portant ends; and fuch focieties, by being the repolito-
ries of the obfervations and difcoveries of the learned
and ingenious, may from time to time furnifh the world
with ufeful publications which might otherwife be lod :
for men of ingenuity and modedy may not choofe to
rilk their reputation, by fending abroad unpatronized
what a learned fociety might judge richly worth the
public eye ; or perhaps their circumdances being drait-
ened, they may not be able to defray the expence of
publication. Societies indituted for promoting know¬
ledge may alfo be of eminent fervice, by exciting a fpirit
of emulation, and by enkindling thole fparks of genius
which otherwife might for ever have been concealed j
and if, when pc defied of funds fufficient for the pur¬
pofe, they reward the exertions of the indudrious and
enterprifing with pecuniary premiums or honorary me¬
dals, many important experiments and ufeful difcoveries
will be made, from which the public may reap the high-
ed advantages.
Eminent indances of the beneficial effedls of fuch in-
ditutions we have in the Royal Academy of Sciences at
Paris, the Royal Society, and the Society indituted for
the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Com¬
merce, in London, and many others of a fimilar kind.
Hereby a fpirit of difcovery and improvement has been
excited among the ingenious in almod every nation 5
knowledge of various kinds, and greatly ufeful to man¬
kind, has taken place of the dry and unintereding fpe-
culations of fchoolmen •, and bold and erroneous hypo-
thefis has been obliged to give rvay to demondrative ex¬
periment. In fliort, fince the eftablifhment of thefe fo-
cieties, folid learning and philofophy have more increafed
than they had done for many centuries before.
As to thofe focieties edablifhed for promoting in-
dudry, religion and morality, and relieving didrefs, the
defign is laudable and excellent, and prefents a beautiful
picture of the philanthropy of modern times. We are
happy to find, from the minutes of lome of thefe fo¬
cieties, that their beneficial effects are already confpicu-
ous.
We will now give fome account of the mod eminent
focieties •, arranging them under the three claffes into
which we have divided them : I. Re/igious and Humane
Societies. II. Societies for Promoting Science and Li¬
terature. III. Societies for Encouraging Arts, Manu-
faclures, &c.
I. Religious and Humane Societies. n
1. Society for the Propagation of the Gofpel in Foreign
Parts, was indituted by King William III. in 1701,
in order to fecure a maintenance for an orthodox cler¬
gy, and to make other provifions for propagating the
gofpel in the plantations, colonies, and factories beyond
the feas. To that end he incorporated the archbifhops,
feveral of the bifhops, and others of the nobility, gentry,
and clergy, to the number of 90, into one body, which,
by the name of The Society for the Propagation of the
Gofpel in Foreign Parts, was to plead and be impleaded ;
to have perpetual fuccedion, with privilege to purchafe
2000I. a-year inheritance, and edates for lives or years,
with other goods and chattels to any value. By its
charter the fociety is authorifed to ufe a common feal;
and to meet annually on the third Friday in February
for the purpofe of choofing a prefident, vice-prefident,
and officers for the year eniuing; and on the third Fri¬
day in every month, or oftener if there Oiould be occa-
fion, to tranfacd bufinefs, and to depute perfons to take
fubferiptions, and colled money contributed for the pur-
pofes aforefaid j and of all moneys received and laid out,
it is obliged to give account yearly to the lord-chan¬
cellor or keeper, the lord-chief-judice of the King’s-
bench, the lord-chief-judice of the Common-pleas, or to
any two of thefe magidrates. Of this fociety there is a
danding committee at St Paul’s chapter-houfe, to pre¬
pare matters for the monthly meeting, which is held at
St Martin’s library.
Before the incorporation of the fociety for the pro¬
pagation of the gofpel in foreign parts, there had been
formed, for the promoting of Chridian knowdedge both
at home and in the colonies, a voluntary affociation of
perfons of rank and refpedability, who in March 1699
began to hold dated meetings in London for that pur¬
pofe, regulating themfelves by the laws of the land and
the canons of the church ; and when the newr fociety
was formed, they had already tranfmitted to America
and the Wed Indies 800I. worth of Bibles, Books of
Common Prayer, and treatifes of pradlical religion, be-
fides fecuring a tolerable maintenance to feveral clergy¬
men on that continent. This affociation dill fubfids un¬
der the denomination of The Society for Promoting Chri-
fian Knowledge, and has been produdlive of much good
in the cities of London and Wedminder ; but upon the
formation of the new fociety, into which all its original
members were incorporated by name, the care which,
the voluntary affociation had taken of the colonies de¬
volved of courfe upon the incorporated fociety ; of
which incorporation we believe the objedl has been
fometimes midaken, and the labours of its miffionaries
grofsly mifreprefented. It has by many been fuppofed
that the fociety was incorporated for the foie purpofe of
converting the favage Americans j and it has been much
blamed for fending miffionaries into provinces where, in
the common language of the complainers, a gofpel-miniflry
was already edablilhed. But an impartial view of the
rife and progrefs of the American provinces, now be¬
come independent dates, will dioW the folly and inju-
dice of thofe complaints.
The Engliffi colonies in North America were in the
lad century formed and fird peopled by religious men 5
who, made uneafy at home by their intolerant brethren,
left the old world to enjoy in peace that fird and chief
prerogative of man, the free wotjhip of God according to
his own confcience. At one time Puritans were driven
acrofs the Atlantic by the epifcopal church •, at another.
Churchmen were forced away by the prefbyterians, jud
as the revolutions of date threw the civil power into
the hands of the one or the other party j and not a few
3 K 2 members
Religious
and Hu¬
mane So¬
cieties.
1^ '
s o c
# See his
Sermon,
vol. it. of
his Works,
4to.
members of the church of Rome were chafed to the
v,ilx:s Oi America by the united exertions of both. It
has been often obferved, that people perfecuted for their
religion become for the moft part enthufiaftically at¬
tached to it 5 and the conduft of thofe cofonitts was in
per fed! harmony with this obfervation. Their zeal, in¬
flamed by their violent removal to the other hemifphere,
Kept religion alive and active among themlelver 5 but
their poverty difabled them from fupplying fuel to the
flame, by making provifion for a miniftry to initrud
their offspring. The confequence was, that the new
Chriflian commonwealth, without the kindly affidance
ot its mother-country, would have been, in the words of
Lire Roman hiftorian, Res nnius cetatis. Againft this
danger a timely aid was to be provided by the fociety ;
uhich, as it confided not of fanatical members, would
not intruft the important bufinefs of the miffion to fana¬
tical preachers, who, though always ready for fuch fpi-
ntual enterprifes, are never qualified to carry them on
with iuccefs.
It was therefore thought fit to affign a decent main¬
tenance for clergymen of the church of England, who
might preach the gofpel to their brethren in America ;
and though thofe miffionaries in general carefully avoid¬
ed the conduct of thofe of Rome, whofe principal aim
is to reduce all churches under fubmifiion to the papal
tyranny j yet fo lately as 1765, did fome of the colo-
mes, in which the puritanic fpirit of the lad century
ehaiafteufed the church edabliihed by law, raife a hi¬
deous outcry againft the fociety for fending a miffion
into their quarters, though only for the fervice of the
f 444 3
s o c
Re'I^iotis
and Hu-
,-r rj 1 ' luc or me terrors or mortality. Theie oualities and hnhdc ,v
-J- — 2  W A V- lll.n J 1 vv
among them, and for the converfion of thofe men whom
their rigid fanaticifm had prejudiced againft Chriftianity
itfelf. 1
Indeed the commodity called FRRETHINKING as
Biftiop Warburton expreffes it, was at an early period
imported by the opulent and faihionable colonifts. The
celebrated Berkeley, who had refided fome years in
Rhode I Hand, and at his return was called upon to
preach the anniverfary fermon before the fociety, in¬
forms us, that the ifland where he lived was inhabited
by an Enghffi colony, confifting chiefly of feefaries
of many different denominations •, that feveral of the
oetter fort of the inhabitants of towns were accuftomed
to affemble themfelves regularly on the Lord’s day for
the performance of divine woxffiip 5 but that moft of
thofe who were difperfed through the colony rivalled
fome well-bred people of other countries, in a thorough
indifference for all that is facred, being equally carelefs
of outward wmrffiip and of inward principles. He adds,
that the miffionaries had done, and were continuing to
do, good fervice in bringing thofe planters to a ferious
fenfe of religion. “ I fpeak it knowingly (fays he),
that the minifters of the gofpel, in thefe provinces which
go by the name of New England, fent and fupported at
the expence of the fociety, have, by their fobriety of
manners, difereet behaviour, and a competent degree of
iifeful knowledge, Ihown themfelves worthy of the choice
cr tiiofe who fent them.” We have the honour to be
acquainted with fome of the miffionaries fent at a later
period, and have reafon to believe that, down to the
era of the American revolution, they had the fame vir¬
tues, and wTere doing the fame good fervices, which pro¬
cured to their predeceffors this honourable teftimony
fiom one of the grealeft and the beft of men. Surely
Inch a miffion deferved not to be evil fpoken of by lec-
tanlls of any denomination who believe in Thrift: efpe- ninne So
cially as the very charter of incorporation affigns as a Ci'~*U?j.
reaion for miffionaries being fent to the colonies, “ that
b} reafon of their poverty thofe colonies wete deftitute
and unprovided or a maintenance for minifters and the
public worlhip of God.”
i he fociety, however, was incorporated for other
purpofes than this. It was obliged by its charter to
attempt Lie converfion of the native Americans and the
negro Haves 5^ and wTe have reafon to believe, that, as
loon as tne ipiritual w^ants of the colonifts w’ere decent¬
ly lupphed, it was not inattentive to thefe glorious ob¬
jects. Its fuccefs indeed in either purfuit has not been
lo.great as could be wiflied j but it would be rafh and
unfair to attribute this failure to the prefident, vice-
]irefident, or other officers of the corporation at home.
An erroneous notion, that the being baptized is incon.
fiftent with a ftate of flavery, rendered the felfifh colo¬
nifts for a long time averfe from the converfion of their
negroes, and made them throw every obftacle in the
way of all who made the attempt ; while the difficul¬
ties of the Indian miffion are fuch as hardly anv clergy¬
man educated in a Proteftant country can be fuppofed
able to furmount.
He wim hopes fuccefsfully to preach the pcffpel
among a tribe of Ravage wanderers, muft have an ardent
Zealand unwearied diligence; appetites fubdued to all
the dikreffes of want; and a mind fuperior to all the
terrors or mortality. Thefe qualities and habits may
infancyTas been trained up in the feverities of fome of
the monaftic orders, and afterwards fent to the college
(iepropaganda jide to be infiruefted in the languages, and
inured to the manners and cuftoms, of the barbarous na¬
tions whofe converfion he is deftined to attempt. But
in the reformed churches of Britain there are no mo¬
naftic orders, nor any college de propaganda fide ; and
yet without the regular preparation, which is to be
looked for in fuch inftitutions alone, it is not in na~
ture, whatever grace may effesft, for any man cheerfully,
and at the fame time foberly, to undergo all the accu¬
mulated diftrefles ever ready to overtake a faithful mif¬
fionary among favage idolaters. A fanatic zealot will
indeed undertake it, though he is totally unqualified
for every fober and important w'ork ; and a man of
ruined fortunes may be preffed into the fervice, though
tne impotency of his mind has ftiown him unable to
bear either poverty or riches. The failure of the fo¬
ciety therefore in its attempts to convert the American
Indians may be attributed, we think, in the firft in-
fiance, to the want of a college de propaganda for train-
ing up young men for the American miffion.
Perhaps another caufe of this failure may be found
in the ccnduft of the miffionaries, who, it is to be pre¬
fumed, have not always employed in a proper manner
even the fcanty qualifications which they actually pof-
feiled. The gofpel, plain and fimple as it is, and fitted
in its nature for what it was ordained to effect, cannot
be apprehended but by an intelledl fomewhat railed
aoove that of a favage. Such of the miffionaries there¬
fore as began their work with preaching to fiavage and
brutal men, certainly fet out at the wrong end ;°for to
make the gofpel underftood, and much more to propa¬
gate.
s o c
Rettginm gate and eflablii’h it, tKofe favages iiiould have been firft
atnl Hu- ^ught the neceiTaiy arts of civil life, which, while they
rni!,ie ^°' improve every bodily accomn^odation, tend at the fame
\ ^ ' time to enlarge and enlighten the underftanding. For
want of this previous culture, we doubt not, it hath hap¬
pened that fuch of the favages as have been baptized in¬
to the faith have fo feldom perfevered themfelves, or
been able in any degree to propagate among their tribes
the ChrifHanity which they had been taught, and that
fuccedive midions have always found it neceffary to be¬
gin anew the work of converfion.
To one or other of thefe caufes, or to both, may
julfly be attributed the little progrefs which reformed
Chridianity has made among the Indians of North A-
merica •, and not to any want of zeal, attention, or libe¬
rality, in the directors of the fociety at home. During
the dependence of the United States on the mother-
country, great part of the fociety’s funds was properly
expended in keeping alive a p.id fenfe of religion among
the Chrillian coloniifs from Europe, who had furely the
firft claims upon this bed of charities ; but norv that
America has fe para ted herfelf from Great Britain, and
fliown that die is able to maintain her independence,
and to make ample prdvifion for a regular clergy of
her own, the members of the corporation mud feel them¬
felves at liberty to bedow greater attention, and to ex¬
pend more money than they could formerly do, on the
converfion of fuch Indians as have any intercourfe with
the fetdements which we dill poffefs. To a body fo
refpeflable, we prefume not to offer advice ; but we
cannot help thinking, with Biihop Berkeley, that the
mod fuccefsful miffionaries would be children of In¬
dians, educated in a confiderable number together from
the age of ten or twelve in a college de propaganda fide,
where they dmuld be in no danger of lofing their mo¬
ther-tongue while they were acquiring a competent
'TropeOil knowledge of religion, morality, hiflory, pratlical ma-
for the bet^ thematics, and agriculture. “ If there were a yearly
terfupply- fupply (fays he) of a dozen fuch miffionaries fent abroad
°J into their refpeflive countries, after they had received
^n'ot'rFo- degree of mader of arts, and been admitted into
re;fi pian- holy orders, it is hardly to be doubled but that in a
tat ions, little time the world would fee good and great effects of
their miffion.”
2. SocictL/ in Scotland for Propagating Chrifiian Know-
iedge, was indituted in the beginning of the eighteenth
century. At that period the condition of the Scotch High¬
landers was truly deplorable. Shut up in defolate iflands
by tempeduous feas, or difperfed over a wide extent of
country, interfefted by high mountains, rapid rivers,
and arms of the fea, without bridges or highways, by
which any communication could be kept open either
vdth remote or neighbouring didridls, they lived in
fmall detached companies in hamlets or folitary. huts.
Being thus fecluded from intercourfe with the more ci¬
vilized part of the idand, they could not enjoy the ad¬
vantages of trade and manufaftures. As their foil was
barren and their climate fevere, in agriculture no pro-
445 ;] s o c
grefs was to be expe&ed : and as they were acquainted Re^“u*
with no language but Gaelic, in which no books were
then written, to poffefs knowledge was impodible. Their deties>
parithes being of great extent, often 30 or 40 miles ■ ——v— ^
long and of a proportionable breadth, and lometimes
confiding of feveral iflands feparated by leas, which are
often impaffable, a confiderable number oi the inhabi¬
tants was entirely deprived of religious inftruftion or
fell a prey to Popith emiffanes. A hngle fchoolin fuch
extenfive parifhes could be of little benefit j yet many
parifnes were entirely deditute even of this refouvee j
and where fchools were eflabliflied, the want of books
prevented them from producing the ufeful effects otner-
wife to have been expected Irom them (a), lo all*
this we mud add, that they lived in a date of the great-
ed oppreffion : For though the Highlands formed a
part of the Britiih empire, the bleflings of the BritiOi
conftitution had not reached them. The feudal fyflem
reigned in its utmofl rigour the chieftains exercifing
the mod defpotic fway over the inferior Highlanders,
whom at their pleafure they deprived of their lives or
property (b).
Thus the Highlanders were ignorant, oppreffed, and
uncivilized ; Haves rather than fubjedts •, and either en¬
tirely deditute of the advantages of the Chridian reli¬
gion, or unqualified to improve them. Hitherto they
had been unhappy and uielefs to themfelves and danger¬
ous to the date , for they wei'e ready at the call of
their chieftains to iffue from their mountains, and to
turn their arms againfl their lawful king and his loyal
fubjedis. This character, however, arofe from their fi-
tuation. It was therefore impoflible for benevolent
minds to contemplate this unhappy fituation of their
countrymen without feeling a defire to raife them to the
dignity of rational beings, and to render them ufeful as
citizens.
Accordingly, in the year 1701, fome private gentle¬
men of the city of Edinburgh, who had formed them¬
felves into a ibcieiy for the reformation of manners, di- .
redied their attention to the Highlands of Scotland, and
endeavoured to devife fome plan for alleviating the
didreffes of the inhabitants. The remedy which pro-
mi fed to be mod edicacious was, to eflablifli charity
fchools in different places, But as the exigency was,
great, it was no eafy matter to xaife a futficient fund for
this purpofe. They began therefore with what volun¬
tary fubferiptions they could procure, hoping after¬
wards to increafe their capital by vacant dipends and
public contributions. A memorial with, this view was
prefented to the General Affembly in 1704, which re¬
ceived their approbation ; and they accordingly paffed
an jicl, recommending a general contribution. In 1706 .
the General Affembly appointed fome of their, number
to inquire more carefully into the date of the High¬
lands, and the year following appointed a feledl com¬
mittee to confer with the gentlemen who had fuggefled.
the plan. The refult of thefe conferences was the pub¬
lication of propofals “ for propagating Chriflian know¬
ledge
(a) Even fo late as the year 1738, not fewer than 175 parifhes, within- the bounds of 39 prefhyteries, had no
parochial fchooh We are forry to add, that even in the prefent enlightened and benevolent age the complaint ,is ,
liOt entirely removed.
(b) The feudal fyflem was at length aboliihed in the year 1748 by the jurifdiclion aft,,
-Religious
and Hu¬
mane So¬
cieties.
S O C
ledge in the Highlands and Illands of Scotland^
loreign parts of tlie world.” Copies of thefe propofals,
; \Mth fubicription papers, were ditlnbuted through the
— kingdom; and the contributions having Toon amounted
to loool. her majefty Q^ueen Anne encouraged this in¬
fant fociety by her royal proclamation, and at the fame
time iliued letters patent under the great feal of Scot¬
land for erefting certain of the fubfcribers into a corpo¬
ration ; the firft nomination of whom was lodged with
the lords of council and feihon.
This corporation held its firft meeting on Thurfday
^d November 1709. It was attended by feveral of the
nobility, fourteen of the lords of feflion, many gentle¬
men of rank, together with moft of the minifters of the
city of Edinburgh and neighbourhood. A prefident,
fecretary, and treafurer, with a committee of fifteen di-
re&ors, were appointed for the difpatch of bufinefs. At
their fecond meeting in January 1710, a fcheme of ma¬
nagement was formed and approved ; in wdiich it was
piopoied, 1. Jo erect and maintain fchools in fuch
places of Scotland, particularly in the Highlands and
Iftands, as fhould be found to need them moft 5 in which
fchools all perfons whatfoever fhould be taught by fit
and well qualified fchoolmafters, appointed by the fo-
ciely, to read the Holy Scriptures and other pious
books 5 as alfo to write, and to underhand the common
rules of arithmetic, with fuch other things as fhould be
thought fuitable to their circumftances. 2. That the
fchoolmafters fliould be particularly careful to inftrudl
their fcholars in the principles of the Chriftian reformed
religion 5 and for that end fhould be obliged to catechife
them at leaft twice a week, and to pray publicly with
them twice a day. 3. That not only fuch as were un¬
able to. pay fhould be taught gratis, but that thofe
whofe circumftances required it, fliould have fuch farther
encouragement as the fociety fhould think fit in a con-
fiftency with tneir patent. 4. Jo name fome prudent
perfons, minifters and others, to be overfeers of thofe
fchools, who ftiould take care that the fchoolmafters do
their duty, and that the inftnnftions to be given from
time to time by the fociety or their committee be punc¬
tually obferved.j which overfeers fhould make their re¬
port to the fociety quarterly or half-yearly at fartheft.
5. '1 o give fuitable encouragement to fuch minifters or
catechifts as fhould be willing to contribute their aflift-
ance towards the farther inftruftion of the fcholars
remote from church, by not only catechifing, but
preaching to them 5 which minifters or catechifts fhould
take the fame care of the other inhabitants as of
the fcholars. 6. To extend their endeavours for the
advancement of the Chriftian religion to heathen na¬
tions ; and for that end to give encouragement to mini¬
fters to preach the gofpel among them.
Having thus formed a plan, they immediately pro¬
ceeded to eftablifh fchools in the moft ufeful and eco¬
nomical manner ; and as the capital continued to ac¬
cumulate, the intereft was faithfully applied, and
the utility of the inftitution was more extenfively dif-
fufed.
Until the year 1738 the attention of the fociety had
been wholly directed to the eftablifhment of fchools j
but their capital being then confiderably augmented,
they began to extend their views of utility much farther.
Ihe grand objetft of all public affociations ought cer-
4
[ 446 ] s o c
and in tainly tc be the promoting of religion and morality. It
muii, however, be evident to every man of refledlion, that
thefe can neither be propagated nor preferved among a
people without agriculture, unaccuftomed to commerce
and manufadlures, and confequently without labour or
exeiticn. Languor and debility of mind muft always
be the companions of idlenefs. While the Highlanders
roved about with arms in their hands, the latent vigour
of then minds muft often have been called forth int o ac¬
tion ; but when their arms were taken away, and them-
felves confined to a domeftic life, where there was no¬
thing to rouie their minds, they muft have funk into in¬
dolence and inaaivity. All attempts therefore to inUruft
tfnm in religion and morality, without introducing a-
mong them fome of the neceffary arts of life, would pro¬
bably have been unavailing. The fociety accordingly
refolved to adopt what appeared to them the moft effec¬
tual methods of introducing induftry among the High-
landers. But as their patent did not extend far enough,
they applied to his majeffy George II. for an enlarge¬
ment of their powers 5 and accordingly obtained a fe¬
cond patent, by which they are empowered, “ befides
fulfilling the purpofes of their original patent, to caufe
fuch of the children as they fhall think fit to be bred to
hufbandry and houfewifery, to trades and manufaftures,
or in fuch manual occupations as the fociety fhall think
proper.”
The objeefs of this fecond patent the fociety have
not failed to purfue 5 and though many obftacles and
difeouragements to their efforts occurred among a rude
and. barbarous people, yet their perfeverance, and the
obvious utility of their plans, at length fo far overcame
the reluftance of the inhabitants, that not fewer than 94
fchools of induftry in various parts of the Highlands and
I Hands are now upon their eftablifhment, at which are
educated 2360 fcholars.
The fociety, while anxioufly endeavouring to diffufe
a fpirit of .induftry through the Highlands, were ftill
equally felicitous to promote the knowledge of the
Chriftian religion. As the Englifh language had been
the only channel by which knowledge was conveyed to
them (a language which, being not ufed in converfa-
tion,. was in all refpedls foreign to them), it was judged
requifite that they fliould have the Scriptures in their
vernacular tongue. I lie fociety therefore firft appoint¬
ed a tranflation of the New Teftament to be made in¬
to Gaelic : A tranflation was accordingly undertaken
by the Rev. Mr Stewart minifter of Killin in Perth-
fliire, and printed in 1767, which is faid to be executed
wdlh much fidelity. Of this work many thoufand co¬
pies have been diftributed in the Highlands. The great¬
er part of the Old Teftament has alfo been tranflated
by the Rev. Dr Smith of Campbelton and others, but
chiefly by the Rev. Dr Stewart of Lufs, by the appoint¬
ment and at the expence of the fociety : and as foon as
the remaining part can be got ready, the whole will be
fold at fo low a price as the poor may without difficulty
afford. This plan the fociety have judicioufly cho-
fen, in order to prevent difeontent and murmuring ; ef-
fefts which the diffufion of the Scriptures ought never
to produce ; but which could not poflibly have been .
prevented, had the diftribution been gratuitous, and of
courfe partial.
For fome years paft the funds of the fociety have ra¬
pidly
Rellgloui
and Hu¬
mane So¬
cieties.
S O C [ 447 ] • S O C
Religious pidiy accumulated, from the very liberal donations of fe-
and Hu- verai individuals.
mane So¬
cieties.
Lady Glenorchy
By a perfon unknown
Lord Van Vryhouven of Holland
Mifs Gray of Teaffes
L. 5,000
10,000
20,000
3*50°
In confequence of thefe great additions to their flock,
infinuations have been thrown out that the fociety have
become fb wealthy as to be at a lofs for proper objedls
on which to bellow their increafed revenue. If fuch
an opinion be fenoujiy entertained by any one, we mud
beg him to remember, that the fociety have eredled and
endowed not fewer than 3 23 fchools for religion, the firft
principles of literature and induftry, at the annual ex¬
pence of 3214I. 1 os. flerling ; and that at thefe femi-
naries are educated from 14,000 to 15,000 children ;
who, but for the means of inflruclion thus obtained,
would in all probability be bred up in ignorance and
idlenefs : That they employ 1 2 iniflionary miniflers and
catechifls in remote parts of the Highlands and iflands,
or among the ignorant Highlanders fettled in the great
towns of Scotland, at the annual expence of 296I.:
That they bellow a burfary or penfion of 15I. per
annum on each of fix lludents of divinity having the
Gaelic language: That they employ two milTionary
minillers and one fchoolmaller among the Oneida and
Stockbridge Indians of North America (being the def-
tination of certain legacies bequeathed to them for that
purpofe), at the annual expence of 140I. Such is their
fixed Icheme of annual expenditure, amounting in all
to 3740b, x os. llerling—a fum it will be acknowledged
of very confiderable magnitude. The whole of their
incidental expences arifing from the Gaelic tranllation
of the Scriptures of the Old Tellament; from annui¬
ties which they have to pay, in confequence of fums left
them as refiduary legatees; from land and houfe taxes *,
from enabling candidates for the office of fchoolmaller
to come to Edinburgh for examination \ from furnilhing
books to poor fcholars in their various fchools; and
from removing fchoolmalters from one llation to an¬
other, is generally about 875b, which added to the
former fum makes the whole annual expence amount to
46x5b 10s.
If it be inquired at what expence, in the inanagement
of it, this extenfive and complicated charity is annually
conduced, we are authorifed to fay, that the treafurer,
bookholder, and clerk, are allowed each 25I. per an¬
num, the fame falaries which were annexed to thefe of¬
fices from the commencement of the focietv. The
beadle or officer is allowed 12b per annum. No falary
whatever is enjoyed by any of the other officers of
the fociety. The fecretary, comptroller, accountant,
and librarian, although fubjedted, fome of them efpe-
cially, to no fmall expence of time and labour, have no Religious
pecuniary recompenfe or emolument. Theirs are la- an'i Hu“
hours of love, for which they feek and expedl no other Reties0"
reward than the conlcioufnefs of endeavouring to pro-
mote the bell interells of mankind. The whole amount
of the expence of managing the bufinefs of the fociety,
including the above falaries, and coals, candle, llation-
ary ware, poltages, and other incidents, exceeds not at
an average 115b per annum. From this llatement it
appears, that hitherto at leal! the diredlors have been at
no lofs for important objedls within the proper fphere
of their inllitution on which to bellow their increafed
funds. They have, it is true, the difpofal of very con¬
fiderable futns for promoting the objebls of the inllitu¬
tion ; but they are fo far from accumulating wealth, that
every year their expenditure, notwithilanding the late
increafe of their capital, exceeds rather than falls fhort
of their income. They have depended upon a kind
Providence and a generous public to refund thefe antici¬
pations of their revenue, and hitherto they have never
been difappointed.
Thus has the Society for Propagating Chrillian Know¬
ledge proceeded for almoll a century. It was founded
by the pious exertions of a few private individuals,
wThofe names are unknown to the wmrld ; and its funds,
by faithful and judicious management, as well as by ge¬
nerous contributions, have notv become of fuch magni¬
tude, as to excite the hope that they will be produdlive
of the moll valuable effebls. The benefits arifing from
public focieties, it is well known, depend entirely upon
the management of their direflors. If fo, the advanta¬
ges which have accrued from this fociety intxtle it to
the praife and gratitude of the nation. While eager to
increafe the number of fchools, the fociety have not
been inattentive to their profperity. In the year 177X
Mr Lewis Drummond, a gentleman in whom they pla¬
ced great confidence, was commilfioned by them to vifit
their fchools, and to make an exadt report of their date
and circumllances. Again, in the year X790, a com-
milfion was granted to the Rev. Dr Kemp, one of the
minillers of Edinburgh and fecretary to the fociety, to
vifit all the fchools on their ellablilhment. This labo¬
rious and gratuitous talk he accomplilhed in the courfe
of four fummers with much ability and care, and highly
to the fatisfadlion of the fociety. At his return he com¬
municated a variety of important information refpedling
the (late of the Highlands and Illands, and the means
neceffary for their improvement in religion, literature,
and indullry 5 an abftradl of which was publilhed by the
fociety in appendixes to the anniverfary fermons preach¬
ed before them in the years 1789, 90, 91, and 92 (c)
The following table will exhibit at a glance the funds,
eftablifliment, and expenditure, of the iociety, from a
few years after its commencement to the prefent time.
Where
.(c) It is well known, that the number of Roman Catholics in the Highlands is confiderable; but it muffi
give much pleafure to the Prstellant reader to be informed, that the ancient malignant fpirit of Popery has in
that difiridl given place to mildnefs and liberality. This is chiefly owing to the gentleman who fuperintends the
priells in that quarter, whole mind is enlightened by fcience and learning. So far from being hollile to the
voc.vs of the fcciety, he recommended to his clergy to promote them. They accordingly received the fecretary with
much politenefs; exhorted the people to fend their children to the Protefiant fchools to be inltrufled in literature,
to be taught to read the Scriptures in their own language, and to be made acquainted with thofe great principles of
religion in which ali Chriffiians are agreed. What a bleffed reformation !
S G C f 448 ] s o c
Religious Wliere tlie number of fcholars is not mentioned, the de-
n'ane^So- n‘ay Applied by taking an average from thofe
cieties. years where a computation has been made. Where the
u—capital is not mentioned, it may eafily be made out by
conlidering the falaries as the intereft.
A. D.
'VS
1719
1727
1732
1742
wjs
1758
1781
1793
1794
Capital.
L. 6,177
8,168
9>*3i
19,287
24^308
28,413
34,000
Salaries
3,080
3>2I4
Schools.
12
25
48
78
IO9
I 28
152
176
l8o
3°7
323
Scholars.
2757
6409
7000
1 2,913
;I4>370
Hitherto we have taken no notice of the correfpond-
ing board which was eftablilhed at London fo early as
the year 1729, to receive fubfcriptions and lay out fums.
That board indeed remained long inaftive ; but in 1773
its members began to co-operate more cordially with
their brethren in Scotland. Since that period an annual
fermon has been preached in recommendation of the
charity ; and the preacher is now felefted without any re¬
gard to the religious denomination to which he belongs j
fometimes from the church of England, fometimes from
the church of Scotland, and fometimes from feflaries of
different perfuahons. The meetings of the correfpon-
dent board have been attended by many of the nobility
and gentry, who have made great exertions to promote
the views of the fociety. From its prefent flourifhing
ftate therefore^ from the indefatigable exertion and lau¬
dable zeal of the managers, and from the countenance
and fupport which they have received from perfons of
the firft rank and refpeflability in the nation, the bene¬
volent mind may look forward with much confidence
and fatisfaftion to a period not very diftant, when its
beneficial effedls {hall be felt not only in the Highlands,
but fhall be communicated to the reft of the nation.
We have been thus particular in our account of the So¬
ciety for Propagating Chriftian Knowledge, becaufe we
have had accefs to the moft authentic fources of informa¬
tion, and becaufe we know it to be an inftitution calcu¬
lated to enlighten and improve a confiderable part of the
Britilh nation.
3. Society of the Sons of the Clergy, was incorporated
by King Charles II. in 1678, by the name of The Go¬
vernors of the Charity for Relief of the Poor Widows and
Children of Clergymen. This fociety is under the direc¬
tion and management of a prefident and vice-piefident,
three treafurers, and a court of affiftants compofed of
forty members. Several hundreds of widows and chil¬
dren of the clergy have annually received confiderable
relief from this ufeful charity.
4. Society for the Sons of the Clergy of the EJlablifhed
Church of Scotland, was inftituted at Edinburgh in Fe¬
bruary 179°’ anc^ was conftituted a body corporate by
his majefty’s royal charter in 1792. The fociety, after
feveral meetings, are of opinion, that the period in which
the families of clergymen feel moft urgently the need
. both of friends and of pecuniary aid, is that which com-
3
mences with the introduftion of the fons either to an Religious,
univerfity or to bufinefs, and terminates with their efta- an ^ 1I’**
bliftiment in their refptclive profeflions ; that many of
the minifters of this church, living at great diftancesfrcm y-—*
the feats either of univerfities or of bufinefs, poffefs in¬
comes which, in the prefent ftate of the country, are in¬
adequate to the purpoles of procuring for their fons either
the literary or profeffional education which might enable
them to come forward with credit and fuccefs in the
world ; that the fons of clergymen, from domeftic tuition
and example, have in general very advantageous means
of receiving in their early years the impreflions of virtue
and honour, together with the rudiments of liberal know¬
ledge 5 and that of courfe the public intereft may be pro¬
moted, by enabling this clafs of young men to obtain
their (hare in the refpeftable fituations of life. The
views of the fociety have been limited to the fons only
of clergymen; as they are of opinion, that within the li¬
mits which they have fixed, the field of beneficence v. ill
be ftill very extenfive, and the claims for aid as many
and as great as their funds can be fuppofed able to
anfwer, at leaft for many years to come. If the focie¬
ty fhall ever be in a fituation to undertake more than
the aids which will be neceffary in bringing forward
the fons of the clergy, it may then be confidered in what
manner the daughters aifc may become iharers in its
bounty.
A fociety of the fame nature, and having the fame
objects in view, was inftituted at Glafgow we think the
year before ; and both focieties, we know, have in many
cafes proved highly beneficial in promoting the views
for which they were inftituted.
5. Royal Humane Society, was inftituted in London in
1774, for the recovery of perfons drowned or otherwife
fuffbeated. We have already given feme account of
focieties inftituted in other countries with uie fame views,
and have alfo copied the diredtions of this fociety for the
recovery of life, for which fee the article Drowning.
We have therefore only to ftate, that the plan of this fo¬
ciety is fo averfe to any private interefted views, that it
acquits its founders of all fordid motives, For the me¬
dical practitioners accept no pecuniary recompenfe for
the time which they devote to a difficult and tedious pro-
cefs; for the anxiety which they feel while the event is
doubtful : for the mortification which they too often un¬
dergo, when death, in fpite of all their efforts, at laft car¬
ries off his prey ; nor for the infults to which they willing¬
ly expofe themfelves from vulgar incredulity. Their foie
reward is in the holy joy of doing good. Of an inftitu¬
tion thus free in its origin from the fufpicion of ambitious
views, and in its plan renouncing felf intereft in every
fhape, philanthropy muft be the only bafis. The good
intention therefore of the fociety is proved by its confti-
tution; the wifdom and utility of the undertaking are
proved by its fuccefs: not fewer than 3000 fellow-creatures
having fince its commencement been (1794) reftored to
the community by its timely and indefatigable exertions.
For it is to be obferved, that the benefit of this fodety
is by no means confined to the two cafes of drowning
and fufpenfion. Its timely fuccours have roufed the le¬
thargy of opium taken in immoderate and repeated dofes;
they have refeued the wretched victims of intoxication ;
rekindled the life extinguifhed by the fudden ftroke of
lightning ; recovered the apopleftic ; reftored life to the
infant that kid loft it in the birth ^ they have proved
efficacious
S O G [ 449 ] S O G
Religions efficacious in cafes of accidental fmolhering and of fuffo-
anrf Hu- cation by noxious damps ; in inilances in which the ten-
^dede^0" dernefs of the infant body or the debility of old age
greatly leflened the previous probability of fuccefs: info-
much that no fpecies of death feems to be placed beyond
the reach of this fociety’s affiftance, where the mifchief
had gone no farther than an obftruftion of the move¬
ments of the animal machine without any damage of the
organs themfelves. In confequence of every neceffary
affiflance afforded by this fociety, fimilar inftitutions have
been eftablifhed at Algiers, Lifhon, Philadelphia, Bofton,
Jamaica, Dublin, Leith, Glafgow, Paifley, Aberdeen,
Birmingham, Gloucefter, Shropihire, Northamptonfhire,
Lancafter, Biiftol, Whitehaven, Norwich, Exeter, Kent,
and Newcaftle. The fociety has publilhed an 8vo vo¬
lume with plates, confiding of cafes, correfpondence, and
a variety of interefting matter relating to the object of
this benevolent inflitution.
6- The Philanthropic Society, was inftituted in Sep¬
tember 1788. It aims at the prevention of crimes, by
removing out of the way of evil counfel, and evil com¬
pany, thofe children rvho are, in the prefent date of
things, defined to ruin. It propofes to educate and
indraft in fome ufeful trade or occupation the children
of convifts or other infant poor who are engaged in
vagrant or criminal courfes } thus to break the chain of
thofe pernicious confederacies, deprive the wdcked of
fuccefTors, the gaols of inhabitants, judice of its victims,
and by all thefe means add citizens to fociety. This
inditution is not only calculated to decreafe vice and
infamy, but to increafe ufeful indudry j fo that thofe
children who would otherwife fucceed to their parents
hereditary crimes, and become the next race of beggars
and thieves, will now be taught to fupply by honed
means their owm wants and the wants of others.
To carry into effeft thefe defirable purpofes, it is the
fird budnefs of the fociety to feleft from prifons, and
from the haunts of vice, prodigacy, and beggary, fuch
objefts as appear mod likely to become obnoxious to
the laws, or prejudicial to the community ; and, in the
execution of this duty, the adidance of the magidrates,
the clergy, and all who are intereded in the promotion
of good morals and good government, is mod earnedly
requeded. For the employment of the children, feveral
houfes are fupported, at Cambridge Heath, near Hack¬
ney, in each of which a mader-workman is placed for
the purpofe of teaching the children fome ufeful trade.
The trades already edablidied are thofe of a printer,
carpenter, dioemaker, and taylor. The girls are at pre¬
fent educated as menial fervants.
In the year 1 791 not fewer than 70 children rvere un¬
der the protteftion of this fociety, among whom were ma¬
ny who have been guilty of various felonies, burglaries,
and other crimes. Yet, fingular as it may appear, in
lefs lhan two years thofe very children became no lefs re¬
markable for indudry, aftivitv, decency, and obedience,
than they formerly were for the contrary vices. Such
are the grounds on which the Philanthropic Society
now' claims the attention and folicits the patronage of
the public. If we regard humanity and religion, this
inditution onens an afylum to the mod forlorn and ab-
jeft of the human race ; it befriends the mod friend-
led ; it faves from the certain and fatal confequences of
infamy and vicious courfes orphans and defected chil¬
dren. If we regard national profperity and the public
Vol. XIX. Part II.
welfare, it is calculated to increafe indudry j and it di- Religious
refts that indudry into the mod ufeful and necdfary aml Hu_
channels. If we regard felf-intered, its immediate objeft
is to proteft our perfons from affault and murder, our 1
property from depredation, and our peaceful habitations
from the defperate fury of midnight incendiaries.
One guinea per annum conititutes a member of the
fociety } and 10I. at one payment a member for life.
A life-lubfcription, or an annual payment of at lead two
guineas, is a necelfary qualilication for being elefted in¬
to the committee.
II. Societies for Promoting Science and Li¬
terature.
1. The Royal Society of London is an academy or body
of perfons of eminent learning, indituted by Charles II.
for the promoting of natural knowledge. The origin
of this fociety is traced by Dr Sprat, its earlied hiito-
rian, no farther back than to “ fome fpace after the end
of the civil wars” in the 17th century. The fcene of the
fird meetings of the learned men who laid the founda¬
tion of it, is by him fixed in the univerfity of Oxford at
the lodgings of Dr Wilkins warden of Wadham col¬
lege. But Dr Birch, on the authority of Dr Wallis,
one of its earlied and mod confiderable members, af-
figns it an earlier origin. According to him, certain
worthy perfons, redding in London about the year
1645, being “ inquidtive into natural and the new' and
experimental philofophy, agreed to meet weekly on a
certain day, to difcourfe upon fuch fubjefts, and were
known by the title of The Invifible or Philofophical Col¬
lege.'" In the years 1648 and 1649, the company who
formed thefe meetings w'as divided, part retiring to Ox¬
ford and part remaining in London ; but they conti¬
nued the fame purfuits as w'hen united, correfponding
with each other, and giving a mutual account of their
refpeftive difcoveries. About the year 1659 the great¬
er part of the Oxford fociety returned to London, and
again uniting with their fellow-labourers, met once, if
not twice, a-week at Grefham college, diiring term
time, till they w'ere fcattered by the public didraftions
of that year, and the place of their meeting made a
quarter for foldiers. On the redoration 1660 their
meetings were revived, and attended by a greater con-
courfe of men eminent for their rank and learning.
They W'ere at lad taken notice of by the king, who
having himfelf a confiderable tade for phyfical fcience,
W’as pleafed to grant them an ample charter, dated the
15th of July 1662, and afterw'ards a fecond dated 15th
April 1763, by which they were erefted into a corpo¬
ration, confiding of a prefident, council, and fellows, for
promoting natural knowdedge 5 and to give their invedi-
gations, againd which drange prejudices were entertain¬
ed, every poflible fupport, he fometimes honoured their
meetings with his prefence.
Their manner of elefting fellow's is by balloting.
Their council are in number 21, including the prefi¬
dent, vice-prefident, treafurer, and twro fecretaries j 11
cf which are continued for the next year, and 10 more
added to them ; all chofen on St Andrew’s day. Each
member at his admiflion fubfcribes an engagement that
he will endeavour to promote the good of the fociety ;
from which he may be freed at any time, by fignifying
to the prefident that he defires to withdraw. The
charges have been different at different times, and were
3 L at
S O G t 450 ] S O C
Societies for at firft irregularly paid: but they are now five guineas
J^-^paid to the treafurer at admifiion, and J3S. per quar-
*Literaturc ter ^onS as Per^on continues a member ; or, in
»■ f— ■ lieu of the annual fubfcription, a compofition of 25 gui¬
neas in one payment.
Their defign is, to “ make faithful records of all the
works of nature or art which come within their reach •,
fo that the prefent as well as future ages may be enabled
to put a mark on errors which have been ftrengthened
by long prefcription ; to reftore truths that have been
neglecled 5 to pufh thofe already known to more va¬
rious ufes ■, to make the way more paffable to what re-
„ mains unrevealed,” &c. To this purpofe they have
made a great number of experiments and obfervations
on molt of the works of nature j and alfo numbers of
fhort hi dories of nature, arts, manufaflures, ufeful en¬
gines, contrivances, &c. The fervices which they have
rendered to the public are very great. They have im¬
proved naval, civil, and military architecture j advanced
the fecurity and perfection of navigation ; improved
agriculture j and put not only this kingdom, but alfo
Ireland, the plantations, See. upon planting. They
have regiftered sxperiments, hiltories, relations, obfer¬
vations, &c. and reduced them into one common flock j
and have, from time to time, publifhed thofe which they
reckoned molt ufeful, under the title of Philofophical
TranfaBions, Szc. and laid the reft up in public regifters,
to be nakedly tranfmitted to pofterity, as a folid ground-
work for future fyftems.
They have a library adapted to their inftitution ; to¬
wards which Mr Henry Howard, afterwards duke of
Norfolk, contributed the Norfolcian library, and which
is, at this time, greatly increafed by a continual feries of
benefa&ions. The mufeum or repofitory of natural
and artificial rarities, given them by Daniel Colwal,
Efq. and fince enriched by many others, is now remo¬
ved to the Britifh mufeum, and makes a part of that
great repofitory. Their motto is Nul/ius in verba ; and
their place of affembling is Somerfet houfe in the Strand.
Sir Godfrey Copley, baronet, left five guineas to be
given annually to the perfon who fhould write the beft
paper in the year, under the head of experimental phi-
Jofophy. This reward, which is now changed to a
gold medal, is the higheft honour the fociety can be-
jfow. It is conferred on St Andrew’s day.
2. The Royal Society of Edinburgh, was incorporated
by royal charter on the 29th of March 17835 and has
for its objeCt the cultivation of every branch of fcience,
erudition, and tafte. Its rife and progrefs towards its
prefent ftate was as follows : In the year 1718a literary
Ibciety was eftablifhed in Edinburgh by the learned
Ruddiman and others, which in 1731 tvas fucceeded by
a fociety inftituted for the improvement of medical
knowledge. In the year 1739 the celebrated Mac-
laurin conceived the idea of enlarging the plan of this
fociety, by extending it to fubjefts of philofophy and
literature. The inftitution was accordingly new-mo¬
delled by a printed fet of laws and regulations, the
number of members was increafed, and they were di-
ftinguilhed from that time by the title of The Society for
Improving Arts and Sciences, or more generally by the
title of The Philofophical Society of Edinburgh. Its
meetings, however, were foon interrupted by the difor-
ders of the country during the rebellion in 1745 j and
they were not ren&wed till the year 1752. Soon after
this period the firft volume of the TranfaCIions of the Scekiirs for
Philofophical Society of Edinburgh was publifhed, un- ^rometinfc
der the title of EJJ'ays and Obfervations, Phifcal arid
terary, and was followed by other volumes of acknow- ^ - 1
lodged merit. About the end of the year 1782, in a
meeting of the profeffors of the univerfity of Edinburgh,
many of whom were likew’ife members of the Philofo¬
phical Society, and warmly attached to its interefts, a
fcheme was propofed by the Rev. Dr Robertfon, prin¬
cipal of the univerfity, for the eftablilhment of a new*
fociety on a more extended plan, and after the model of
fome of the foreign academies. It appeared an expe¬
dient meafure to folicit the royal patronage to an infti¬
tution of this nature, which promifed to be of nation¬
al importance, and to requeft an eftablifhment by char¬
ter from the crown. The plan wras approved and a-
dopted ; and the Philofophical Society, joining its in- A
fluence as a body in feconding the application from the
univerfity, his majefty, as wTe have already obferved,
was molt gracioufly pleafed to incorporate The Royal
Society of Edinburgh by charter.
This fociety confilts of ordinary and honorary mem¬
bers ) and the honorary places are reftridfed to per-
fons refiding out of Great Britain and Ireland. The
eleftion of new members is appointed to be made at
two ftated general meetings, wThich are to be held on
the fourth Monday of January and the fourth Mon¬
day of June. A candidate for the place of an ordi¬
nary member muft fignify by a letter, addreffed to one
of the members, his wifti to be received into the fo¬
ciety. He muft then be publicly propofed at leaft a
month before the day of eleftion. If the propofal be
feconded by two of the members prefent, his name is to
be inferted in the lift of candidates, and hung up in the
ordinary place of meeting. The ele£!ion is made by-
ballot, and is determined in favour of a candidate, if he
fhall have the votes of twe-thirds of thofe prefent, in a
meeting confiding of at leaft 21 members. The gene¬
ral bufinefs of the fociety is managed by a prefident,
two vice-prefidents, with a council of 12, a general fe-
cretary, and a treafurer. Thefe officers are chofen by
ballot annually on the laft Monday of November. All
public deeds, whether of a civil or of a literary nature,
are tranfa&ed by this board, and proceed in the name
of the prefident or vice-prefident.
As it was thought that the members would have a
greater inducement to punctual attendance on the meet¬
ings of the fociety, if they had fome general intimation
of the nature of the fubjefts which were to be confi-
dered, and made the topics of converfation, it was there¬
fore refolved to divide the fociety into twTo daffes,
which Ihould meet and deliberate feparately. One of
thefe claffes is denominated the Phyfical Clafs, and has
for its department the fciences of mathematics, natural
philofophy, chemiftry, medicine, natural hiftory, and
whatever relates to the improvement of arts and manu-
fa&ures. The other is denominated the Literary Clafs,
and has for its department literature, philology, hiftory,
antiquities, and fpeculative philofophy. Every member
is defired at his admiflion to intimate which of thofe
clafles he wilhes to be more particularly affociated with j
but he is at the fame time intitled to attend the meet¬
ings of the other clafs, and to take part in all its pro¬
ceedings. Each of the claffes has four prefidents and
two fecretaries, who officiate by turns. The meetings
SOC [451] soc
Societies for of the phyfical clafs are held on the firft Mondays of
Promoting January February, March, April, July, Auguft, No-
.Science andvember, and December \ and the meetings of the Lite-
^ terature. are hgU on the third Mondays of January,
February, March, April, June, July, November, and
December, at 7 o’clock afternoon.
At thefe meetings the written eflays and obfervations
of the members of the fociety, or their correfpondents,
are read publicly, and become the fubjefts of converfa-
tion. The fubje&s of thefe effays and obfervations are
announced at a previous meeting, in order to engage the
attendance of thofe members who may be particularly
interefted in them. Fhe author of each difiertation is
likewife defired to furnifh the fociety with an abilradl Oi
it, to be read at the next enfuing meeting, when the
converfation is renewed with increafed advantage, from
the knowledge previoufly acquired of the fubjeft. At
the fame meetings are exhibited fuch fpecimens of natu¬
ral or artificial curiofities, fuch remains of antiquity,
and fuch experiments, as are thought worthy of the at¬
tention of the fociety. All objefts of natural hiftory
prefented to the fociety, are ordered by the charter of
the inftitution to be depofited, on receipt, in the mufeum
of the univerfity of Edinburgh ; and all remains of an¬
tiquity, public records, or ancient manuicripts, in the
library belonging to the faculty of advocates at Edin¬
burgh.
The ordinary members, whofe ufual refidence is in
the city of Edinburgh or its immediate neighbourhood,
are expetted to attend regularly the monthly meetings j
and are required to defray, by an annual contribution,
the current expences of the inftitution. The members
who refide at fuch a diftance from Edinburgh, that
they cannot enjoy the advantages arifing from a regular
attendance on the meetings of the fociety, are not fub-
jcited to any contribution for defraying its expences,
but have a right to attend thofe meetings when occa-
fionally in Edinburgh, and to take part in all their pro¬
ceedings.
Five volumes of the Tranfaitions of the fociety have
been publifhed, which bear ample teftimony to the learn¬
ing and acutenefs of their various authors.
3. Medical Society of London, inftituted in the year
1752, on the plan recommended by Lord Bacon (Tk
Jlugm. Scient. lib. iv. cap. 2.), to revive the Hippocra¬
tic method of compofing narratives of particular cafes,
in which the nature of the difeafe, the manner of treat¬
ing it, and the confequences, are to be fpecified ; to at¬
tempt the cure of thofe difeafes which, in his opinion,
have been too boldly pronounced incurable 5 and, laft-
ly, to extend their inquiries after the powers of par¬
ticular medicines in the cure of particular cafes ; the
colleiftions of this fociety have been already publithed,
under the title of Medical Obfervations and Inquiries^ in
feveral volumes.
4. The Medical Society of Edinburgh was incorporated
by royal charter in 1778 ; but there appears to have
been in that city a voluntary affociation of the fame
name from the firft eftabliftiment of a regular fchool of
phyfic in the univerfity. To the voluntary fociety the
public is indebted for fix volumes of curious and ufe-
ful efiays, collefted principally by the late Dr Monro
from June 1731 to June 1736; but in the year 1739
that fociety was united to another, as we have already
obferved in a former article. The ordinary members
of the prefent medical fociety are defied by ballot, and Societies for
three diffentients exclude a candidate ; an ordinary mem-
ber may alfo be defied an honorary member, who en-
joys the privileges of the others, ahd receives a diploma, ^^
but is freed from the obligation of attendance, deliver-
ing papers in rotation, &c. to which the ordinary mem¬
bers are fubjeft; but in this cafe the votes muft be una¬
nimous. The meetings of this fociety are held every
Friday evening (formerly Saturday) in their own hall,
during the wdnter feafon, when papers on medical fub-
jefts are delivered by the feveral members in rotation ^
and four of-thefe are annually defied to fill the chair in
rotation, with the title of annual prefidents. This fo¬
ciety pofteftes an excellent library of books on fubjefls
connefled with its purfuits.
5. The Royal Medical Society of Paris was inftituted
in 1776. The members are divided into afibciates ordi
nary, limited to 30, honorary to 12, extraordinary to 60,
and foreign to 60, and correfpondents. This fociety has
publilhed feveral volumes of Memoirs in 4to.
6. AJiatic Society, an inftitution planned by the late
illuftrious Sir William Jones, and aflually formed at
Calcutta on the 15th of January 1784, for the purpofe
of tracing the hiftory, antiquities, arts, fcidices, and li¬
terature, of the immenfe continent of Afia. As it was
refolved to follow as nearly as poflible the plan of the
Royal Society of London, of which the king is pa¬
tron, the patronage of the Afiatic Society was offered
to the governor-general and council, as the executive
power in the territories of the company. By their ac¬
ceptance of this offer, Mr Haftings, as governor-gene¬
ral, appeared among the patrons of the new fociety j
“ but he feemed in his private ftation, as the firft liberal
promoter of ufeful knowledge in Bengal, and efpecially
as the great encourager of Perfian and Shanfcrit litera¬
ture, to deferve a particular mark of diftindlion he
was requefted, therefore, to accept the honorary title of
prefident. This was handfomely declined in a letter
from Mr Haftings, in which he requefted “ to yield his
pretenfions to the gentleman whofe genius planned the
inftitution, and wTas moft capable of conducing it to the
attainment of the great and fplendid purpofes of its for¬
mation.” On the receipt of this letter, Sir William
Jones was nominated prefident of the lociety ; and wTe
cannot give the reader a view oi the objefl ot the infti¬
tution in clearer language than that which he employed
in his firft difeourfe from the chair.
“ It is your defign, I conceive (faid the prefident),
to take an ample fpace for your learned inveftigations,
bounding them only by the geographical limits of Afia ;
fo that, confidering Hindoftan as a centre, and turning
your eyes in idea to the north, you have on your right
many important kingdoms in the eatlern peninfula, the
ancient and wonderful empire of China with all her Tar¬
tarian dependencies, and that of Japan, with the duller
of precious illands, in which many Angular curiofities
have too long been concealed : before you lies that pro¬
digious chain of mountains, which formerly perhaps
were a barrier againft the violence of the fea, and be¬
yond them the very interefting country of Tibet, and
the vaft regions of Tartary, from which, as from the
Trojan horfe of the poets, have iffued fo many confum-
mate warriors, whofe domain has extended at leaft irom
the banks of the Ilyffus to the mouths of the Ganges :
on your left are the beautiful and celebrated piovinces^
3 L 2 of
W
S O C [45
Societies for of Iran or Perfia, the unmeafured and perhaps unmea-
SckncT'aifd ^ura'°^e deferLs of Arabia, and the once Houriihing king-
literature. dom of Yemen, with the pleafant ifles that the Arabs
s..—i have fubdued or colonized j and farther weftward, the
Aliatic dominions of the Purkifh fultans, whofe moon
feems approaching rapidly to its wane. By this great
circumference the field of your ufeful refearches will be
inclofed j but fince Egypt had unqueftionably an old
connexion with this country, if not with China, fince
the language and literature of the Abyflinians bear a
manifeft affinity to thofe of Afia, fince the Arabian
arms prevailed along the African coaft of the Mediter¬
ranean, and even erefted a powerful dynafty on the
continent of Europe, you may not be dilpleafed occa-
iionally to follow the dreams of Afiatic learning a little
beyond its natural boundary 5 and, if it be neceffary or
convenient that a ffiort name or epithet be given to our
fociety, in order to diftinguilh it in the world, that of
AJiatic appears both claffical and proper, whether we
confider the place or the objeft of the inffitution, and
preferable to Oriental, which is in truth a word merely
relative, and though commonly ufed in Europe, con¬
veys no very diftinft idea.
“ If now it be afked, What are the intended objefls
of our inquiries within thefe fpacious limits ? we anivver,
Man and Nature j whatever is performed by the one
or produced by the other. Human knowledge has been
elegantly analyfed according to the three great faculties
of the mind, memory, reafon, and imagination, which wre
conftantly find employed in arranging and retaining,
comparing and diitinguifhing, combining and diverfify-
ing, the ideas, wffiich we receive through our fenfes, or
acquire by reflefh’on : hence the three main branches of
learning are, hi/iory, fcicnce, and art; the firft compre¬
hends either an account of natural produfiions, or the
genuine records of empires and Hates, the fecond em¬
braces the whole circle of pure and mixed mathematics,
together with ethics and law, as far as they depend on
the reafoning faculty ; and the third includes all the
beauties of imagery and the charms of invention, dif-
played in modulated language, or reprefented by colour,
figure, or found.
“ Agreeably to this analyfis, you will inveftigate
whatever is rare in the flupendous fabric of nature, will
correft the geography of Afia by new obfervations and
difcoveries ; will trace the annals and even traditions of
thofe nations who from time to time have peopled or
defolated it ; and will bring to light their various forms
of government, with their inftitutions civil and religious ;
you will examine their improvements and methods in
arithmetic and geometry ; in trigonometry, menfuration,
mechanics, optics, aftronomy, and general phyfics 5 their
fyItems of morality, grammar, rhetoric, and dialedic ;
their Ikill in chirurgery and medicine ; and their ad¬
vancement, whatever it may be, in anatomy and che-
miflry. Bo this you will add refearches into their agri¬
culture, manufactures, trade ; and whillt you inquire
with pleafure^ into their mufic, architecture, painting,
and poetry, will not negleft thofe inferior arts by which
the comforts and even elegancies of focial life are fup-
plied or improved. You may obferve, that I have
omitted their languages, the diverfity and difficulty of
which are a fad obltacle to the progrefs of ufeful know¬
ledge j but I have ever confidered languages as the
mere inftruments of real learning, and think them im-
2 ] s o c
properly confounded with learning itfelf: the attain-SocietfesBbr
ment of them is, however, indilpenlably nectiiary •, and Hromat ng
if to the Periian, Armenian, Turkilh, and Arabic, could Scicnce an<1
be added not only the Shanfcrit, the trealures of which Lltdature*
we may now hope to fee unlocked, but even the Chi-
neie, iartaiian, Japaneie, and the various inlular dia-
lefts, an immenfe mine would then be open, in which
we might labour with equal delight and advantage.”
Of this fociety three volumes of the JL raniaClions
have, been publiihed, which are replete with informa¬
tion in a high degree curious and important ; and we
hope that the European world ffiall loon be favoured
with another. The much-to-be-lamented death of the
accompliffied prefident may indeed damp the fpirit of
inveftigation among the members j for to conquer diffi¬
culties lo great as they muft meet with, a portion Items
to be neceffary of that enthufiafm which accompanied
all the purluits of Sir William Jones j but his luccefibr
is a man of great worth and learning, and we trull will
ufe his utmcll endeavours to have the plan completed of
which Sir William gave the outlines.
5. The American P/n/ofophical Society, held at Phila¬
delphia, was formed in January 1769 by the union of
two focieties which had formerly fubliited in that city.
This fociety extends its attention to geography, ma¬
thematics, natural philofophy, and aftionomy j medi¬
cine and anatomy j natural hiiiory and chemiliry j. trade
and commerce j mechanics and archite&ure ; hulbandry
and American improvements. Its officers are a patron
prefident, three vice-prefidents, one treafurer, four fe-
cretaries, and three curators, who are annually chofen
by ballot. The duty of the prefident, vice-prefidenta
treafurer, and fecretaries, is the fame as in other focie¬
ties. The bufinefs of the curators is to take the charge
of all fpecimens of natural productions, whether of the
animal, vegetable, or foffil kingdom ; all models of
machines and inftruments ; and all other matters be-
longing to the fociety which ffiall be intrufted to them.
The ordinary meetings are held on the firft and third
Fridays of every month from Odober to May inclufive.
Ibis fociety was incorporated by charter 15th March
1780 ; and has publiihed three volumes of its Tranfao-
tions, containing many ingenious papers on general li¬
terature and the fciences, as well as refpefting thofe
fubje&s peculiar to America. It is a delightful pro-
fped to the philofopher lo confider, that Afia, Europe,
and America, though far feparated and divided into a
variety of political Hates, are all three combined lo pro¬
mote the caufe of knowledge and truth.
6. A Literary and Plulafophical Society of confider-
able reputation has been lately eftablilhed at Man-
chefter, under the diredion of two prefidents, four vice-
prefidents, and two fecretaries. The number of mem¬
bers is limited to 50 ; befides w'hom there are feveral
honorary members, all of whom are ele&ed by ballot j
and the officers are chofen annually in April. Five vo¬
lumes of valuable eflays have been already publiffied by
this fociety.
A fociety on a fimilar plan has been eftabliffied at
Newcaftle. It is compofed of a number of moft re-
fpe&able members, and poffeffes a very valuable library
and philofophical apparatus. Lectures on the different
branches of natural philofophy have been delivered for
feveral years at this inftitution.
7* Society for Promoting the Difcovery of the Interior
Parts
S O C [ 453 ] S O €
gocitties f f Parts of Africa. This fociety or affociation for explor-
Promoting Jng the internal diftrids of Africa, of which fo little is
Science arM aj. prefent known, was formed in London by fome opu-
,Literature. jen(. jncjjv;rju;iis {n 3 who, ftrongly impreffed with
a conviflioh of the prafticability and utility of thus en-
larging the fund of human knowledge, determined if
poffible to refeue the age from that lligma which at¬
taches to its ignorance of fo large and fo near a portion
of the globe. The founders of this fociety refolved to
admit no man a member for a fhorter period than three
years, during which he muft pay annually into the
public fund five guineas. After three years, any mem¬
ber, upon giving a year’s notice, may withdraw himfelf
from the affociation. During the firit 12 months each
of the members was allowed to recommend for the ap¬
probation of the fociety fuch of his friends as he might
think proper to be admitted into it; but lince that pe¬
riod we believe all additional members have been elected
by a ballot of the affociation at large. A committee
was chofen by ballot to manage the funds of the fociety,
to choofe proper perfons to be fent on the difeovery of
the interior parts of Africa, and to carry on the fociety’s
correfpondence, with exprefs injunftions to difclofe no
intelligence received from their agents but to the fociety
at large. But a fuller account of the nature of this
e'flablifhment, and the very happy efforts they have
made, may be feen in the fuperb edition of their pro¬
ceedings printed in 1790, 410, for their own ufe ; or in
the 8vo edition fince made public. They foon found
two gentlemen, Mr Lucas and Mr Ledyard, who were
Angularly well qualified for the important million. The
information they have acquired will be found in the
above work 5 with a new map by Mr Rennel, exhibit¬
ing the geographical knowledge colleiled by the Afri¬
can affociation. Mr Ledyard very unfortunately died
during his refearches at Cairo.
Few of our readers are unacquainted with the travels
of Mr Park under the patronage of the fociety. For an
account of which fee Africa. A fecond journey was
undertaken by the fame gentleman within thefe three
years) but as he has not been heard of for a long time,
the moft ferious apprehenlions are entertained that he
and his companions have fallen vidlims either to the in-
hofpitable climate, or to the watchful jealoufy of the
Moors. Another enterprifing traveller, Mr Horneman,
was fent out by the fociety about 1800. He departed
from Cairo with a caravan, and reached Mourzouk, a
place fituated fouth from Tripoli 5 and from thence fent
a communication to his conftituents which has fince been
publilhed by the fociety. This is the laft account that
was received of this traveller, from which it is feared
that he has alfo perilhed.
8. T/ie Society of Antiquaries of London, was founded
about the year 1572 by Archbifhop Parker, a munifi¬
cent patron of learned men. For the fpace of 20 years
it affembled in the houfe of Sir Robert Cotton ; in 1589
they refolved to apply to Queen Elizabeth for a charter
and a public building where they might hold their meet¬
ings j but it is uncertain whether any fuch application
was ever made. In the mean time, the reputation of
the fociety gradually increafed, and at length it excited
the jealoufy of James I. who was afraid left it ftiould pre¬
fume to canvafs the fecret tranfa6Uons of his government.
He accordingly diffolved it. But in the beginning of
the laft century, the Antiquarian fociety began to re¬
vive; and a number of gentlemen, eminent for their Societies for
affeftion to this fcience, had weekly meetings, in which Promoting^
they examined the antiquities and hiftory of Great Bri- j .VrcuV
tain preceding the reign of James I. but without ex- ■ - - ■
eluding any other remarkable antiquities that might be
offered to them. From this time the fociety grew in
importance ; and in 1750 they unanimoufly refolved to
petition the king for a charter of incorporation. This
they obtained the year following, by the influence of
the celebrated earl of Hardwicke, then lord-chancellor,
and Martin Folkes, Efq j who was then their prefident.
The kins declared himlelf their founder and patron, and
empowered them to have a body of ftatutes, and a com¬
mon feal, and to hold in perpetuity lands, &c. to the
yearly value of xoool.
The chief object of the inquiries and refearches of
the fociety are Britilli antiquities and hiftory j not,
however, wholly excluding thofe of other countries. It
muft be acknowledged, that the ftudy of antiquity of¬
fers to the curious and inquifitive a large field for re-
fearch and amufement. The inquirer in this branch
furnifhes the hiftorian with his beft materials, while he
diftinguiihes from truth the fictions of a bold invention,
and afeertains the credibility of fa£ts ; and to the phiio-
fopher he prefents a fruitful fource of ingenious fpecu-
lation, while he points out to him the way of thinking,
and the manners of men, under all the varieties of afpedt
in which they have appeared.
An antiquarian ought to be a man of folid judgement,
poffeffed of learning and fcience, that he may not be an
enthufiaftic admirer of every thing that is ancient mere¬
ly becaufe it is ancient} but be qualified to diftinguifti
between thofe refearches which are valuable and impor¬
tant, and thofe which are trifling and ufelefs. It is from
the want of thefe qualifications that fome men have con-
tradled fuch a blind paflion for every thing that is an¬
cient, that they have expofed themfelves to ridicule,
and their ftudy to contempt. But if a regard to utility
were always to regulate the purfuits of the antiquarian,
the fhafts of fatire would no longer be levelled at him j
but he would be refpefted as the man who labours to re-
ftore or to preferve fuch ancient productions as are fuited
to illuminate religion, philofophy, and hiftory, or to im¬
prove the arts of life.
We by no means intend to apply thefe obfervations
to any particular fociety of antiquarians; but we throw
them out, becaufe we know that an affiduous ftudy of
antiquby is apt, like the ardent purfuit of money, to
lofe fight of its original objedt, and to degenerate into a
paflion which miftakes the mean for the end, and con-
fiders poffeftion without a regard to utility as enjoy¬
ment.
An affociation fimilar to that of the Antiquarian So¬
ciety of London was founded in Edinburgh in 1780,
and received the royal charter in 1783. A volume of
the tranfaclions of this fociety has been publiflied j but
with the exception of two or three memoirs, it contains
little worthy of notice; and accordingly, it has never
attradted the attention of the public.
Befides thefe literary focieties here mentioned, there
are a great number more in different parts of Europe,
fome of which are noticed under the article Academy.
Thofe which are omitted are not omitted on account
of any idea of their inferior importance 3 but either be¬
caufe
,s o c
[
Societies forcaufe we liave had no aceefs to authentic information,
gim^and °r ^ecau^e referable the focieties already defcribed
Promoting clofely, that we could have given nothing but their
Aus, Ma- names.
nufaiTtuies,
< ^C’ HI. Societies for Encouraging and Promoting
Arts, Manufactures, &c.
t. London Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Ma-
nufa&ures, and Commerce, was inltituted in the year
1754 by Lord Folkftone, Lord Romney, Dr Stephen
Hales, and a few private gentlemen ; but the merit of
this inftitution chiefly belonged to Mr William Shipley,
an ingenious mechanic ; who, though deriving no ad¬
vantages from learning, by unwearied perfonal attend¬
ance found means to engage a few perfons of rank and
fortune to meet at Peek’s coffeehoufe in Fleet-ftreet,
and to adopt a plan for promoting arts and manufac¬
tures.
The office-bearers ef this fociety are a prefident, 12
vice prefidents, a fecretary, and regifter. Their pro¬
ceedings are regulated by a body of rules and orders
eftabliffied by the whole fociety, and printed for the ufe
of the members. All queflions and debates are determi¬
ned by the holding up of hands, or by ballot if required;
and no matter can be confirmed without the affent of a
majority at two meetings. They invite all the world
to propofe fubjefts for encouragement ; and whatever is
deemed deferving of attention is referred to the confider-
ation of a committee, which, after due inquiry and de¬
liberation, make their report to the whole fociety,
where it is approved, rejected, or altered. A lift is
printed and publiffied every year of the matters for
which they propofe to give premiums; which premiums
are either fums of money, and thofe fometimes very
confiderable ones j or the fociety’s medal in gold or fil-
ver, which they confider as the greateft honour they
can beftow. All poffible care is taken to prevent par¬
tiality in the diftribution of their premiums, by defiring
the claimants names to be concealed, and by appoint¬
ing committees, (who when they find occafion call to
their affiftance the moft fkilful artifts) for the ftrift ex¬
amination of the real merit of all matters and things
brought before them, in confequence of their pre¬
miums.
The chief obje&s of the attention of the Society for
the Encouragement of Arts, Manufaftures, and Com¬
merce, in the application of their revenues, are ingenuity
in the feveral branches of the polite and liberal arts,
ufeful difcoveries and improvements in agriculture, ma-
nufa&ures, mechanics, and chemiftry, or the laying open
of any fuch to the public *, and, in general, all fuch
mfeful inventions, difcoveries, or improvements (though
not mentioned in the book of premiums) as may appear
to have a tendency to the advantage of trade and com¬
merce.
The following are fome of the moft important regula¬
tions of this fociety. It is required that the matters
for which premiums are offered be delivered in without
names, or any intimation to whom they belong \ that
each particular thing be marked in what manner each
claimant thinks fit, fuch claimant fending with it a pa¬
per fealed up, having on the outfide a correfponding
mark, and on the infide the claimant’s name and ad-
_drefs } and all candidates are to take notice, that no
I
454 1 SO C
claim for a premium will be attended to, unlefs the con-Societies far
ditions ot the advertifement are fully complied with. Encoura-
No papers ihall be opened but fuch as fliali gain pre- a!lc'
miums, unlefs where it appears to the Ibciety abfolutely aSTmL-
neceffary for the determination of the claim : all the mdadimes,
reft Ihall be returned unopened, with the matters to
which they belong, if inquired after by the marks with- -v—
in two years; after which time, if not demanded, they
{hall be publicly burnt unopened at fome meeting of the
fociety. All the premiums of this fociety are defigned
for that part of Great Britain called England, the do¬
minion of Wales, and the town of Berwick upon
Tweed, unlefs exprefsly mentioned to the contrary.
No perfon (hall receive any premium, bounty, or encou¬
ragement, from the fociety for any matter for which he
has obtained or propofes to obtain a patent. No mem¬
ber of this fociety Ihall be a candidate for or intitled to
receive any premium, bounty, or reward whatever, ex¬
cept the honorary medal of the fociety.
The refpeftability of the members who compofe it
may be feen by perufing the lift which generally accom¬
panies thetr tranfa&ions. In the laft volume (vol. xii.)
it occupies no lefs than 43 pages. Some idea may be
formed of the wealth of this fociety, by obferving that
the lift of their premiums fills 96 pages, and amounts to
250 in number. Thefe confift of gold medals worth from
30 to 50, and in a few inftances to 100 guineas 5 and
filver medals valued at 10 guineas.
This fociety is one of the moft important in Great
Britain. Much money has been expended by it, and
many are the valuable effedls of which it has been pro¬
ductive. Among thefe we reckon not only the difco¬
veries which it has excited, but the inftitution of other
focieties on the fame principles to which it has given
birth ; and we do not hefitate to conclude, that future
ages will confider the founding of this fociety as one of
the moft remarkable epochs in the hiftory of the arts.
We contemplate with pleafure the beneficial effeCls
which muft refult to this nation and to mankind by the
diffufion of fuch inftitutions 5 and rejoice in the hope
that the aftive minds of the people of Great Britain,
inftead of being employed as formerly in controverfies
about religion, which engender ftrife, or in difeuffions
concerning the theory of politics, which lead to the
adoption of fchemes inconfiftent with the nature and
condition of man, will foon be more generally united
into affociations for promoting ufeful knowledge and fo-
lid improvement, and for alleviating the diftreffes of
their fellow creatures.
I. Society infituted at Bath for the Encouragement
of Agriculture, Arts, Manufachires, and Commerce. It
was founded in the year 1777 by feveral gentlemen who
met at the city of Bath. This fcheme met with a very
favourable reception both from the wealthy and learned.
The wealthy fubferibed very liberally, and the learned
communicated many important papers. On application
to the London and provincial focieties inftituted for the
like purpofes, they very politely offered their affiftance.
Seven volumes of their tranfaflions have already been
publiftied, containing very valuable experiments and ob-
fervations, particularly refpedting agriculture, which well
deferve the attention of all farmers in the kingdom.
We have confulted them with much fatisfaeftion on fe¬
veral occafions, and have frequently referred to them in
the courfe of this work j and therefore, with pleafure,
embrace
S 0 C r 455 ] S O C
Societies for embrace the prefent opportunity of repeating our obli-
Kncoura- gations. We owe the fame acknowledgments to the
ging and goc;ety for Improvement of Arts, &c. of London.
Art-T'lvia- 3- Society for working Mines, an affociation lately
jmfadimes, formed on the continent of Europe. This inftitution
arofe from the accidental meeting of feveral mineralo-
gifts at Skleno near Schemnitz in Hungary, who were
collefted in order to examine a new method of amalga¬
mation. Struck with the fhackles impofed on minera¬
logy by monopolizers of new and ufeful proceifes, they
thought no method fo effeftual to break them, as form¬
ing a fociety, vvhofe common labours (hould be directed
to fix mining on its fureft principles j and whofe memoirs,
fpread all over Europe, might offer to every adventurer
the refult of the Marches', of which they are the ob-
ie£L By thefe means they fuppofed, that there would
be a mafs of information colletfed ; the interefls of in¬
dividuals would be loft in the general intereft ; and the
one would materially afiift the other. Impofture and
quackery would, by the fame means, be baniihed from
a fcience, which muft be improved by philofophy and
experience j and the fociety, they fuppofed, would find,
in the confidence which they infpired, the reward and
the encouragement of their labours. They defign, that
the memoirs which they publifh (hall be fhort and
clear •, truth muft be their bafis, and every idle difeuf-
fion, every foreign digreflion, muft be banifhed •, poli¬
tics and finance muft be avoided, though the differta-
tions may feem to lead towards them; and they oblige
themfelves to oppofe the affe&ation of brilliancies, and
the oftentation of empty fpeculation, when compared
with plain, fimple, and ufeful fafts.
The objett of the fociety is pbyfical geography; mi¬
neralogy founded on chemiftry ; the management of ore
in the different operations which it undergoes ; fubter-
raneous geometry ; the hiftory of mining; founderies,
and the proceffes for the extra£lion of metals from the
ores, either by fufion or amalgamation, in every inftance
applied to praftice. The end of this inftitution is to
colleft, in the mod extenfive fenfe, every thing that can
aflift the operations of the miner, and to communicate
it to the different members, that they may employ it
for the public good, in their refpefftive countries. Each
member muft confider himfelf as bound to fend to the
fociety every thing which will contribute to the end of
its inftitution ; to point out, with precifion, the feveral
fafts and obfervations; to communicate every experi¬
ment which occurs, even the unfuccefsful ones, if the
relation may feem to be advantageous to the public ;
to communicate to the fociety their examination of
fchemes, and their opinions on queftions propofed by
it; and to pay annually two ducats (about 18s. 6d.) to
the direftion every Eafter. The fociety, on the other
hand, is bound to publifti every novelty that (hall be
communicated to it; to communicate to each member,
at the member’s expence, the memoirs, defigns, models,
productions, and every thing conneCted with the inflitu-
tion ; to anfwer all the r.eceffary demands made, relat¬
ing in any refpeCt to mining ; and to give its opinion on
every plan or projeCt communicated through the medium
of an honorary member.
The great centre of all intelligence is to be at Zeller-
fleld in Hartz, Brunfwick : but the fociety is not fixed
to any one fpot.; for every particular ftate fome practi¬
cal mineralogift is nominated as diieCtor. Among thefe
are the names of Baron Born, M. Pallas, M. Charpen-Societies for
tier, M. Prebra, and M. Henkel. Their office is to £rico^ad"
propofe the members ; to take care that the views of the promoting
fociety are purfued in the different countries where they Arts, Ma-
refide ; to anfwer the requefts of the members of their nufaCtures,
country who are qualified to make them ; in cafe of the , £cc' ,
death of a director, to choole another ; and the majority
is to determine where the archives and the ftrong box is
to be placed.
All the eminent mineralogifts in Europe are members
of this fociely. It is erefted on fo liberal and fo exten¬
five a plan, that we entertain the higheft hopes of its
fuccefs ; and have only to add, that we wiffi much to
fee the ftudy of feveral other Iciences purfued in the lame
manner.
4. T/ie Society for the Improvement of Naval Architect
ture, was founded in I791* The objeft of it is to en¬
courage every ufeful invention and difeovery relating to
naval architedure as far as ffiall be in their power, both
by honorary and pecuniary rewards. They have in view
particularly to improve the theories of fioating bodies
and of the refiftance of fluids ; to procure draughts and
models of different vtffels, together with calculations of
their capacity, centre of gravity, tonnage, &c.; to
make obfervations and experiments themfelves, and to
point out fuch obfervations and experiments as appear
bell calculated to further their defigns, and moft deferv-
ing thofe premiums which the fociety can beftow. But
though the improvement of naval architefture in all its
branches be certainly the principal objeft of this inftitu¬
tion, yet the fociety do not by any means intend to con¬
fine themfelves merely to the form and ftru&ure of vef-
fels. Every fubordinate and collateral purfuit will claim
a (hare of the attention cf the fociety in proportion to its
merits; and whatever may have any tendency to render
navigation more fafe, falutary, and even pleafant, will
not be neglefted.
This inftitution owes its exiftence to the patriotic dif-
pofition and extraordinary attention of Mr Sewel a pri¬
vate citizen of London, who (though engaged in a line
of bufinefs totally oppofite to all concerns of this kind)
has been led, by mere accident, to take fuch ocular no¬
tice of, and make fuch obfervations on, the aftual ftate
of naval architefture in this country, as naturally occur¬
red to a man of plain underftanding, zealous for the ho¬
nour and intereft of his country, and willing to beftow a
portion of that time for the public good, which men of
a different defeription would rather have devoted to their
own private advantage. His attention was the more fc-
rioufly excited, by finding that it was the opinion of
fome private fiiip-builders, who, in a debate on the fail¬
ure of one of our naval engagements, pronounced, that
fuch “ would ever be the cafe while that bufineis (the
conftruftion of our (hips of war) was not ftudied as a fci¬
ence, but carried on merely by precedent; that there
had not been one improvement in our navy that did not
originate with the French, who had naval fchools and
feminaries for the ftudy of it; and that our ffiips were
not a match for thofe of that nation either fingly or in a
fleet, &c. &c.”
In a ffiort time the fociety were enabled to offer very-
confiderable premiums for particular improvements in
the conftruclion of our {hipping, &c, &c. and alfo to-
encourage our philofophers, mathematicians, and me¬
chanics. to make fatisfaftary experiments, tending to af- •
certain ;
s o c
our^°r Cer^aln ^ie ^a%VS re^^ance °f water to folids of differ-
girig and Cnt 'orms> varieties of circumftance. On this
promoting ^ead the reward is not lefs than one hundred pounds
Arts, Ma- or a gold medal. Other premiums of 50, 30, and 20
nufadtures, guineas, according to the importance or difficulty of the
. particular fubje£t or point of inveftigation, are likewife
offered, for different difcoveries, inventions, or improve¬
ments. The terms of admiffion into the fociety are a
fubfcription of two guineas annually, or twenty guineas
for life.
5. Society of Artifls of Great Britain, which confifts
of direftors and fellows, was incorporated by charter in
1765, and empowered to purchafe and hold lands, not
exceeding roool. a-year. The direfloxs of this fociety,
annually eledled, are to conlift of 24 perfons, including
the prefident, vice-prefident, treafurer, and fecretary *,
and it is required that they be either painters, fculptors,
archite&s, or engravers by profeffion.
6. Bntifh Society for Extending the Fifheries and Im¬
proving the Sea-Coafs of this Kingdom, was inflituted in
1786. The end and defign of this fociety will beft
appear from their charter, of which we prefent an ab-
ffradl.
The preamble ftates, “ the great want of improve¬
ment in fiffieries, agriculture, and manufa&ures, in the
Highlands and Iflands of North Britain 5 the prevalence
of emigration from the want of employment in thofe
parts ; the profpe£l of a new nurfery of feamen, by the
eflablilhment of fiffiing towns and villages in that quar¬
ter. Ihe aft therefore declares, that the perfons there¬
in named, and every other perfon or perfons who ffiall
thereafter become proprietors of the joint flock men¬
tioned therein, {hall be a diftinft and feparate body po¬
litic and corporate, by the name of The Britijl) Society
for Extending the Fifheries and improving the Sea-ceajis
of this Kingdom : That the faid fociety may raife a ca¬
pital joint flock not exceeding 150,000!. to be applied
to purchaflng or otherwife acquiring lands and tenements
in perpetuity, for the building thereon, and on no other
land whatever, free towns, villages, and fiffiing ftations:
.1 hat the joint flock ffiall be divided into {hares of 50I.
each : That no one perfon fliall in his or her name pof-
fefs more than ten {hares, or 500!. : That the fociety
ffiall not borrow any fum or fums of money whatfoever:
That the fums to be advanced for this undertaking, and
v the profits arifing therefrom, ffiall be divided proportion-
t -aliy to the fum fubferibed ; and that no perfon ffiall be
liable for a larger fum than he or the ffiall have refpec-
tively fubferibed: That one or two ffiares ffiall intitle
to one vote and no more, in perfon or by proxy, at all
meetings ©f proprietors ; three or four ffiares to two
votes ; five, fix, or feven {hares, to three votes ; eight
or nine ffiares to four votes; and ten {hares to five votes
and no more : That more perfons than one inclining to
hold in their joint names one or more {hares ffiall be in-
iitled to vote, by one of fuch perfons, according to the
priority of their names, or by proxy : That bodies cor¬
porate ffiall vote by proxy under their feal : That all
perfons holding proxies ftiall be proprietors, and that no
one perfon {hall hold more than five votes by proxy :
That the affairs of the fociety ffiall he managed by a
governor, deputy governor, and j 3 other direftors, to
be elefted annually on the 25th of March, from among
the proprietors of the fociety, holding at leaf! one full
ffiare, by figned lifts of their names to be tranfmitted by
[ 456 1
s o .c
Socinians.
the proprietors to the fecretary of the fociety : that five Societies for
proprietors, not being governor, direftor, or other offi- Enc°ura-
cer, fliall be in like manner annually elefted to audit ^
the accounts ot the fociety : That there ffiall be one ge- An^Ma-
neral meeting of the proprietors annually on the 25th of nufadtures,
March : That occafional general meetings {hall be call-
ed on the requeft of nine or more proprietors: That the
general meetings of the proprietors fliall make all bye- .
laws and conftitutions for the government of the fociety,
and for the good and orderly carrying on of the bufinefs
of the lame : That no transfer {hall be made of the fleck
of the fociety for three years from the x cth of Augult
1786 : That the cafti of the fociety fliall be lodged in
the bank of England, bank of Scotland, or the royal
bank of Scotland : That no direftor, proprietor, agent,
or officer of the fociety, Ihall retain any fum or fums of
money in his hands beyond the fpace of 30 days, on any
account whatfoever: That all payments by the fociety
fliall be made by drafts on the faid banks, under the
hands of the governor or deputy-governor, counterfign-
ed by the fecretary or his deputy, and two or more di¬
reftors : And that the books in which the accounts of
the fociety ffiall be kept ffiall be open to all the proprie¬
tors.”
The inftitution of this public-fpirited fociety was in a
great meafure owing to the exertions of the patriotic
John Knox j who, in the courfe of 23 years, traverfed
and explored the Highlands of Scotland not fewer than
J 6 times, and expended feveral thoufand pounds of his
own fortune in purfuing his patriotic defigns.
7. Britifh Wool Society. See Britijh WOOL Society.
SOCIETT Ifes, a clufter of ifles, fo named by Captain
Cook in 1769. They are lituated between the latitudes
of 16. 10. and 16. 55. fouth, and between the longi¬
tudes of 150. 57. and 15 2. weft. They are eight in
number 5 namely, Otaheite, Huaheine, Ulietea, Otaha,
Bolabola, Maurua, Toobouai, and Tabooyamanoo or
Saunders’s Ifland. The foil, produftions, people, their
language, religion, cuftoms, and manners, are fo nearly
the fame as at Otaheite, that little need be added here
on that fubjeft. Nature has been equally bountiful in
uncultivated plenty, and the inhabitants are as luxurious
and as indolent. A plantain branch is the emblem of
peace, and exchanging names the greateft token of
friendlhip. Their dances are more elegant, their dra¬
matic entertainments have fomething of plot and confift-
ency, and they exhibit temporary occurrences as the ob-
jefts of praife or fadre ; fo that the origin of ancient co¬
medy may be already difeerned among them. The peo¬
ple of Huaheine are in general ftouter and fairer than
thofe of Otaheite, and this ifland is remarkable for its
populoufnefs and fertility. Thofe of Ulietea, on the
contrary, are fmaller and blacker, and much lefs orderly.
Captain Cook put on fliore a Cape ewe at Bolabola,
where a ram had been left by the Spaniards j and alfo
an Engliffi boar and fow, with two goats, at Ulietea,
If the valuable animals which have been tranfported thi¬
ther from Europe ffiould be fuffered to multiply, no
part of the world will equal thefe iflands in variety and
abundance of refreffiments for future navigators.
SOCINIANS, in Church-Hi/lory, a left of Cbriftian
heretics, fo called from their founder Fauftus Socinus
(fee Socinus). They maintain, “ That Jefus Chrift
was a mere man, who had no exiflence before he was
conceived by the Virgin Mary 3 that the Holy Ghoft is
s O C [4
no diftintt pcifon, but that the Father is truly and pro¬
perly God. They own, that the name of God is given
in the Holy Scriptures to Jefus Chrift ; but contend,
that it is only a deputed title, which, however, invefts
him with an abfolute fovereignty over all created beings,
and renders him an objeft of rvorlhip to men and angels.
They deny the do&rines of fatisfadlion and imputed
right eoufnefs; and fay that Chrift only preached the
truth to mankind, fet before them in himfelf an example
of heroic virtue, and fealed his do&rines with his blood.
Original fin and abfolute predeftination they efteem fcho-
laftic chimeras. They likewife maintain the deep of the
foul, which they fay becomes infenfible at death, and is
raifed again with the body at the refurrection, when the
good {hall be eftablilhed in the poffeffion of eternal feli¬
city, while the wicked {hall be configned to a fire that
will not torment them eternally, but for a certain dura¬
tion in proportion to their demerits.”
This fedl has long been indignant at being ftyled So-
cinians. They difclaim every human leader j and pro-
fefling to be guided folely by the word of God and the
deductions of reafon, they call themfelves Unitarians,
and affeCt to confider all other Chriftians, even their
friends the Arians, as Polythei/is. Modern Unitaria-
nifm, as taught by Dr Prieftley, is, however, a very
different thing from Socinianifm, as we find it in the
Itacovian catechifm and other ftandard works of the
fed. This far-famed philofopher has difcovered, wdrat
efcaped the fagacity of all the fratres poloni, that Jefus
Chrilt was the fon of Jofeph as well as Mary ; that the
evangelifts miltook the meaning of Ifaiah’s prophecy,
that “ a virgin flrould conceive and bear a fon $” that
the applying of this prophecy to the birth of our Savi¬
our, led them to conclude that his conception was mira¬
culous •, and that we are not to wonder at this miftake,
as the apoftles were not always infpired, and were in ge¬
neral inconclufive reafoners. The modefty of the wri¬
ter in claiming the merit of fuch difcoveries will appear
in its proper colours to all our readers: the truth of his
doftrine (hall be confidered in another place. See The¬
ology.
SOCINUS, LiELtus, the firfl: author of the fe£f of
the Socinians, was born at Sienna in Tufcany in x 525.
Being defigned by his father for the law, he began very
early to fearch for the foundation of that fcience in the
Word of God 5 and by that lludy difcovered that the
Romifli religion taught many things contrary to revela¬
tion ; when, being defirous of penetrating farther into
the true fenfe of the Scriptures, he ftudied Greek, He¬
brew, and even Arabic. In 1547 he left Italy, to go
and converfe with the Proteftants ■, and {pent four years
in travelling through France, England, the Netherlands,
Germany, and Poland, and at length fettled at Zurich.
He by this means became acquainted wnth the mofi:
learned men of his time, who teftified by their letters
the efteem they had for him : but as he difcovered to
them his doubts, he was greatly fufpefted of herefy. He,
however, conducted himfelf with fuch addrefs, that he
lived among the capital enemies of his opinions, without
receiving the leaft injury. He met with feme difciples,
who heard his inftruCtions with refpeCt ; thefe were Ita¬
lians who left their native country on account of religion,
and wandered about in Germany and Poland. He
communicated likewife his fentiments to his relations by
his writings, which he caufed to be conveyed to them
Vol. XIX. Part II.
7 1 . 3 °. c
at Sienna. He died at Zurich in 1562. Thofe who Soar,us
were of fentiments oppofite to his, and were perfon- Soco^ora
ally acquainted with him, confefs that his outward be-
haviour was blamelefs. Fie wrote a Paraphrafe on the
firft chapter of St John j and other works are afcribed
to him.
Socinus, Fanjlus, nephew of the preceding, and prin¬
cipal founder of the Socinian fed, was born at Sienna
in 1539. The letters which his uncle Ltelius wrote to
his relations, and which infufed into them many feeds
of herefy, made an impreflion upon him ; fo that, know¬
ing himfelt not innocent, he fled as well as the reft when
the inquifition began to perfecute that family. He was
at Lyons when he heard of his uncle’s death, and de¬
parted immediately to take poflefiion of his writings.
He returned to Tufcany ; and made himfelf fo agree¬
able to the grand duke, that the charms which he found
in that court, and the honourable pofts he filled there,
hindered him for twelve years from remembering that
he had been confidered as the perfon who was to put the
laft hand to the fyftem of famofatenian divinity, of which
his uncle Lselius had made a rough draught. At lalt
he went into Germany in 1574, and paid no regard to
the grand duke’s advices to return. He ftaid three years
at Bafil, and ftudied divinity there, and having adopted
a fet of principles very different from the fyftem of
Proteftants, he refolved to maintain and propagate them ;
for which purpofe he wrote a treatife De lefu Chriflo
Servatorc, In 1579 Socinus retired into Poland, and
defired to be admitted into the communion of the Uni¬
tarians ; but as he differed from them in fome points,
on which he refufed to be lilent, he met with a repulfe.
However, he did not ceafe to write in defence of their
churches againft thofe who attacked them. At length
his book againft James Paleologus furniftied his enemies
with a pretence to exafperate the king of Poland againft
him j but though the mere reading of it v/as fufficient
to refute his accufers, Socinus thought proper to leave
Cracow, after having refided there four years. He then
lived under the proteflion of feveral Poliftr lords, and
married a lady of a good family ; but her death, which
happened in 1587, fo deeply afflicted him as to injure
his health ; and to complete his forrow, he was deprived
of his patrimony by the death of Francis de Medicis
great duke of Florence. The confolation he found in
feeing his fentiments at laft approved by feveral mini-
fters, w-as greatly interrupted in 1598 ; for he met with
a thoufand infults at Cracowq and w^as with great diffi¬
culty faved from the hands of the rabble. His houfe wTas
plundered, and he loft his goods j but this lofs was not
fo uneafy to him as that of fome manufcripts, which he
extremely regretted. To deliver himfelf from fuch
dangers, he retired to a village about nine miles diftant
from Cracow, wdiere he fpent the remainder of his days
at the houfe of Abraham Blonlki, a Poliftr gentleman,
and died there in 1604. All Fauftus Socinus’s works
are contained in the twm firft; volumes of the Bibliotheca
Fratrum Polonorum.
SOCMANS, Sokemans, or Socmen (Socmanni), are
fuch tenants as hold their lands and tenements by focage
tenure. See Socage.
SOCOTORA, an ifland lying between Afia and
Arabia Felix 5 about 50 miles in length, and 22 in
breadth. It is particularly noted for its fine aloes, known
by the name of Socotrine Aloes. The religion of the
3 M natives
Socotora,
Socrates.
s O C [ 458
natives is a mixture of Mahometanifm and Paganifm j
_ but they are civil to ftrangers who call there in their
paffage to the Ealt Indies. It abounds in fruit and
cattle ; and they have a king ol their own, who is de¬
pendent on Arabia.
SOCRATES, the greateft of the ancient plulofo-
phers, was born at Alopece, a village near Athens, in
the fourth year of the 77th olympiad. His parents
were of low rank 5 his father Sophronifcus being a ita-
tuary, and his mother Phaniareta a midwife, Sophro¬
nifcus brought up his fon, contrary to his inclination,
111 his own manual employment j in which Socrates,
though his mind was continually afpiring after higher
objects, was not unfuccefsful, for w hi lit he was a young
man, he is (aid to have formed ftatues of the habited
Graces, which were allowed a place in the citadel of
Athens. Upon the death of his father he wras left in
fuch llraitened circumftances as laid him under the ne-
ceflity of exercifing that art to procure the means of fub-
iitlence, though he devoted, at the fame time, all the lei-
fure which he could command to the Rudy of philofo-
phy. His dillreis, however, was foon relieved by Crito,
a wealthy Athenian •, who, remarking his Rrong pro-
penfity to ftudy, and admiring his ingenuous difpofition
and diftinguiihed abilities, generoufly took him under
his patronage, and intrufted him with the inftrudtion of
his child-en. The opportunities which Socrates by this
means enjoyed of attending the public le&ures of the
moft eminent phiiofophers, fo far increafed his thirft
after wifdom, that he determined to relinquilh his occu¬
pation, and every profpect of emolument which that
might afford, in order to devote himfelf entirely to his
favourite purfuits. Under Anaxagoras and Archelaus
he profecuted the ftudy of nature in the ufual manner
of the phiiofophers of the age, and became well ac¬
quainted with their do&rines. Prodicus the fophift
was his preceptor in eloquence, Evenus in poetry, The-
odorus in geometry, and Damo in mufic. Afpafta, a
woman no lefs celebrated for her intelle&ual than her
perfonal accompHftiments, whofe houfe was frequented
by the moft celebrated char afters, had alfo fome ftiare
in the education of Socrates. Under fuch preceptors
it cannot reafonably be doubted but that he became
mailer of every kind of learning which the age in which
be lived could afford ; and being bleffed with very un¬
common talents by nature, he appeared in Athens, un¬
der the refpeftabje charafters of a good citizen and a
true philofopher. Being called upon by his country to
take arms in the long and fe-vere ftruggle between
Athens and Sparta, he fignalized himfelf at^ the fiege of
Potida&a, both by his valour and by the hardinefs with
which he endured fatigue. During the feverity of a
Thracian winter, whilft others were clad in furs, he
wore only his ufual clothing, and walked barefoot up¬
on the ice. In an engagement in which he faw Alci-
Biades falling down wounded, he advanced to defend
him, and faved both him and his arms : and though the
prize of valour was on this occafion unqueftionably due
to Socrates, he generoufly gave his vote that it might
be bellowed upon Alcibiades, to encourage his rifing
merit. He fervea in other campaigns with diftinguiftied
Slavery, and had the happinefs on one occafion to fave
the life of Xenophon, by bearing him, when covered
"With wounds, out of the leach of the enemy.
It was not till Socrates was upwards of 60 years of
] s o c
age that nc undertook to ferve his country ia any civil
office, when he was cliofen to reprefent his own diftrift,
m the ienate of five hundred. In this office, though he
at firft ex poled himfelf to fome degree of ridicule from
the want of experience in the forms of bufinefs, he foon
convinced his colleagues that he was fuperior to them
all in wifdom and integrity. Whilft they, intimidated
by the clamours of the populace, paffed an unjuft fen-
tence of condemnation upon the commanders, who,
after the engagement at the Arginufian ifiands, had
been prevented by a ftorm from paying funeral honours
to the dead, Socrates flood forth fingly in their defence,
and to the laft refufed to give his fuffrage againft then/
declaring that no force ftiould compel him to aft con¬
trary to juftice and the laws. Under the fubfequenb
tyranny he never ceafed to condemn the oppreflive and
cruel proceedings of the thirty tyrants ; and when his
boldnefs provoked their refentment, fo that his life was
in hazard, fearing neither treachery nor violence, he
bill continued to fupport with undaunted firmnefs the
rights of his fellow citizens.
Having given thefe proofs of public virtue botli in a
military ?nd civil capacity, he wilhed to do ftill more
for his country. Oblerving with regret how much the
opinions of the Athenian youth wTere milled, and their
principles and tafte corrupted by phiiofophers who fpent
all their time in refined fpeculations upon nature and
tlm origin of things, and by fophifts who taught in
tneir fchools the arts of falfe eloquence and deceitful
reafoning ; Socrates formed the wile and generous de-
fign of inftituting a new and more ufeful method of in-
ftruftion. He juftly conceived the true end of philo-
fophy to be, not to make an oftentatious dilplay of fu¬
perior learning and ability in fubtle dilputations or in¬
genious conjeftures, but to free mankind from the do¬
minion of pernicious prejudices; to correft their vices *
to infpire them with the love of virtue j and thus con-
duft them in the path of wifdom to true felicity. He
therefore affumed the charafter of a moral philoibpher j
and, looking upon the whole city of Athens as his
fchool, and all wffio were difpofed to lend him their
attendon as his pupils, he feized every occafion of com¬
municating moral wifdom to his fellow citizens. He
palled the greater part of his time in public; and the me¬
thod of inftruftion of wffiich he chiefly made ufe was, to
propofe a feries of queftions to the perfon with whom he
converfed, in order to lead him to fome unforefeen con-
clufion. He firft gained the confent of his refpondent
to fome obvious truths, and then obliged him to admit
others from their relation or refemblance to thofe to
wffiich he had already affented. Without making ufe
of any direft argument or perfuafion, he chofe to lead
the perfon he meant to inilruft, to deduce the truths of
which he wiftied to convince him, as a neceffary confe-
quence from his own conceflions. He commonly con-
dufted thefe conferences with fuch addrefs, as to con¬
ceal kis defign till the refpondent had advanced too far
to recede. On fome occafions he made ufe of ironical
language, that vain men might be caught in their own
replies, and be obliged to confefs their ignorance. He
never affumed the air of a morofe and rigid preceptor,
but communicated ufeful inftruftion with all the eafe
and pleafantry of polite converfation. Though emi¬
nently furnilhed with every kind of learning, he prefer¬
red moral to fpeculative wifdom. Convinced that phi-
lolbphy
Socrates
s o c
l 459 1
S 0 C
Socrates, lofopliy Is valuable, not as It furniflies queftions for tire
t——v—' fchools, but as it provides men with a law of life, he
cenfured his predeceffors for fpending all their time in
abftrufe refearches into nature, and taking no pains to
render themfelves ufeful to mankind. His favourite
maxim was, Whatever is above us doth not concern us.
He eftimated the value of knowledge by its utility, and
recommended the ftudy of geometry, aftronomy, and
other fciences, only fo far as they admit of a praftical
application to the purpofes of human life. His great
object in all his conferences and difcourfes was, to lead
men into an acquaintance with themfelves; to convince
them of their follies and vices j to infpire them with the
love of virtue *, and to furnifh them with ufeful moral
inflruftions. Cicero might therefore very juftly fay of
Socrates, that he was the firft who called down philo-
fophy from heaven to earth, and introduced her into the
public walks and domeftic retirements of men, that fhe
might inftruft them concerning life and manners.
Through his whole life this good man difcovered a
mind fuperior to the attra&ions of wealth and power.
Contrary to the general praftice of the preceptors of
his time, he inftrudted his pupils without receiving from
them any gratuity. He frequently refufed rich pre-
fents, which were offered him by Alcibiades and others,
though importunately urged to accept them by his
wife. The chief men of Athens were his ftewards :
they fent him in provifions, as they apprehended he
wanted them j he took what his prefent wants required,
and returned the reft. Obferving the numerous articles
of luxury which were expofed to fale in Athens, he ex¬
claimed, “ How many things are there which I do not
want!” With Socrates, moderation fupplied the place
of wealth. In his clothing and food, he confulted only
the demands of nature. He commonly appeared in a
neat but plain cloak, with his feet uncovered. Though
his table was only fupplied with fimple fare, he did not
fcruple to invite men of fuperior rank to partake of his
meals j and when his wife, upon fome fuch occafion, ex-
preffed her diffatisfadtion on being no better provided,
he deflred her to give herfelf no concern •, for if his
guefts were wife men, they would be contented with
whatever they found at his table ; if otherwife, they
were unworthy of notice. Whilft others, fays he, live
to eat, wife men eat to live.
Though Socrates was exceedingly unfortunate in his
domeftic connexion, he converted this infelicity into an
occafion of exercifing his virtues. Xantippe, concern¬
ing rvhofe ill humour ancient writers relate many amu-
ling tales, was certainly a woman of a high and unma*
nageable fpirit. But Socrates while he endeavoured
to curb the violence of her temper, improved his own.
When Alcibiades expreffed his furprife that his friend
could bear to live in the fame houfe with fo perverfe
and quarrelfome a companion, Socrates replied, that be¬
ing daily inured to ill humour at home, he was the
better prepared to encounter perverfenefs and injury
abroad.
In the midft of domeftic vexations and public difor-
ders, Socrates retained fuch an unruffled ferenity, that
he was never feen either to leave his own houfe or to
return home with a difturbed countenance. In acqui¬
ring this entire dominion over his paffions and appetites,
he had the greater merit, as it was not effe&ed without
■a violent ftruggle againft his natural propenfities. Zo-
pyrus, an eminent phyliognomift, declared, that he dif- Socrates
covered in the features of the philofopher evident traces
of many vicious inclinations. The friends of Socrates
who were prefent ridiculed the ignorance of this pre¬
tender to extraordinary fagacity. But Socrates himfelf
ingenuoufly acknowledged his penetration, and confeffed
that he was in his natural difpofition prone to vice, but
that he had fubdued his inclinations by the power of
reafon and philofophy.
Through the whole of his life Socrates gave himfelf
up to the guidance of unbiaffed reafon, which is iuppo-
fed by fome to be all that he meant by the genius or
damon from which he profeffed to receive inftru&ion.
But this opinion is inconfiftent with the accounts given
by his followers of that daemon, and even with the lan¬
guage in which he fpoke of it himfelf. Plato fome-
times calls it his guardian, and Apuleius his god ; and as
Xenophon attefts that it was the belief of his mafter
that the gods occalionally communicate to men the
knowledge of future events, it is by means improbable
that Socrates admitted, with the generality of his coun¬
trymen, the exiftence of thofe intermediate beings called
daemons, of one of which he might fancy himfelf the pe¬
culiar care.
It was one of the maxims of Socrates, “ That a wife
man will worfhip the gods according to the inftitutions
of the ftate to which he belongs.” Convinced of the
weaknefs of the human underitanding, and perceiving
that the pride of philofophy had led his predeceffors in¬
to futile fpeculations on the nature and origin of things,
he judged it moft conliftent with true wifdom to fpeak
with caution and reverence concensing the divine na¬
ture.
The wifdom and the virtues of this great man, whilft
they procured him many followers, created him alfo
many enemies. The Sophifts*, whofe knavery and ig- *See tfa*.
norance he took every opportunity of expofing to pub-Z^V?-
lie contempt, became inveterate in their enmity againft
fo bold a reformer, and devifed an expedient, by which,
they hoped to check the current of his popularity. They
engaged Ariftophanes, the firft buffoon of the age, to write
a comedy, in which Socrates Ihould be the principal
chara&er. Ariftophanes, pleafed with fo promifing an
occafion of difplaying his low and malignant wit, un¬
dertook the talk, and produced the comedy of The
Clouds, ftill extant in his works. In this piece, Socrates
is introduced hanging in a balket in the air, and thence
pouring forth abfurdity and profanenefs. But the phi¬
lofopher, fliowing in a crowded theatre that he was
wholly unmoved by this ribaldry, the fatire failed of its
effeft; and when Ariftophanes attempted the year fol¬
lowing to renew the piece with alterations and additions,
the reprefentation was fo much difeouraged, that he was
obliged to difeontinue it.
From this time Socrates continued for many years to
purfue without interruption his laudable defign of in-
ftrudling and reforming his fellow-citizens. At length,
however, when the inflexible integrity with which he
had difeharged the duty of a fenator, and the firmnefs
with which he had oppofed every kind of political cor¬
ruption and oppreflion, had greatly increafed the num¬
ber of his enemies, clandeftine arts were employed to
raife a general prejudice againft him. The people were
induftrioufly reminded, that Critias, who had been one
of the moft cruel of the thirty tyrants, and Alcibiades,
3 M 2 who
Socratef.
S O C [ 460
^ who had infulted religion, by defacing the public fta-
^ tues of Mercury, and pertorming a mock rsprefentation
of the Eleufinian myfteries, had in their youth been dif-
ciples ot Socrates j and the minds of the populace be¬
ing thus, prepared, a direft accufation was preferred
againft him before the fupreme court of judicature. His
accufers were Anytus a leather-dreffer, who had long
entertained a perfonal enmity againft Socrates, for re¬
prehending his avarice, in depriving his fons of the be¬
nefits of learning, that they might purfue the gains of
trade 5 Melitus, a young rhetorician, who w'as capable
of undertaking any thing for the fake of gain ; and X-y-
con, who was glad of any opportunity of difplaying his
talents. The accufation, wdrich w'as delivered to the le-
nate under the name of Melitus, was this: “ Melitus,
fon of Melitus, of the tribe of Pythos, accufeth Socrates,
ion Oi Sophromfcus, of the tribe of Alopece. Socrates
violates the laws, in not acknowledging the gods which
the ftate acknowdedges, and by introducing new divini¬
ties. .He alfo violates the laws by corrupting the youth.
Be his punifhment death.”
This, charge was delivered upon oath to the fenate ;
and Crito a friend of Socrates became furety for his ap¬
pearance, on the day of trial. Anytus foon afterwards
fent a private meffage to Socrates, affuring him that if
he w7ould defift from cenfuring his condudt, he w'ould
withdraw his accufation. But Socrates refufed to com¬
ply with fo degrading a condition ; and with his ufual
fpirit replied, “ Whilft I live I will never difguife the
truth, nor fpeak othenvife than my duty requires.”
The interval between the accufation and the trial he
fpent in philofbphical converfations with his friends,
choofing to difcourfe upon any other fubjeft rather than
his own fituation.
When the day of trial arrived, his accufers appeared
in the fenate, and attempted to fupport their charge in
three diftrnft fpeeches, which ftrongly marked their re-
fpedtive characters. Plato, who was a young man, and
a zealous follower of Socrates, then rofe up to addrefs
the judges in defence of his mafter ; but whilft he wTas
attempting to apologife for his youth, he was abruptly
commanded by the court to fit dowm. Socrates, how¬
ever needed no advocate. Afcending the chair with all
the ferenity of confcious innocence, and with all the
dignity of fuperior merit, he delivered, in a firm and
manly tone, an unpremeditated defence of himfelf, which
ftlenced his opponents, and ought to have convinced his
judges. After tracing the progrefs of the confpiracy
which had been raifed againft him to its true fource,
the jealoufy and refentment of men whofe ignorance he
had expofed, and whofe vices he had ridiculed and re¬
proved, he diftin&ly replied to the feveral charges
brought againft him by Melitus. To prove that he
had not been guilty of impiety towards the gods of his
country, he appealed to his frequent praClice of attend¬
ing the public religious feftivals. The crime of intro¬
ducing new divinities, with which he was charged, chief¬
ly as it feems on the ground of the admonitions which
he profeflcd to have received from an invinble power,
be difclaimed, by pleading that it was no new thing for
men to confult the gods and receive inftruftions from
them. To refute the charge of his having been a cor¬
rupter of youth, he urged the example which he had
uniformly exhibited of juftice, moderation, and tempe¬
rance } the moral fpirit and tendency of his difcourfes 3
1
s o c
and the cfteft which had abtually been produced by his Socrates;
doctrine upon the manners of the young. Then, dif- —v-——
daining to folicit the mercy of his judges, he called up¬
on tnem for that juftice which their office and their
oath obliged them to adminifter 3 and profeffing his faith
and confidence in God, refigned himfelf to their plea-
fure.
Ihe judges, whofe prejudices would not fuffer them
to pay.due attention to this apology, or to examine with
impai uaiity the merits cf the caufe, immediately de¬
clared him guilty of the crimes of which he flood ac-
cufed. Socrates, in this ftage of the trial, had a right
to enter his plea againft the puniffiment which the ac¬
cufers demanded, and inftead of the fentence of death,
to propofe fome pecuniary amercement. But he at firit
peremptorily refufed to make any propofal of this kind,
imagining that it might be conftrued into an acknow¬
ledgement of guilt 3 and afferted, that his conduft merit¬
ed from the ftate reward rather than punifhment. At
length, however, he was prevailed upon by his friends
to offer upon their credit a fine of thirty mince. The
judges, notwithftanding, fliil remained inexorable : they
proceeded, without farther delay, to pronounce fentence
upon him 3 and he was condemned to be put to ds<ath
by the poifon of hemlock.
I he fentence being paffed, he was fent to prifon :
which, fays Seneca, he entered with the fame refblu-
tion and firmnefs with which he had oppoled the thirty
tyrants 3 and took away all ignominy from the place,
which could not be a prifon while he was there. He
lay. in fetters 30 days 3 and was conftantly vifited by
Crito, Plato, and other friends, with whom he paflti
the time in difpute after his ufual manner. Anxious to
fave fo valuable a life, they urged him to attempt his
efcape,. or at leaft to permit them to convey him away 3
and Crito went fo far, as to affure him that, by his in-
tereif with the jailor, it might be eafily accomplifhed,
and to offer him a retreat in Theflaly 3 but Socrates re-
jebfed the propofal, as a criminal violation cf the laws ;
and afked them, w'hether there wras any place out of
Attica which death could not reach.
At length the day arrived when the officers to whofe
care he was committed delivered to Socrates early in
the morning the final order for his execution, and im¬
mediately, according to the law, fet him at liberty from
his bonds. His friends, who came thus early to the
prifon that they might have an opportunity of conver-
fing with their mafter through the day, found his wife
fitting by him with a child in her arms. Socrates, that
the tranquillity of his laft moments might not be dif-
turbed by her unavailing lamentations, requefted that
(he might be conduced home. With the moft frantic
expreflions of grief ftie left the prifon. An interefting
converfalion then paffed between Socrates and his friends,
which chiefly turned upon the immortality of the foul.
In the courfe of this converfation, he exprefled his dis¬
approbation of the prabfice of filicide, and allured his
friends that his chief fupport in his prefent fituation was
an expectation, though not unmixed with doubts, of a
happy exiftence after death. “ It would be inexcufable
in me (faid he) to defpif'e death, if I were not perfuad-
ed that it wdll conduft me into the prefence of the gods,
who are the moft righteous governors, and into the fo-
ciety of juft and good men : but I derive confidence
from the hope that fometbing of man remains after
death.
S O C [46
Socrates, death, and that the condition of good Men will then be
' v 1 much better than that of the bad.” Crito afterwards
alking him, in what manner he wiftied to be buried ?
Socrates replied, with a fmile, “ As you pleafe, pro¬
vided I do not efcape out of your hands.” Then, turn¬
ing to the reft of his friends, he faid, “ Is it not ftrange,
after all that 1 have faid to convince you that I am.go¬
ing to the fociety of the happy, that Crito ftill thinks
that this body, which will loon be a lifelefs corpfe, is
Socrates ? Let him difpofe of my body as he pleaies,
but let him not at its interment mourn over it as if it
were Socrates.”
Towards the clofe of the day he retired into an ad¬
joining apartment to bathe ; his friends, in the mean
time, expreffing to one another their grief at the pro-
fpedt of lofing fo excellent a father, and being left to
pafs the reft of their days in the folitary ilate of or¬
phans. After a fhort interval, during which he gave
feme neceffary inftruftions to his domeftics, and took
his laft leave of his children, the attendant of the prilon
informed him, that the time for drinking the poifon
was come. The executioner, though accuftomed to
fuch feenes, (hed tears as he prefented the fatal cup.
Socrates received it without change of countenance or
the leaft appearance of perturbation : then offering up
a prayer to the gods that they would grant him a prof-
perous pallage into the invifible world, with perfedl
compofure he fwallowed the poifonous draught. His
friends around him burll into tears. Socrates alone re¬
mained unmoved. He upbraided their pufillanimity,
and entreated them to exercife a manly conftancy wor¬
thy of the friends of virtue. He continued walking till
the chilling operation of the hemlock obliged him to lie
down upon his bed. After remaining for a fhort time
blent, he requetted Crito (probably in order to refute a
calumny which might prove injurious to his friends af¬
ter his deceafe) not to negleft the offering of a cock
which he had vowed to Efculapius. Then, covering
himfelf with his cloak, he expired. Such was the fate
of the virtuous Socrates! A ftory, fays Cicero, which I
never read without tears.
The friends and difciples of this illuftrious teacher
of wifdom were deeply afflicted by his death, and at¬
tended his funeral with every expreflion of grief. Ap-
prehenfive, however, for their own fafety, they foon af¬
terwards privately withdrew from the city, and took up
their refidence in diftant places. Several of them vifit-
ed the philofopher Euclid of Megara, by whom they
were kindly received. No fooner was the unjuft con¬
demnation of Socrates known through Greece, than a
general indignation wras kindled in the minds of good
men, who univerfally regretted that fo diftinguilhed an
advocate for virtue Ihould have fallen a facrifice to jea-
loufy and envy. The Athenians themfelves, fo remark¬
able for their caprice, who never knew' the value of
their great men till after their death, foon became fen-
fible of the folly as Avell as crimina1ity of putting to
death the man who had been the chief ornament of
their city and of the age, and turned their indignation
againft his accufers. Melitus was condemned to death j
and Anytus, to efcape a fimilar fate, went into volun¬
tary exile. To give a farther proof of the ftneerity of
their regret, the Athenians for a while interrupted pub¬
lic bufinefs ; decreed a general mourning j recalled the
exiled friends of Socrates} and erected a ftatue to his
I ] s o c
memory in one of the moft frequented parts of the city. Socrates,
His death happened in the firft year of the 96th olym- , Soda-
piad, and in the 70th year of his age. . _ _ 'r“^
Socrates left behind him nothing in waiting ; but
his illuftrious pupils Xenophon and Plato have in fome
meafure fupplied this defecE The Memoirs of Socra¬
tes, written by Xenophon, afford, however, a much
more accurate idea of the opinions of Socrates, and of
his manner of teaching, than the Dialogues of Plato,
who everywhere mixes his own concepfions and diftion
with the ideas and language of his mafter. It is related,
that when Socrates heard Plato recite his Lyfis, he faid,
“ How much does this young man make me fay which
I never conceived 1”
His diftinguifhing charafler was that of a moral phi¬
lofopher ; and his doftrine concerning God and religion
w’as rather pra£tical than fpeculative. But he did not
negleft to build the ftrufture of religious faith upon
the firm foundation of an appeal to natural appearances:
He taught, that the Supreme Being, though invifible,
is clearly feen in his works : which at once demonftrate
his exiftence and his wife and benevolent providence.
He admitted, befides the one Supreme Deity, the ex¬
iftence of beings who poffefs a middle flation between
God and man, to whofe immediate agency he aferibed
the ordinary phenomena of nature, and whom he fup-
pofed to be particularly concerned in the management
of human affairs. Hence he declared it to be the duty
of every one, in the performance of religious rites, to
follow the cuftoms of his country. At the fame time,
he taught, that the merit of all religious offerings de¬
pends upon the eharafter of the worftiipper, and that the
gods take pleafure in the facrifkes of none but the truly
pious.
Concerning the human foul, the opinion of Socrates,
according to Xenophon, was, that it is allied to the Di¬
vine Being, not by a participation of effence, but by a
fimilarity of nature j that'man excels all other animal's
in the faculty of reafon j and that the exiftence of good
men will be continued after death in a ftate in which
they will receive the reward of their virtue. Although
it appears that on this latter topic he was not wholly
free from uncertainty, the confolation which he profef-
fed to derive from this fource in the immediate profpeft
of death, leaves little room to doubt that he entertained
a real expeflation of immortality : and there is reafon
to believe that he was the only philofopher of ancient
Greece whofe principles admitted of fuch an expe&a-
tion (fee Metaphysics, Part III Chap. iv.). Of his
moral fyftem, which was in a high degree pure, and
founded on the fureft bafis, the reader will find a fhert
view in our article Moral Philosophy, N° 4.
Socrates was alfo the name of an eccJefiaftical hi-
ftorian of the 5th century, born at Conftantinople in the
beginning of the reign of Theodofius : he profeffed the
law and pleaded at the bar, whence he obtained the
name of Scholojlicus. He wrote an ecclefiaftical hiffory
from the year 309, where Eufebius ended, down to
440 5 and wrote with great exaftnefs and judgement.
An edition of Eufebius and Socrates, in Greek and
Latin, with notes by Reading, was publifhed at London
in 1720.
SODA, the name given by the French chemifts to
the mineral alkali, which is found native in many-parts
of the world : it is obtained alfo from common fait, and
from
Soda
I!
Sodor.
SOD [ 462
from the aflies of the kali, a fpecies of falfola. See Che¬
mistry Index, for an account of its properties and com-
bmations : but long after that article was written, fo-
da and potafli were decompofed by means of galva-
nifm ; and the alkalies, hitherto conlidered as Ample fub-
llances, appear, from the experiments of Mr Davy,
who firft made the dilcovery, to be compounds of oxy¬
gen and a metallic bale. Mr Davy’s conclufions have
been controverted by fome of the French chemifts 5 and
as the fubjeft may perhaps in a few months receive fome
farther elucidation, we ihall delay our account of the
whole till we come to defcribe the apparatus by which
the experiments are conduced. See Trough, Galva¬
nic.
Soda is alfo a name for a heat in the flomach, or
heart-burn. See Medicine, N° 275.
SO.DOM, formerly a town of Paleftine in Afia, fa.
mous in Scripture for the wickednefs of its inhabitants,
and their deftrudlion by fire from heaven on account of
that wickednefs. The place where it flood is now co¬
vered by the waters of the Dead fea, or the lake Afphal-
tites. See Asphaltites.
. SODOMY, an unnatural crime, fo called from the
city of Sodom, which was deflroyed by fire for the
fame. The Levitical law adjudged thofe guilty of this
execrable crime to death ; and the civil law affigns the
fame punilhment to it. The law of England makes it
felony. There is no flatute in Scotland againft Sodo¬
my ; the libel of the crime is therefore founded on the
divine law, and praflice makes its punifhment to be
burned alive.
SODOR, a name always conjoined with Man, in
mentioning the bifhop of Man’s diocefe. Concerning
the origin and application of this word, very different
opinions have been formed by the learned. Buchanan
(lib. i. cap. 34.) fays, that before his time the name of
Sodor was given to a town in the ifle of Man. In
Gough’s edition of Camden’s Britannia (vol. iii. p. 701.)
it is faid, that after the ifle of Man was annexed to the
crown of England, this appellation was given to a fmall
ifland within mufket-fiiot of Man, in which the cathe¬
dral ftands, called by the Norwegians the Holm, and
by the inhabitants the Peel. In fupport of this opinion
a charter is quoted A. D. 1505, in which Thomas earl
of Derby and lord of Man confirms to Huan Hefketh
bifhop of Sodor all the lands, &c. anciently belonging
to the bifhops of Man. “ Ecclefiam cathedralem fanfti
Germani in Holm Sodor vel Pele vocatam, ecclefiam
fan&i Patricii ibidem, et locum prsefatum in quo eccle-
fise prsefatae fitae funt.” The truth of either, or perhaps
of both, thefe accounts might be allowed; but neither
of them is fufficient to account for the conftant con-
junftion of Sodor and Man, in charters, regifters, and
hiftories. If Sodor was a fmall town or ifland belong¬
ing to Man, it cannot be conceived why it is always
mentioned before it, or rather why it fhould be men¬
tioned at all in fpeaking of a bifhop’s diocefe. To
fpeak of the bifhopric of Sodor and Man in this cafe
would be as improper as it would be to call the bifhop¬
ric of Durham the bifhopric of Holy Wand and Dur¬
ham, or the bifhopric of Darlington and Durham ; the
former being a fmall ifland and the latter a town belong¬
ing to the county and diocefe of Durham. Neither of
thefe accounts, therefore, gives a fatisfadfory account of
the original conjundlion of Sodor and Man.
I
J BOV
1 he ifiand of Iona was the place where the bifhop of
the Ifles refided, the cathedral church of which, it is
faid, was dedicated to our Saviour, in Greek Soter,'
hence Sotorcnfes, which might be corrupted into Sodo-
renfes, a name frequently given by Danifh writers to
the wedein Hies of Scotland. Fhat we may be the
more difpofed to accede to this Grecian etymology, the
advocates for this opinion tell us, that the name Icolum-
ki/i, wEich is often applied to this ifland, is alfo of Greek
extradlion, being derived from Columba, “a pigeon;”
a meaning that exaftly correfponds to the Celtic word
Lolum and the Hebrew wrord Iona. ^Ve mull confefs,
however, that we have very little faith in the conjec¬
tures of etymologifts, and think that upon no occaiion
they alone can ellablifh any faft, though when concur¬
ring with fadts they certainly tend to confirm and ex-
plain them. It is only from hiftorical faffs that we can
know to wjhat Sodor was applied.
It appears from the biftory of the Orkneys, compiled
by an old Icelandic writer, tranflated and enlarged by
Torfaeus, that the ^budse or Weffern ifles of Scotland
w-ere divided intd two duffers, Nordureys and Sudereys.
The Nordureys, which were feparated from the Sude¬
reys by the point of Ardnamurchan, a promontory in
Argykfhire, confifted of Muck, Egg, Rum, Canna,
Skye, Rafay, Barra, South Uiff, North Uift, Benbe-
cula, and Lewis, including Harris, with a great num¬
ber of fmall ifles. The Sudereys were, Man, Arran,
Bute, Cumra, Avon, Gid, Ila, Colonfay, Jura, Scarba,
Mull, Iona, ”1 free, Coll, Ulva, and other fmall iflands.
All thefe, when joined together, and fubjeft to the fame
prince, made up the kingdom of Man and the Ifles. In
the Norwegian language, Suder and Harder fignify
fouthern and northern, and ey or ay an ifland. When
the iEbudce were under one monarch, the feat of em¬
pire was fixed in the Sudereys, and the Nordureys were
governed by deputies; hence the former are much of-
tener mentioned in hiffory than the latter ; hence, too,
the Sudereys often comprehend the Nordureys, as in
our days Scotland is fometimes comprehended under
England. Sudereys, or Suder, when anglicifed, be¬
came Sodor; and all the Weflern ifles of Scotland being
included in one diocefe under the Nonvegian princes,
the bifhop appointed to fuperintend them was called the
bifhop of Man and the Ifles, or the bifhop of Sodor and
Man. Since Man was conquered by Edward III. it
has been feparated from the other ifles, and its bifhops
have exercifed no jurifdittion over them. Should it now
be afked, why then is the bilhop of Man ftill called the
bifhop of Sodor and Man ? we reply, that we have been
able to difcover no reafon ; but fuppofe the appellation
to be continued in the fame way, as the title king of
France has been kept up by the kings of Great Britain,
for feveral centuries after the Englifh were entirely ex¬
pelled from France.
SOFA, in the eaft, a kind of alcove raifed half a
foot above the floor of a chamber or other apartment ;
and ufed as the place of date, where vifitors of diflinc-
tion are received. Among the Turks the whole floor
of their ftate-rcoms is covered with a kind of tapedrv,
and on the window-fide is raifed a fofa or fcpha, laid
Sodor,
Sofa.
with a kind of mattrefs, covered with
richer than the other. On this carpet
feated, both men and women, like the
land, crofs-legged, leaning againft the
a carpet much
the Turks are
tailors in Eng-
wall, which is
bolftered
son r 403 ] sor
Sofu bolUered with velvet, fatin, or other ftuff fuitable to
j, I' the feafon. Here they eat their meals; only laying a
' 'l >' 11;in over the carpet to ferve as a tablecloth, and a
round wooden board over ail, covered with plates, &c.
SO-FALA, or Cefala, a kingdom of Africa, lying
cn the coait of Mofambique, near Zanguebar. It is
bounded on the north by Monomotapa •, on the ealt by
the Mofambique fea 5 on the fouth by the kingdom of
Sabia •, and on the wed by that of Manica. It con¬
tains mines of gold and iron, and a great number of ele¬
phants. It is governed by a king, tributary to the Por-
tugueie, wTho built a fort at the principal town, which
ip of the fame name, and of great importance for their
trades to the. Halt Indies- It is feated in a fmall ill and-,
near the mouth of a river. E. Long. 35. 40. S, Latv
20. 20.
SOFFIT A, or Soffit, in ArchiteBure, any timber-
ceiling formed of ends beams of flying corniches, the
fquare compartiments or pannels of which are enriched
with fculpture, painting, or gilding 5 fuch are thofe in
the palaces of Italy, and in the apartments of Luxem¬
bourg at Paris.
Soffita, or Soffit, is alfo ufed for the underfide or
face of an architrave ; and more particularly for that of
the corona or larmier, which the ancients called lacunar,
the French plafond, and we ufually the drip. It is en¬
riched with compartments of rofes •, and in the Doric
order has 18 drops, difpofed in three ranks, fix in each,
placed to the right of the guttse, at the bottom of the
triglyphs.
SOFT, or Sophi. See Sophi.
SOFTENING, in Painting, the mixing and dilut¬
ing of colours with the brulh or pencil.
SOHO, the name of a fet of works, or manufa&ory
of a variety of hardwares, belonging to the late Mr
Boulton, fituated on the borders of StafFordfliire, within
two miles of Birmingham ; now fo juftly celebrated as-
to deferve a Ihort hiftorical detail.
About 30 years ago the premifes confided of a fmall
mill and a few obfeure dwellings. Mr Boulton, in con-
jun£lion with Mr Fothergill, then his partner, at an ex¬
pence of 9000I. erefted a handfome and extenfive edi¬
fice, with a view of manufafturing metallic toys. The
firfl productions confifted of buttons, buckles, -watch-
chains, trinkets, and fuch other articles as were peculiar
to Birmingham. Novelty, tafte, and variety, were
however always confpicuous ; and plated wares, known
by the name of Sheffield plate, comprifing a great va¬
riety of ufeful and ornamental articles, became another
permanent fubjeft of manufacture.
To open channels for the confumption of thefe com¬
modities, all the northern part of Europe was explored
by the mercantile partner Mr Fothergill. A wide and
extenfive correfpondence was thus eftablifhed, the un¬
dertaking became well known, and the manufacturer,
by becoming his own merchant, eventually enjoyed a
double profit.
Impelled by an ardent attachment to the arts, and by
the patriotic ambition of forming his favourite Soho into
a fruitful feminary of artifts, the proprietor extended his
views 5 and men of taffe and talents were noxv fought
for, and liberally patronifed. A fuccefsful imitation of
the French or rmulifa ornaments, confifting of vafes,
tripeds, candelabra, &c. &c. extended the celebrity of
the works. Services of plate and other works in filver,
both maffive and- airy, were added, and an affay office
was eftablifhed in Birmingham.
Mr Watt, the ingenious improver of the fteam-en-
gine, xvas aftenvards taken into partnerfhip with Mr
Boulton ; and they carried oh at Soho a manufaftory of
fleam-engines, not lefs beneficial to the public than lu¬
crative to themfelves. This valuable machine, the na¬
ture and excellencies of which are deferibed in another
place (fee S'lEAM-Engine}, Mr Boulton propofed to ap¬
ply to the operation of coining, and fuitable apparatus
was erefted at a great expence, for the purpofe of being
employed by government to make a new copper-coinage
for the kingdom. Artiffs of merit were, engaged, and
fpecimens of exquifite delicacy were exhibited ; the
works were alfo employed upon highly finilhed medals
and private coins. To enumerate al! the productions of
this manufactory -would be tedious (a).
In a national view, Mr Boulton’s undertakings are
highly valuable and important. By collecting around
him artiffs of various deferiptions, rival talents have been
called forth, and by luccefflve competition have been
multiplied to an extent highly beneficial to the public.
The manual arts partook of the benefit, and became
proportion ably improved.
A barren heath has been covered with plenty and po¬
pulation ; and Mr Boulton’s works, which in their in¬
fancy were little known and attended to, now cover fe-
veral acres, give employment to more than 600 perfons,
and are faid to be the firft of their kind in Europe.
SOIL, the mould covering the furface of the earth,
in which vegetables grow. It ferves as a fupport for
vegetables, and as a refervoir for receiving and commu¬
nicating their nouriffiment.
Soils are commonly double or triple compounds of the
feveral reputed primitive earths, except the barytic.
The magnefian likewife fparingly occurs. The more
fertile foils afford alfo a fmall proportion of coally fub-
ftance ariffng from putrefaClion, and fome traces of ma¬
rine acid and gypfum. The vulgar divifion into clay,
chalk, fand, and gravel, is well underftood. Loam de¬
notes any foil moderately adhefive; and, according to
the ingredient that predominates, it receives the epithets
of clayey, chalky, fandy, or gravelly. The intimate
mixture of clay with the oxydes of iron is called till,
and is of a hard confiftence and a dark reddiffi colour.
Soils are found by analyfis to contain their earthy ingre¬
dients in very different proportions. According to M.
Giobert, fertile mould in the vicinity of Turin, where
the fall of rain amounts yearly to 40 inches, affords for
each 100 parts, from 77 to 79 of filex, from 8 to 14 of
argill, and from 5 to 12. of calx ; befides about one-half
of carbonic matter, and nearly an equal weight of gas,
partly carbonic and partly hydrocarbonic. The fame
experimenter reprefents the compofition of barren foils
in fimilar fituations to be from 4210 88 percent, of fi-
lexy*
Soho,
Soil. -
*—y—J
(a) It was at this place, in the year I772? Eginton invented . an expeditiou?. method of copying.
tees in oil 5 but we do not know how. far this method has fucceeded..
S O L
Soil
II
Solan-
goofe.
lex, from 20 to 30 of argill, and from 4 to 20 of calx.
The celebrated Bergman found rich foils in the valleys
of Sweden, where the annual quantity of rain is 24
inches, to contain, for each 100 parts, 56 of liliceous
fand, 14 of argill, and 30 of calx. In the climate of
Paris, where the average fall of rain is 20 inches, fertile
mixtures, according to M. Tillet, vary from 46 to 52
per cent, of filex, and from u to 17 of argill, with 37
of calx. Hence it appears that in dry countries rich
earths are of a clofer texture, and contain more of the
calcareous ingredient, with lefs of the filiceous. Mr
Arthur Young has difcovered, that the value of fertile
lands is nearly proportioned to the quantities of gas
which equal weights of their foil afford by diftillation.
See Agriculture Index.
SOISSONS, an ancient, large, and confiderable city
of France, in the department of Aifne and late province
of Soiffonnois. It was the capital of a kingdom of the
fame name, under the firff race of the French monarchs.
It contains about 12,000 inhabitants, and is a bilhop’s
fee. The environs are charming, but the llreets are
narrow, and the houfes ill-built. The fine cathedral has
one of the moft confiderable chapters in the kingdom ;
and the bifhop, when the archbifhop of Rheims was ab-
fent, had a right to crown the king. The caftlc, though
ancient, is not that in which the kings of the firft race
refided. Soiffons is feated in a very pleafant and fertile
valley, on the river Aifne, 30 miles w?eft by north of
Rheims, and 60 north-eaft of Paris. E. Long. 3. 24.
IN. Lat. 49. 23.
SOKE, or Sok. See Socage.
SOKEMANS. See Soc and Socage.
SOL, in Mujic, the fifth note of the gamut, ut, re,
tni,fa,fol, la. See Gamut.
Sol, or Sou, a French coin made up of copper mixed
with a little filver, and is wrorth upwards of an Englilh
halfpenny, or the 23d part of an Englilh {lulling. The
fol when firft ftruck was equal in value to 12 deniers
Tournois, whence it w’as alfo called douzain, a name it
ftill retains, though its ancient value be changed 5 the
fol having been fince augmented by three deniers, and
ftruck with a puncheon of a fleur-de-lis, to make it cur¬
rent for 15 deniers. Soon after the old fols were coined
over again, and both old and new were indifferently
made current for 15 deniers. In 1709, the value of
the fame fols was raifed to x 8 deniers. Towards the
latter end of the reign of Louis XIV. the fol of 18 de¬
niers was again lowered to 15 ; and by the late king it
was reduced to the original value of 12. What it is at
prefent pofterity may perhaps difcover.
The Dutch have alfo two kinds of fols: the one of
filver, called fols de gros, and likewife fchclling; the
•other of copper, called alfo the fuyver.
Sox., the Sun, in AJlronomy, Afrology, &c. See
Astrokomy, paffim.
Sol, in Chejniflry, is gold } thus called from an opi¬
nion that this metal is in a particular manner under the
influence of the fun.
Sol, in Heraldry, denotes Or, the golden colour in
the arms of fovereign princes.
SOL7EUS, or Soleus, in Anatomy, one of the ex-
tenfor mufcles of the foot, riling from the upper and
hinder parts of the tibia and fibula.
1 SOLAN-goose. See Pelicanus, Ornithology
Index.
I 464 1
SOL
Solder.
SOLANDRA, a genus of plants belonging to the Solardra
clafs of monadelphia, and to the order of polyandria *,
and in the natural fyftem arranged under the 38th or*
der, Tricoccete. See Botany Index.
SOLANUM, a genus of the monogynia order, be¬
longing to the pentandria clafs of plants $ and in the na¬
tural method ranking under the 28th order, Luridce.
See Botany Index.
SOLAR, fomething belonging to the Sun.
SOLAR-Spots. See Astronomy Index.
SOLD AN. See Sultan.
SOLDANELLA, a genus of plants belonging to
the clafs of pentandria, and order of monogynia j and in
the natural fyftem arranged under the 2ift order, Freda:.
See Botany Index.
SOLDER, Sodder, or Soder, a metallic or mineral
compofition ufed in foldering or joining together other
metals.
Solders are made of gold, filver, copper, tin, bifmuth,
and lead ; ufually obferving, that in the compofition
there be feme of the metal that is to be foldered mixed
with feme higher and finer metals. Goldfmiths ufually
make four kinds of folder, viz. folder of eight, where
to feven parts of filver there is one of brafs or copper ;
folder of fix, where only a fixth part is copper *, folder
of four, and folder of three. It is the mixture of cop¬
per in the folder that makes raifed plate come always
cheaper than flat.
As mixtures of gold with a little copper are found
to melt with lefs heat than pure gold itfelf, thefe mix¬
tures ferve as folders for gold : two pieces of fine gold
are foldered by gold that has a fmall admixture of cop¬
per j and gold alloyed with copper is foldered by fuch
as is alloyed with more copper : the workmen add a
little filver as well as copper, and vary the proportions
of the two to one another, fo as to make the colour of
the folder correfpond as nearly as may be to that of the
piece. A mixture of gold and copper is alfo a folder
for fine copper as well as for fine gold. Gold being
particularly d'fpofed to unite wdth iron, proves an ex¬
cellent folder for the finer kinds of iron and fteel inftru-
ments.
The folder ufed by plumbers is made of twro pounds
of lead to one of block-tin. Its goodnefs is tried by
melting it, and pouring the bignefs of a crown-piece on
a table ; for, if good, there ’yvill arife little bright Ihining
ftars therein. The folder for copper is made like that
of the plumbers 5 only with copper and tin ; and for
very nice wTorks, inftead of tin, they fometimes ufe a
quantity of filver. Solder for tin is made of two-thirds
of tin and one of lead, or of equal parts of each ; but
wdiere the work is any thing delicate, as in organ-pipes,
where the junfture is foarce difcemible, it is made of
one part of bifmuth and three parts of pewter. The
pewterers ufe a kind of folder made with two parts of
tin and one of bifmuth ; this compofition melts with the
leaft heat of any of the folders.
Silver folder is that which is made of two parts of
filver and one of brafs, and ufed in foldering thofe me¬
tals. Spelter folder is made of one part of brafs and
tw'o of fpelter or zinc, and is ufed by the braziers and
copperfmiths for foldering brafs, copper, and iron. This
folder is improved by adding to each ounce of it one
pennyweight of filver; but as it docs not melt without
a confiderable degree of heat, it cannot be ufed when
it
2
SOL
I 465 ]
SOL
' Solder
II
Sole. 1 fin.
it is inconvenient to heat the work red-hot; in which
cafe copper and brafs are foldered with ftlver.
Though fpelter folder be much cheaper than filver-
” folder, yet workmen in many cafes prefer the latter.
And Mr Boyle informs us, that he has found it to run
with ib moderate a heat, as not much to endanger the
melting of the delicate parts of the work to be foldered }
and if well made, this filver folder will lie even upon the
ordinary kind itfelf 5 and fo fill up thofe little cavities
that may chance to be left in the firft operation, which
is not eaflly*d®ne without a folder more eafily fufihle
than the firtl made ufe of. As to iron, it is fufficient
that it be heated to a white heat, and the two extremities,
in this ftate, he hammered together •, by which means
they become incorporated one with the other.
SOLDERING, the joining and faftening together of
two pieces of the lame metal, or of two different metals,
by the fulion and application of fome metallic compofi-
tion on the extremities of the metals to be joined.
To folder upon filver, brafs, or iron : Take filver, five
pennyweights; brafs, four pennyweights : melt them to¬
gether for (oft f >lder, which runs fooneff. Take filver,
five pennyweights ; copper, three pennyweights: melt
them together for hard folder. Beat the folder thin,
and lay it on the place to be foldered, which muff be
firit fitted and bound together with wire as occafion re¬
quires $ then take borax in powder, and temper it like
pap, and lay it upon the folder, letting it dry ; then
cover it with live coah, and blow, and it will run im¬
mediately take it prefently out of the fire, and it is
done. It is to be obferved, that if any thing is to be
foldered in two places, which cannot well be done at one
time, you mult firff folder with the harder folder, and
then with the foft; for if it be firff done with the foft,
it will unfolder again before the other is faftened. Let
it be obferved, that if you would not have your folder
run about the piece that is to be foldered, you muff rub
fuch places over with chalk.—In the foldering either of
gold, filver, copper, or either of the metals above men¬
tioned, there is generally ufed borax in powder, and
fbmetiines rofin. As to iron, it is fufficient that it be
heated red-hot, and the two extremities thus hammered
together, by which means they will become incorporated
with each other. For the finer kinds of iron and fteel
inftruments, however, gold proves an excellent folder.
'This metal will diffolve twice or thrice its weight of
iron in a degree of heat very far lefs than that in which
iron itfelf melts •, hence if a fmall plate of gold is wrap¬
ped round the parts to be joined, and afterwards melted
by a blow-pipe, it ftrongly unites the pieces together
without any injury to the inftrument, however delicate.
SOLDIER, a military man lifted to ferve a prince
or ftate in confideration of a certain daily,pay.
SoLTiiEH-Crab. See Cancer, Entomology Index.
Frejh Water SOLDIEX. See Stratiotes, Botany
Index.
SOLE, in the manege, a fort of horn under a horfe’s
foot, which is much more tender than the other born that
encompaffes the foot, and by reafon of its hardnefs is pro¬
perly called the horn or hoof.
Sole. See Peeuronectes, Ichthyology Index.
SOLE A. See Sandal and Shoe.
SOLECISM, in Grammar, a lalfe manner of fpeak-
ing, contrary to the ml .s of grammar, either in refpeeft
»f declenfton, conjugation, or fyntax.-—The word is
Vol. XIX. Part II.
Solfuinpv
Greek, c-oXoixtc-fies, derived from the So/i, a people of Soleciftn
Attica, who being tranfplanted to Cilicia, loft the pu¬
rity of their ancient tongue, and became ridiculous
to the Athenians for the improprieties into which they
fell.
SOLEMN, fomething performed with much pomp,
ceremony, and expence. Thus we fay, folemn feafts,
folemn funerals, folemn games, &c.—In law,yo/i?w« fig-
nifies fomething authentic, or what is clothed in all its.
formalities.
SOLEN, Razor-SHEATH, or Knife-handle Shell; a
genus belonging to the clafs of vermes, and order of
tejlacea. See Conchology Index.
SOLEURE, a canton of Swifferland, which holds
the nth rank in the Helvetic confederacy, into which
it was admitted in the year 1481. It ftretches partly
through the plain, and partly along the chains of the
Jura, and contains about 50,000 inhabitants. It is 35
miles in length from north to fouth, and 35 in breadch
from eaft to weft. The foil for the moft part is exceed¬
ingly fertile in corn j and the diftriiRs within the Jura
abound in excellent paftures. The trade both of the
town and canton is of little value, although they are
very commodioufly fituated for an extenfive commerce.
It is divided into 11 bailiwicks, the inhabitants of which
are all Roman Catholics except t’nofe of the bailiwick of
Buckegberg, who profefs the reformed religion. The
fovereign power refides in the great council, which,
comprifing the fenate or little council of 36, confifts of
102 members, chofen by the fenate in equal proportions
from the xx tribes or companies into which the ancient
burghers are diftributed ; and, owing to the diftinftion
between the ancient and the new burghers (the former
confiding of only 85 families) the government was for¬
merly a complete ariftocracy.
Soleure, an ancient and extremely neat town of
Swifferland, capital of the canton of the fame name. It
contains about 4000 inhabitants, and is pleafantly heat¬
ed on the Aar,, which here expands into a noble river.
Among the moft remarkable objeefts of curiofity in this
town is the new church of St Urs, which was begun
in 1762 and finiftied in 1772. It is a noble edifice of
a whitilh grey ftone, drawn from the neighbouring quar¬
ries, which admits a poliffi, and is a fpecies of rude mar¬
ble. The lower part of the building is of the Corin¬
thian, the upper of the Compofite order. The facade,
which confifts of a portico, furmounted by an elegant
tower, prefents itfelf finely at the extremity of the prin¬
cipal ftreet. It ooft at lead 8o,oooI. a confiderable
fum for fuch a fmall republic, whofe revenue feared y
exceeds 1 2,000k a-year. Soleure is furrounded by re¬
gular ftone fortifications, and is.20 miles north-north-eaft
of Bern, 27 fouth-fouth-weft of Bade, and 45 weft of
Zurich. E. Long. 7. 20. N. Lat. 47. 15.
SOLFAING, in Mafic, the naming or pronouncing
the feveral notes of a fong by the fyllables at, re, mi, fa,
fol, &c. in learning to fing it.
Ot the feven notes in the French fcale ut, re, mi, fa,
fol, ln,Ji, only four are ufed among us in hinging, as
mi, fa, fol, la : their office is principally, in finging,
that by applying them to every note of the fcale, it may
not only be pronounced with more eafe, but chiefly
that by them the tones and femitones of the natural
fcale may be better marked out and diftinguiftied. This
defign is obtained by the four fylhblesfa^fo/, sla, mi.
3N ' Thu|
S O I?
Solfamg, Thus from fa to fol is a tone, alfo from fol to 4r, and
‘Soihitcna., from la to mi, without diftinguiihing the greater or lefs
tone \ but from la to fa, alfo from mi to fa, is only a
femitone. If then thefe be applied in this oi&zx,fa,fol,
la, fa, fol, la, mi, fa, &c. they exprefs the natural feries
from C } and if that be repeated to a fecond or third
odfave, we fee by them how to exprefs all the different
orders of tones and femitones in the diatonic fcale ; and
ftill above mi will Hand, fa, fol, la, and below it the fame
inverted la, fol, fa, and one mi is always diftant from
another an octave ; which cannot be faid of any of the
reft, becaufe after mi afcending come always fa, fol, la,
which are repeated invertedly defcending.
To conceive the ufe of this, it is to be remembered,
that the firft thing in learning to fing, is to make one
raxfe a fcale of notes by tones and femitones to an oc¬
tave, and defeend again by the fame ; and then to rife
and fall by greater intervals at a leap, as thirds and
fourths, &c. and to do all this by beginning at notes of
different pitch. Then thofe notes are reprefented by
lines and fpaces, to which thefe fyllables are applied,
and the learners taught to name each line and fpace
thereby, which makes what we call folfaing ; the ufe
whereof is, that while they are learning to tune the de¬
grees and intervals of found expreffed by notes on a line
or fpace, or learning a fong to which no words are ap¬
plied, they may not only do it the better by means of
articulate founds, but chiefly that by knowing the
degrees and intervals expreffed by thofe fyllables, they
may more readily know the places of the femitones, and
the true diftance of the notes. See the article Sing¬
ing.
SOLFATERRA, a mountain of Italy in the king¬
dom of Naples, and Terra di Lavoro. This mountain
appears evidently to have been a volcano in ancient
times ; and the foil is yet fo hot, that the workmen em¬
ployed there in making alum need nothing elfe befides
the heat of the ground for evaporating their liquids.
Of this mountain we have the following account by Sir
William Hamilton. “ Near Aftruni (another moun¬
tain, formerly a volcano likewife) tifes the Solfaterra,
which not only retains its cone and crater, but much
of its former heat. In the plain within the crater,
fmoke iffues from many parts, as alfo from its fides :
here, by means of ftones and tiles heaped over the cre¬
vices, through which the fmoke paffes, they collect in
an aukward manner what they call fale armoniaco;
and from the fand of the plain they extraft fulphur and
alum. This fpot, well attended to, might certainly
produce a good revenue, whereas I doubt if they have
hitherto ever cleared 200I. a-year by it. The hollow
found produced by throwing a heavy ftone on the plain
of the crater of the Solfaterra, feems to indicate that it
is fupported by a fort of arched natural vault •, and one
is induced to think that there is a pool of water be¬
neath this vault (which boils by the heat of a fubter-
raneous fire ft ill deeper), by the very moift fteam that
iffues from the cracks in the plain of the Solfaterra,
SOL
which, like that of boiling water, runs off a fword or So'.faten*
knife, prefented to it, in great drops. On the outfide, II.
and at the foot of the cone of the Solfaterra, towards
the lake of Agnano, water rulhes out of the rocks fo r",,_
hot as to raife the quickfilver in Fahrenheit’s thermo¬
meter to the degree of boiling water (a) j a fa£k of
which I was myfelf an eye-wdtnefs. This place, well
worthy the obfervation of the curious, has been taken
little notice of 5 it is called the Ptfciarelli. The com¬
mon people of Naples have great faith in the efficacy of
this svater 5 and make much of it in all cutaneous dif-
orders, as well as for another diforder that prevails here.
It feems to be impregnated chiefly with fulphur and
alum. When you approach your ear to the rocks of
the Pifciarelli, from wflience this water ouzes, you hear
a horrid boiling noife, which feems to proceed from
the huge cauldron that may be fuppofed to be under
the plain of the Solfaterra. On the other fide of the
Sclfaterra, next the fea, there is a rock which has com¬
municated with the fea, till part of it was cut away to
make the road to Puzzole j this was undoubtedly a con-
liderable lava, that ran from the Solfaterra when it was
an aftive volcano. Under this rock of lava, which is
more than 70 feet high, there is a ftratum of pumice
and allies. This ancient lava is about a quarter of a
mile broad •, you meet with it abruptly before you come
in fight of Puzzole, and it finilhes as abruptly within
about 100 paces of the tow n. The ancient name of
the Solfaterra was Forum Vulcani ; a ftrong proof of its
origin from fubterraneous fire. The degree of heat
that the Solfaterra has preferved for fo many ages,
feems to have calcined the ftones upon its cone and in
its crater, as they are very white and crumble eafily in
the hotteft parts.
SOLICITOR, a perfon employed to take care of
and manage fuits depending in the courts of law or
equity. Solicitors are wflthin the ftatute to be fworn,
and admitted by the judges, before they are allowed
to praftife in our courts, in like manner as attorneys.
There is aifo a great officer of the law, next to the
attorney-general, who is ftyled the king’s folicitor-ge-
neral •, who holds his office by patent during the king’s
pleafure, has the care and concern of managing the
king’s affairs, and has fees for pleading, befides other
fees arifing by patents, &c. He attends on the privy-
council } and the attorney-general and he wrere anciently
reckoned among the officers of the exchequer; they
have their audience, and come within the bar in all
other courts.
SOLID, in Pliilofophy, a body whofe parts are fo
firmly connetled together, as not eafily to give way or
flip from each other ; in which fenfe folid ftands oppofed
to fuid.
Geometricians define a folid to be the third fpecies
of magnitude, or that which has three dimenfions, viz.
length, breadth, and thicknefs or depth.
Solids are commonly divided into regular and irregu¬
lar. The regular folids are thofe terminated by regular
and
[ 466 ]
(a) “ I have remarked, that after a great fall of rain, the degree of heat in this W’ater is much lefs;
which will account for what Padre Torre fays (in his book, intitled Hi/loire et Phenomenes du Vefuve), that
when he tried it in company with Monfieur de la Condamine, the degree of heat, upon Reaumur’s thermo-*
meter, was 68°.
SOL
t 467 1
SOL
Solid and equal planes, and are only fife m number, viz. the
II tetrahedron, which confifts of four equal triangles, the
Soliman- cube or hexahedron, of fix equal fquares ; the octahe-
dron of ei^ht equal triangles 5 the dodecahedron, ot
twelve j and the icofihedron, of twenty equal triangles.
The irregular folids are almoft infinite, comprehend¬
ing all fuch as do not come under the definition of re¬
gular folids •, as the fphere, cylinder, cone, parallelogram,
prifm, parallelepiped, &c.
Solids, in Anatomy, are the bones, ligaments, mem¬
branes, mufcles, nerves and veffels, &c.
The folid parts of the body, though equally compo-
fed of veffels, are different with regard to their confift-
ence-, feme being hard and others foft. The hard, as
the bones and cartilages, give firmnefs and altitude to
the body, and fuftain the other parts : the foft parts,
either alone or together with the hard, ferve to execute
the animal funftions. See Anatomv * #
SOLID AGO, a genus of plants belonging to tne
clafs of fungenefia, and to the order of polygamia fuper-
Aua ; and in the natural fyftem ranging under the 49th
order, Compojitce. See Botany Index.
SOLIDITY, that property of matter, or body, by
which it excludes all other bodies from the place which
itfelf poffeffes; and as it would be abfurd to fuppole
that two bodies could pofiefs one and the fame place at
the fame time, it follows, that the fofteft bodies are
equally folid with the hardeft. See Metaphysics,
N° 44. 173, , . . , . .
Among geometricians, the fohdity of a booy denotes
the quantity or fpace contained in it, and is called alfo
its folid content.
The folidity of a cube, prifm, cylinder, or paralielo-
piped, is had by multiplying its bafis into its height.
The folidity of a pyramid or cone L had by mul-
tiplvino' either the whole bafe into a third pait of the
height, or the whole height into a third part of the
" SOLILOQUY, a reafoning or difeourfe which a
man holds with himfelf •, or, more properly, according
to Papias, it is a difeourfe by way of anfwer to a quei-
tion that a man propofes to himfelf-
Soliloquies are become very common cm the modern
fiage ; yet nothing can be more inartificial, or more un¬
natural, than an actor’s making long fpeeches to him¬
felf, to convey his intentions to the audience. ^ \\ here
fuch difeoveries are neceffary to be made, the poets
fiiould rather take care to give the dramatic perfons
fuch confidants as may neceffarily fhare their inmoft
thoughts j by which means they will be more naturally
conveyed to the audience *, yet even this is a ihift which
an accurate poet would not have occafion for. doe
following lines of the duke of Buckingham concerning
the ufe and abufe of foliloquies deierve attention ,
Soliloquies had need be very few,
Extremely fiiort, and fpoke in paflion too.
Our lovers talking to themfelves, for want
Of others, make the pit their confidant .
Nor is the mat-er mended yet, if thus
They truft a friend, only to tell it us.
SOLIMAN IT. emperor of the Turks, furnamed
the Magnificent, was the only Ion of Selim I. whom he
fucceeded in 1520. He was educated in a manner ve¬
ry different from the Ottoman princes in general; for he
was inffrufled in the maxims of politics and the fecrets
o£ government. He began his reign by reftoring thole
perlbns their poffeflions wffiom his father had unjuftly
plundered. He re-eftablifhed the authority of the tri¬
bunals, wdiich was almoft annihilated, and bellowed the
government of provinces upon none but perfons of
wealth and probity : “ I would have my viceroys (he
ufed to fay) refembie thole rivers that fertilize the fields
through which they pafs, not thofe torrents which iwreep
every thing before them.'”
After concluding a truce wu’th Ifmael Sophy of Per-
fia, and fubduing Gozeli Bey, who had railed a rebel¬
lion in Syria, he turned his arms againft Europe. Bel¬
grade was taken in 1521, and Rhodes fell into his
hands the year following, after an obftinate and enthu-
fiallic defence. In 1526 he defeated and flew the king
of Hungary in the famous battle of Mohatz. I nree
years after he conquered Buda, and immediately laid
fiege to Vienna itfelf. But after continuing 20 days
before that city, and affaulting it 20 times, he wTas obli¬
ged to retreat with the lofs of 8o,oco men. Some time
after he was defeated by the Perfians, and difappointed
in his hopes of taking Malta. He fucceeded, howevei,
in difpoffefting the Genoefe of Chio, an illand which had
belonged to that republic for more than 200 years.
He died at the age of 76, while he was befieging Si-
geth, a town in Hungary, on the 30th Auguft 1366.
He was a prince of the ftrifteft probity, a lover of
juftice, and vigorous in the execution of it •, but he tar-
nilhed all his glory by the cruelty of his difpofition.
After the battle of Mohatz he ordered I joo.prifoners,
moft of them gentlemen, to be ranged in a circle, and
beheaded in prefence of his whole army.
Soliman thought nothing impoffible which he com¬
manded : A general having received orders to throw a
bridge over the Drave, wrote him, that it was impof¬
fible. The fultan fent him a long band of linen with
thefe words written on it : “ The emperor Soliman,
thy mafter, orders thee to build a bridge over the Drave
in fpite of the difficulties thou mayeft meet with. He
informs thee at the fame time, that if the bridge be not
finilhed upon his arrival, he will hang thee with the
very linen which informs thee of his will.”
SOLIPUGA, or SolifuGA, in Natural Hi/lory, the
name given by the Romans to a fmall venomous infetl
of the fpider-kind, called by the Greeks hehocentros >
both words fignifying an animal which flings moft in
the country and feafons where the fun is moft hot.
Sclinus makes this creature peculiar to Sardinia; but
this is contrary to all the accounts given us by the an¬
cients. It is common in Africa and fome parts of Eu¬
rope. Almoft all the hot countries produce this veno¬
mous little creature. It lies under the fand to feize
other infers as they go by 5 and if it meet with any
uncovered part of a man, produces a wound which
proves very painful; it is faid that the bite is abfolutely
mortal, but probably this is not true. Solinus writes
the word folifuga, and fo do many others, erroneoufly
deriving the name from the notion that this animal flies
from the fun’s rays, and buries itfelf in the fand.
SOLIS, Antonio de, an ingenious Spaniffi writer,
cf an ancient and illuftrious family, born at Piacenza
an Old Caftile, in 1610. He was intended for the
law •, but his inclination toward poetry prevailed, and
he cultivated it with great fuccefs. Philip IV. of Spain
3 N 2 made
jliS
f!
•on.
S O L
friade nitn cfpe of his fecretaries $    
the qaeen-regent appointed him hiTtoriographer of the
Indies, a place of great profit and honour : his Hiftory
of the Conquefi of Mexico {hows that fne could not
haV’e named a fitter perion. lie is better known by this
ihitory ^eaft abroad, than by his poetry and dramatic
tvritings, though in thefe he was alfo diftinguifhed. He
turned prieft at 57 years of age, and died in 1686.
SOLITARY, that which is remote from the com¬
pany or commerce of others of the fame fpecies.
SOLI TARIES, a denomination of nuns of St Peter
of Alcantara, inftituted in 1676, the defign of which
was to imitate the fevere penitent life of that faint.
2 bus they are to keep a continual filence, never to
open their mouths to a ftranger 5 to employ their time
wholly in fpiritual exercifes, and leave their tempo¬
ral concerns to a number of maids, who have a particu¬
lar fuperior in a feparate part of the monaftery : they
always go bare-footed, without fandals ; gird themfelves
with a thick cord, and wear no linen.
SOLO, in the Italian mufic, is frequently ufed in
pieces confining of feveral parts, to mark thole that are
to perform alone ; as Jiauto folo, vio/ino folo. It is alfo
uled for fonatas compofed for one violin, one German
flute, or other inftrument, and a bafs •, thus we fay,
Corelli 'sfolos, Geminiani's fo/os, &c. When two or three*
parts play or fing feparately from the grand chorus,
they are called a del foil, a tre foil, &c. Solo is fome-
times denoted by S.
SOLOMON, the fon of David king of Ifrael, re¬
nowned in Scripture for his wifdom, riches, and magni¬
ficent temple and other buildings. Towards the *end
of his life he lullied all his former glory by his apoflacy
from God ; from which caufe vengeance wTas denoun¬
ced againft his houie and nation. He died about 975
B. C.
Solomon's Seal, a fpecies of Convallaria, which
fee, Botany Index.
SOLON, one of the feven wife men of Greece, was
born at Salami’s, of Athenian parents, who were de-
feended from Codrus. His father leaving little patri¬
mony, he had recourfe to merchandife for his fubfift-
ence. He had, however, a greater third: after know¬
ledge and fame than after riches, and made his mercan¬
tile voyages fubfervient to the increafe of his intellec¬
tual treafures. He very early cultivated the art of poe¬
try, and applied himfelf to the ftudy of moral and civil
wifdom. When the Athenians, tired out with a long
and troublefome war with the Megarenfians, for the re¬
covery of the ifle of Salamis, prohibited any one, under
pain of death, to propofe the renewal of their claim to
that ifland, Solon thinking the prohibition dilhonourable
to the date, and finding many of the younger citizens de-
firous to revive the war, feigned himfelf mad, and took
cme to have the report of his infanitv fpread through the
city. In the mean time he compofed an elegy adapted
to the date of public affairs, which he committed to
memory. Every thing being thus prepared, he fallied
forth into the market-place with the kind of cap on his
head which was commonly worn by fick perfons, and,
afeending the herald’s Hand, he delivered, to a nume¬
rous crowd, his lamentation for the defertion of Salamis.
The verfes were heard with general applaufe ; and Pi-
fiftratus feconded his advice, and urged the people to
leuew the war. The decree was immediately repealed 3
[ 408 J SOL
and after his death the claim to Salamis was refumed 3 and the conduct of
tne war was committed to Solon and Pififtratus, whp,
by means of a ftratagem, defeated the Megarenfians,
and recovered Salamis.
PL’s popularity was extended through Greece in con-
fcquence of a fuccefsful alliance which he formed among
the dates 111 defence of the temple at Delphos againft the
Cirrbaeans. . Yv hen diffenfions had arilen at Athens be-
tueen the rich creditors and their poor debtors, Solon
was created archon,_with the united powers of fupreme
legifiator and magiftrate. He foon reftored harmony
between the rich and poor : He cancelled the debts
which had proved the occafion of fo much oppreftion 3
and ordained that in future no creditor ftiould be allow¬
ed to leize the body of the debtor for bis fecurity : Pie
made a new diftribution of the people, inftituted new
courts of judicature, and framed a judicious code of
laws, which afterwards became the balls of the laws of
the twelve tables in Rome. Among his criminal laws
are many wife and excellent regulations ; but the code
is neceffarily defedlive with reipeft to thofe principles
which mull be derived from the knowledge of the true
God, and of pure morality, as the certain foundations of
national happinefs. Two of them in particular uere
very exceptionable 3 the permiffion of a voluntary exile
to perfons that had been guilty of premeditated mur¬
der, and the appointment of a lefs fevere punilhment
for a rape than for fecluftion. Thofe who wilh to fee
accurately flated the comparative excellence of the laws
of. Mofes, of Lycurgus, and Solon, may confult Prize
Differ! ations, relative^ to Natural and Revealed Religion
by Teyler’s Theological Society, vol. ix.
The interview which Solon is faid to have had with
Crce us king of Lydia, the folid remarks of the fare
after furveying the monarch’s wealth, the recolledlion of
thofe remarks by Crcefus when doomed to die, and the
noble conduft of Cyrus on that occafion, are known to
every fchcolboy. Solon died in the ifiand of Cyprus
about the 80th year of his age. Statues were ere&ed’
to his memory both at Athens and Salamis. His thirft
after knowledge continued to the laft : “ I grow old
(faid he) learning many things.” Among the apoph¬
thegms and precepts which have been aferibed to Solon,
are the following: Laws are like cobwebs, that en¬
tangle the iveak, but are broken through by the ftrong.
He who has learned to obey, will know how to com¬
mand. In all things let reafon be your guide. Dili¬
gently contemplate excellent things. In every thing
that you do, confider the end.
. SOLSTICE, in Ajlronomy, that time when the fun
is in one of ihe folftitial points 3 that is, when he is at
his greateft diftance from the equator 3 thus called be-
caufe he then appears to Hand fti]l, and not to change
his diftance from the equator for fome time ; an appear¬
ance owing to the obliquity of our fphere, and which
thofe living under the equator are ftrangers to.
The folftices are trvo in each year ; the aeftival or
fummer folftice, and the hyemal or winter folftice. The
fummer folftice is when the fun feems to deferibe the
tropic of cancer, which is on June 22. when he makes
the longeft day : the winter folftice is when the fun en¬
ters the firft degree, or feems to deferibe the tropic of
capricorn, which is on December 22. when he makes
the Ihorteif day. This is to be underftood as in our
noithem hemilphere 3 for in the louthern, the fun’s en¬
trance
SoJon^
Suiitice.
S O, M [ 469 ] SOM
Solfticc trance into capricorn makes the fummer foiiiice, and
il that into cancer the winter folftice. The two points
, Somci's- cf ecliptic, wherein the fun’s greatell afcent above
v the equator, and his defcent below it, are terminated,
are called the fo[flitialpoints ; and a circle, fuppofed to
pafs through the poles of the world and thefe points, is
called the foljiitialcolure. The fummer foil titial point is
in the beginning of the firft degree of cancer; and is
called the ajliv ! or fummer point ; and the winter fol-
ftitial point is in the beginning of the firft degree of ca¬
pricorn, and is called the winter point. Thefe two points
are diametrically oppofite to each other.
SOLUTION, in Chemifiry, denotes an intimate
union of folid with fluid bodies, fo as to form a tranfpa-
rent liquor. See Chemistry pafi/n.
SOLVENT, that which diffftves a folid body into a
tranfparent fluid.
SOLWAY moss. See Moving Moss.
SOMBRERO, the name of an uninhabited ifiand in
the Weft Indies in the form of an hat, whence the name
is derived. It is alfo the name of one of the Nicobar
iflands in the Eaft Indies.
Wonderful Plant of SOMBRERO, is a flrange kind of
fenfitive plant growing in the Eaft Indies, in fandy bays
and in fhallow water. It appears like a flender ftraight
flick ; but when you attempt to touch it, immediately
withdraws ilfelf into the fand. Mr Miller gives an ac-
Philofophi. count of it in his defcription of Sumatra. He fays,
cat Trunf the Malays call it lolan lout, that is, fea grabs. ,He ne-
vofkv ’ ver cou^ obferve any tentacula •, but, after many unfuc-
p. 178. U1' cefsful attempts, drew out a broken piece about a foot
long. It was perfeblly ftraight and uniform, and re-
fembled a worm drawn over a knitting needle. When
dry it appears like a coral.
SOMERS, JbftN, lord high chancellor of England,
was born at Worcefter in 1652. Pie was educated at
Oxford, and afterwards entered bimfelf at the Middle-
Temple, where he fludied the law with great vigour. In
1688 he was one of the counfel for the feven bilhops at
their trial, and argued with great learning and eloquence
againft the difpenfmg power. In the convention which
met by the prince of Orange’s fummons, January 22.
1689, he reprefented Worcefter ; and was one of the
managers for the Houfe of Commons, at a conference
with the Houfe of Lords upon the word abdicated.
Soon after the acceflion of King William and C^ueen
Mary to the throne, he was appointed folicitor-general,
and received the honour of knighthood. In 1692 lie
was made attorney general, and in 1693 advanced to
the poft of lord keeper of the great feal of England. In
1695 he propofed an expedient to prevent the praclice
of clipping the coin. In 1697 he was created lord
' Somers, baron of Evefham, and made lord high chan¬
cellor of England. In the beginning of 1700 he was
removed from his pod of lord chancellor, and the year
after was impeached of high crimes and mifdemeanors
by the Houfe of Commons, of which he was acquitted
upon trial by the Ploufe of Lords. He then retired
to a ftudious courfe of life, and was chofen prefident of
the Royal Society. In 1706 he propofed a bill for the
regulation of the law; and the fame year was one of
the principal managers for the union between England
and Scotland. In 1708 he was made lord prefident of
the council ; from which poft he was removed in 1710,-
upon the change of the miniftry. In the latter end of
Queen Anne’s reign his lordthip grew very infirm in Somers
his health 5 which is fuppofed to be the reafon that he gorne||ton
held no other poft than a feat at the council-table, after ,
the acceffion of King George I. He died of an apo-
pleblic fit in 1716. Mr Addifon has drawn his cha-
rabler very beautifully in the Freeholder.
SOMERSETSHIRE, a county cf England/taking
its name from Somerton, once the capital, between 50®
and 510 if north latitude, and between i° if and 2° 59'
weft longitude. It is bounded on the weft by Devon-
ftiire, on the fouth by Dorfetfhire, on the north by
Briftol channel or the Severn fea, on the north eaft by
a fmall part of Gloucefterlhire, and on the eaft by Wilt-
ftrire. It is one of the largeft counties in England, ex¬
tending in length from eaft to weft about 68 miles ; in
breadth, where broadeft, from fouth to north, about
47 ; and 240 in circumference. It is divided into 43
hundreds, in which are 3 cities, 32 market-towns, 1700
villages, 385 pariihes of which 132 are vicarages, contain¬
ing more than 1,000,000 of acres, and about 273,750
fouls. It fends 18 members to parliament, viz. two for
the county, two for Briftol, two for Bath, two for Wells,
two for Taunton, two for Bridgewater, two for Ilchefter,
two for Milbourn-port, and two for Minehead.
The air of this county is very mild and wholefome,
cfpecially that of the hilly part. The foil in general is
exceeding rich, fo that fingle acres very commonly
produce forty or fifty bufhels of wheat, and there have
been inftances of fome producing fixty of barley. As
there is very fine pafture both for Iheep and black cat¬
tle, it abounds in both, which are as large as thofe of '
Lincolnftiire, and their tleih of a finer grain. In confe-
quence of this abundance of black cattle, great quanti¬
ties of cheefe are made in it, of which that of Cheddar
is thought equal to Parmefan. In the hilly parts are
found coal, lead, copper, and lapis calaminaris. Wood
thrives in it as well as in any county of the kingdom.
It abounds alfo in peafe, beans, beer, cyder, fruit, wild¬
fowl, and falmon •, and its mineral waters are celebrated
all over the world.
The riches of this county, both natural and acqui- .
red, exceed thofe of any other in the kingdom, Midclle-
fex and Yorkfhire excepted. The woollen manufac¬
ture in all its branches is carried on to a very great ex¬
tent ; and in fome parts of the county great quantities
of linen are made. If to thefe the produce of various
other commodities in which it abounds is added, the
amount of the whole muft undoubtedly be very great.
Its foreign trade nruft alfo be allowed to be very exten-
five, when it is confidered that it has a large trade for
■fea-coal, and pofleffes, befides other ports, that of Brif¬
tol, a town of the greateft trade in England, next to .
London.
Befides fmall dreams, it is well watered and fupplied-
with fifh by the rivers Severn, Avon, Parrel, Froome,
Ax, Torre, and Tone. Its greateft hills are Mendip,
Pouldon, and Quanlock, of which the firft abounds in
coal, lead, &c. The rivers Severn and Parrel breed ve¬
ry fine falmon. The chief town is BriftoL
SOMERTON, an ancient town in Somerfetfhire,
from whence the county derives its name. It is 123
miles from London \ it has five ftreets, containing 251
houfes, which are moftly built of the blue ftone from
the quarries in the neighbourhood. It is governed by.
conftablef. and has a hall for petty fdTkms. The mar-
SON [ 4
ket for corn is confiderable, and it has feveral fairs for
M|jl cattle, ihe church has, what is not very frequent, an
Sonchrs. octangular tower with fix bells. N. Lat. 51. 4. W. Long.
—  *• 53-
SOMNAMBULI, perfons who walk in their deep.
See Sleepwalkers.
SOMNER, William, an eminent Englifh antiqua¬
ry, was born at Canterbury in 1606. His firft treatife
was The Antiquities of Canterbury, which he dedicated
to Archbifhop Laud. He then applied himfelf to the
ftudy of the Saxon language 5 and having made himfelf
matter of it, he perceived that the old gloffary prefixed
to Sir Roger Twifden’s edition of the laws of King
Henry I. printed in 1644, was faulty in many places j
he therefore added to that edition notes and obferva-
tions valuable for their learning, with a very ufeful
gloilary. His Treatife of Gavelkind was finithed a-
bout 1648, though not publifned till 1660. Our
author was zealoufly attached to King Charles I. and
in 1648 he publilhed a poem on his fufferings and
death. His Ikill in the Saxon tongue led him to in¬
quire into moft of the European languages ancient and
modern. He afTnded Dugdale and Dodfworth in com¬
piling the Monajlicon Anglicanum. His Saxon Die-
tionary was printed at Oxford in 16 eg. He died in
1669.
SON, an appellation given to a male child confidered
in the relation he bears to his parents. See Parent
and Filial Piety.
SONATA, in Mufic, a piece or compofition, intend¬
ed to be performed by inftruments only j in which fenfe
it Hands oppofed to cantata, or a piece defigned for the
voice. See Cantata.
The fonata then, is properly a grand, free, humorous
compofition, diverfified with a great variety of motions
and expreffions, extraordinary and bold flrokes, fi¬
gures, &c. And all this purely according to the fancy
of the compofer ; who, without confining himfelf to any
general rules of counterpoint, or to any fixed number or
meafure, gives a loofe to his genius, and runs from one
mode, meafure, &c. to another, as he thinks fit. This
fpecies of compofition had its rife about the middle of the
17th century ; thole who have moft excelled in it were
Baffani and Corelli. We have fonatas of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,
6, 7, and even 8 parts, but ufually they are performed
by a fingle violin, or with two violins, and a thorough
bafs for the harpfichord ; and,,frequently a more figured
bafs for the bafs viol, &c.
There are a thoufand different fpecies of fonatas;
but the Italians ufually reduce them to two kinds. Su-
onate de chiefa, that is, fonatas proper for church mufic,
wdiich ufually begin with a grave folemn motion, fuit-
able to the dignity and fan<dity of the place and the
fervice, after which they ffrike into a brifker, gayer,
and richer manner. Thefe are what they more pecu¬
liarly call fonatas. Suonate de camera, or fonatas for
the chamber, are properly feriefes of feveral little
pieces, for dancing, only compofed to the fame tune.
Ihey ufually begin with a prelude or little fonata,
ferving as an introduction to all the reft : afterwards
come the aliemand, pavane, courant, and other ferious
dances 3 then jigs, gavots, minuets, chacons, paffecailles,
and other gayer airs: the whole compofed in the fame
tune or mode.
SONCHUS, Sow-thistle, in Botany, a genus of
4
;o ] SO N
plants belonging to the clafs of fyngenejia, and to the or¬
der oipolygamia ecqualis; and in the natural fyftem ran¬
ged under the 49th order, Compofttcv. The receptacle
is naked 3 the calyx is imbricated, bellying and conical j
the down of the feed is fimple, feflile, and very foft 3
the feed is oval and pointed. There are 13 fpecies j
the maritimus, paluftris, fruticofus, arvenfis, oleraceus,
tenernmus, plumieri, alpinus, floridanus, fibiricus, tata-
ricus, tuberofus, and canadenfis. Four of thefe are na¬
tives of Britain.—-1. marfh fow-thiftle. The
ftem is ereft, from fix to ten feet high, branched and
hairy towards the top : the leaves are firm, broad, half
pinnated, ferrated, and (harp-pointed 3 the lower ones
fagittate at the bafe : the flowers are of a deep yellow,
large, and difperfed on the tops of the branches: the
calyx is rough. It is frequent in marfhes, and flowers
in July or Auguft.— 2. Arvenjis, corn fow-thiftle. The
leaves are alternate, runcinate, and heart-fhaped at the
bafe 3 the root creeps under ground 3 the ftem is three
or four feet high, and branched at the top. It grows
in corn-fields, and flowers in Auguft.—3. Oleraceus,
common fow-thiftle. The ftalk is fucculent, piftular,
and a cubit high or more 3 the leaves are broad, embra¬
cing the ftem, generally deeply finuated, fmooth, or
prickly at the edges 3 the flowers are of a pale yellow,
numerous, in a kind of umbel, and terminal 3 the calyx
is fmooth. It is frequent in wafte places and cultivated
grounds.—4. Alpinus, blue-flowered fow-thiftle. The
ftem is ereft, purplifh, branched, or fimple, from three
to fix feet high : the leaves are large, fmooth, and finu¬
ated 3 the extreme fegment large and triangular : the
flowers are blue, and grow on hairy vifeid pedicles, in
long fpikes : the calyx is brown. This fpecies is found
in Northumberland.
SONG, in Poetry, a little compofition, confifting of
eafy and natural verfes, fet to a tune in order to be fung.
See Poetry, N° 120.
Song, in Mujic, is applied in general to a fingle piece
of mufic, whether contrived. for the voice or an inftru-
ment. See Air.
SONG oj Birds, is defined by the honourable Daines
Barrington to be a fucceflion of three or more different
notes, which are continued without interruption, during
the fame interval, with a mufical bar of four crotchets
in an adagio movement, or whilft a pendulum fwings
four feconds.
It is affirmed, that the notes of birds are no more in¬
nate than language in man, and that they depend upon
imitation, as far as their organs will enable them to imi¬
tate the founds which they have frequent opportunities of
hearing : and their adhering fo fteadily, even in a wild
ftate, to the fame fong, is Owing to the neftlings attend¬
ing only to the inftruftion of the parent bird, whilft: they
difregard the notes of all others that may perhaps be
fin gin g round therm
Birds in a wild ftate do not commonly ftng above ia
weeks in the year, whereas birds that have plenty of
food in a cage ftng the greateft part of the year; and
we may add, that the female of no fpecies of birds ever
fings. This is a wife provifion of nature, becaufe her
fong would difeover her neft. In the fame manner, we
may raiionally account for her inferiority in plumage.
The faculty of finging is confined to the cock birds 3
and accordingly Mr Hunter, in diffefling birds of fe¬
veral fpecies, found the mufcles of the larynx to be
ftronger
Sonchiar,
Song.
SON [ 47
ftronger in the nightingale than in any other bird of
the fame fize j and in all thofe inftances, where he dil-
fefted both cock and hen, the fame mufcles were ftrong-
er in the cock. To the fame purpofe, it is an obferva-
tion as ancient as the time of Pliny, that a capon does
not crow. . , i • i •
Some have afcribed the Tinging of the cock-bird, in
the fpring folely to the motive of pleafing his mate during
incubation; others, who allow that it is partly for this
end, believe it is partly owing alfo to another caufe, viz.
the great abundance of plants and infects in the jpr'mg,
which, as well as feeds, are the proper food of Tinging
birds at that time of the year.
Mr Barrington remarks, that there is no initance or
any finging bird which exceeds our blackbird .in lize 5
and this, he fuppofes, may arife from the difficulty of
Its concealing itfelf, if it called the attention of its ene¬
mies, not only by its bulk, but by the proportionable
loudnefs of its notes. This writer farther ob:erves, that
Tome paflfages of the fong in a few kinds of birds corre-
fpond with the intervals of our mufical fcale, of which
the cuckoo is a ftriking and known inftance ; but
the greater part of their fong cannot be reduced to a
mufical fcale j partly, becaufe the rapidity is often fo
great, and it is alfo fo uncertain when they may flop,
that we cannot reduce the paffages to form a mulical
bar in any time whatfoever} partly alfo, becauie the
pitch of moft birds is confiderably higher than the
moft (Irrill notes of thofe inftruments which have the
greateft compafs } and principally, becaule the inter¬
vals ufed by birds are commonly fo minute,, that
we cannot judge of them from the more grois intei-
vals into which we divide our mufical octave. 1 his
writer apprehends, that all birds fing in the fame key 5
and in order to difeover this key, he informs us, that
the following notes have been oblerved in difterent birds,
A, B flat, C, D, F, and G ; and therefore E only is
wanting to complete the fcale : now thefe intervals, he
fays, can only be found in the key of F with a (harp
third, or that of G with a flat third ; and he fuppofes
it to be the latter, becaufe admitting that the firft mu¬
fical notes were learned from birds, thofe of the cuckoo,
which have been moft attended to, form a flat third,
I ] s o o
out a paufe, which is fometimes no lefs than 20 feconds j Song
and when refpiration becomes neceffary^it takes it with Soont']bur_
as much judgment as an opera-finger. The Iky-lark in dar<
this particular, as well as in compafs and variety, is only
fecond to the nightingale. The nightingale alfo Tings
(if the expreflion may be allowed) with fuperior judg¬
ment and tafte. Mr Barrington has obferved, that his
nightingale, which was a very capital bird, began foftly
like the ancient orators , referving its breath to Iwellc.er-
tirin notes, wflrich by thefe means had a mofi: aftonifiring
effedt. This writer adds, that the notes of birds, which
are annually imported from ATia, Africa, and America,
both fingly and in concert, are not to be compared to
thofe of European birds.
The following table, formed by Mr Barrington, a-
greeably to the idea of M. de Piles in eftimating the
merits of painters, is defigned to exhibit the compara¬
tive merit of the Britifli finging birds-, in which 20 is
fuppofed to be the point of abfolute perfe&ion.
Nightingale
Sky-lark
Wood-lark
Tit-lark
Linnet
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Greenfinch
Hedge-fparrow
Aberdavine or fifkin
Red-poll
Thrufh
Blackbird
Robin -
Wren
Reed fparrow
Black cap, or Norfolk
mock nightingale
*9
4
18
12
12
4
4
4
6
2
o
4
4
6
o
o
14
4
.12
16
I9
12
4
o
4
4
4
4
16
12
4
3 5
o E.
J9
4
!7
12
12
4
4
4
6
o
o
4
o
12
o
o
J9
18
12
12
16
12
8
4
4
4
4
4
2
12
4
2
12 l 12 14 14
J9
18
12
18
12
8
6
4
4
4
4
2
14
2
2
Philofophi-
cal Traiif-
aElions,
vol. Ixiii-
and moft of our compofitions are in a flat third, where
mufic is Ample, and confifts merely of melody. As a
farther evidence that birds fing always in the fame key,
it has been found by attending to a nightingale, as well
as a robin which was educated under him, that the notes
reducible to our intervals of the odtave were always pre-
cifely the fame.
Moft people, who have not attended to the notes
of birds, fuppofe, that every fpecies fing exadtly the
fame notes and paffages : but this is by no means true j
though it is admitted that there is a general refemblance.
Thus the London bird-catchers prefer the fong of the
Kentifh goldfinches, and Effex chaffinches and fome of
the nightingale fanciers prefer a Surry bird to thofe of
Middlefex.
Of all finging birds, the fong of the nightingale has
been mofl univerfally admired : and its fuperiority (de¬
duced from a caged bird) confifts in the f filowing parti¬
culars j its tone is much more mellow than that of any
other bird, though at the fame time, by a proper exer¬
tion of its mufical powers, it can be very brilliant. Ano¬
ther point of fuperiority is its continuance of fong wilh-
SONNA, a book of Mahometan traditions, which
the orthodox muffulmans are required to believe.
SONNERATIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs of icofandria, and to the order of monogijma. See
Botany Index.
SONNET, in Poetry, a compofition contained in 14
verfes, viz. two fbnzas or meafures of four veifes each,
and two of three, the Tuft eight verfes being all in three
rhimes.
SONNITES, among the Mahometans, an appella¬
tion given to the orthodox muffulmans or true believers j
in oppofttion to the feveral heretical fedts, particularly
the Shiites, or followers of Ali.
SOO.iU, or Soy. See Dolichos.
SOON TABURD AR, in the Eaft Indies 5 an at¬
tendant, who carries a filver bludgeon in his hand about
two or three feet long, and runs before the palanquin.
He is inferior to the chubdar; the propriety of an In¬
dian newaury requiring two foontakurdars for every
chubdar in the train. The chubdai proclaims the ap¬
proach of vifftors, He generally carries a large fil¬
ver
SOP r 47
vtr flaff about five feet long in his bands: and amona
t to ^ Ttf '3 VliSi «-«M ^ 1 t  * _ i i * •/* t •» • ^
]
SOP
£„, |h; Nabobs he proclaims their praifes aloud as he runs
—before their palanquins.
SOOT, a volatile matter arifing from wood and other
fuel along with the fmoke j or rather, it is the fmoke
itfelf condenfed and gathered to the Tides of the chim¬
ney. Though once volatile, however, foot cannot be
again refolved into vapour ; but, if diddled by a ftrono-
fi:e, yields a volatile alkali and empyreumatic oil, a con-
fiderable quantity of fixed matter remaining at the bot¬
tom of the diddling veffel. If burnt in an open fire, it
dames with a thick fmoke, whence other foot is produ-
ced. It is ufed as a material for making fal ammoniac,
and as a manure. See Ammonia, muriate of. Che-
MISTPvY Index.
SOQT-B/ack. See COLOUR-Making.
SOPH I, or Son, a title given to the emperor of
Perua, importing as much as wife, fage, or philofo-
phen
The title is by feme faid to have taken its rife from
a young fhepherd named So/*/ii, who attained to the
crown of Perfia in 1370; others derive it from the/u-
fnoi or fages anciently called magi. Vodius gives a dif¬
ferent account of the word : fophi in Arabic, he ob¬
serves, fignifies woo/; and he adds, that it was applied
by the Turks out of derifion to the kings of Perfia
ever fince Ifhmael’s time ; becaufe, according to their
fcheme of religion, he is to wear no other covering on
his head but an ordinary red woollen duff; whence the
Perfians are alfo called hexelbafchs, q. d. red-heads. But
■Bochart affures us, that fophi in the original Perfian
language, fignifies one that is pure in his religion, and
who prefers the fervice of God in all things : and de¬
rives it from an order of religious called by the fame
name. . The fophis value themfelves on their illuftrious
extraftion. They are defeended in a right line from
Houffein, fecond fon of Ali, Mahomet’s coufin, and Fa¬
tima, Mahomet’s daughter.
Sophis, or Sofees, a kind of order of religious among
the Mahometans in Perfia, anfwering to what are other-
wife called dervifes, and among the Arabs and Indians
faquirs. Some will have them called fophis from a kind
of coarfe camblet which they wear, called [01 f from the
city Souf in Syria, where it is principally manufa<ffured.
The more eminent of thofe fophis are complimented
with the title fc/nek, that is, reverend, much as in Ro-
midr countries the religious are called reverend fathers.
Schiek Sophi, who laid the foundation of the gran¬
deur of the royal houfe of Perfia, was the founder, or
rather the reftorer of this order : Ilhmael, who conquer¬
ed Perfia, was himfelf a fophi, and greatly valued him-
feif on his being fo. He chofe all the guards of his
perfon from among the religious of this order) and would
have all the great lords of his court fophis. The king
of Perfia is ftill grandmafter of the order ) and the lords
continue to enter into it, though it be now fallen under
fome contempt.
SOPHISM, in Logic, a fpecious argument having
the^appearance of truth, but leading to falfehood. So-
phiuns are reduced by Ariftotle into eight claffes, an ar¬
rangement fo juft and comprehenfive, that it is equally
proper in prefent as in former times. 1. Ignoratio elenchi,
in which the fophift feems to determine the queilion,
wniie he does it only in appearance. Thus the queftion,
Whether theexcefs of wine be hurtful ?” feems to be
1
determined by proving, that wine revives the fpirits and SopGi'm,
gives a man courage: but the principal point is heie kept Sophift.’
out or light) for ftill it may be hurtful to health, to for-
tune, and reputation. 2. Petitio prmcifii, a begging of
the queftion, or taking for granted that which remains
to oe proved, as it any one ftiould undertake to prove
tnat the loul is extended through all the parts of the
body, becaufe it refides in every member. This is af¬
firming the fame tiling in different words. Reafonine
m a circle j as when the Roman Catholics prove the
Scriptures to be the word of God by the authority of
the church, and the authoiity of the church from the
Scnptures. 4. Non caufa pro caufa, or the affigning of
a falfe caufe to any effed. Thus the fuppofed prin¬
ciple, that nature abhors a vacuum, was applied to ex¬
plain the riling of water in a pump before Galileo
difeovered that it was owing to the preffure of the
atmofphere. In this way the vulgar aferibe accidents
to divine vengeance, and the herefies and infidelity
or modern times are faid to be owing to learning.
5. Fallacia accidentis, in which the fophift reprefents
what is merely accidental as effential to the nature of
tlie fubjedft. This is nearly allied to the former, and is
committed by the Mahometans and Roman Catholics.
The Mahometans forbid wine, becaufe it is fometimes
the occafion of drunkentiefs and quarrels) and the Ro¬
man Catholics prohibit the reading of the Bible, be¬
caufe it has fometimes promoted herefies. 6. By dedu-
cing an univerfal affertion from what is true only” in par¬
ticular circumftances, and the reverfe: thus fome men
argue, “ tranferibers have committed many errors in
copying the Scriptures, therefore they are not to be de-
pended on ” 7. By afferting any thing in a compound
lenle which is only true in a divided fenfe; fo when the
Scnptures affure us, that the worft of tinners mav he
faved, it does not mean that they lhall be faved whrla
they remain finners, but that if they repent they may he
faved. 8. By an abufe of the ambiguity of words.
Thus Mr Flume reafons in his Effay on Miracles :
Experience is our only guide in reafoning concerning
matteis of fact ) now we know from experience, that
the - laws of nature are fixed and invariable. On the
other hand, teftimony is variable and often falfe ) there¬
fore fince our evidence for the reality of miracles refts
lolely on teftimony which is variable, and our evidence
for the uniformity of the laws of nature is invariable,
miracles are not to be believed.” The fophiftry of this
reafoning depends on the ambiguity of the word expe¬
rience, which in the firft propofition fignifies the ma*
xims which we form from our own obfervation and re-
fieflion ) in the fecond it is confounded with teftimo¬
ny ) for it is by the teftimony of others, as well as our
own obfervation, that we learn whether the laws of na¬
ture are variable or invariable. The Effay on Miracles
may be recommended to thofe who with to fee more ex¬
amples of fophiftry ) as we believe moft of the eight
fpecies of fophifms which we have mentioned are well
illuftrated by examples in that effay.
SOPHIST, an appellation affumed in the early pe¬
riods of Grecian hiftory by thofe who devoted their
time to the ftudy of fcience. This appellation appear¬
ing too arrogant to Pythagoras, he declined it, and
wiflied to be called a philofoplier ; declaring that, though
he could not confider himfelf as a wife man, he was in¬
cited a lover of wifdom. True wifdom and medefty are
generally
SOP r 473 j S O B.
Sopliift generally united. The example of Pythagoras was fol-
II lowed by every man of eminence j while the name fo~
Sophocles, pfaji was retained only by thofe who with a pomp of words
    ma(]e a magnificent difplay of wifdom upon a very flight
foundation of knowledge. Thofe men taught an arti¬
ficial ftrudlure of language, and a falfe method of rea-
foning, by which, in argument, the worfe might be made
to appear the better reafon (fee Sophism). In Athens
they were long held in high repute, and fupported, not
only by contributions from their pupils, but by a regular
falary from the ilate. They were among the bittereft
enemies of the illuflrious Socrates, becaufe he embraced
every opportunity of expofing to contempt and ridicule
their vain pretenfions to fuperior knowledge, and the
pernicious influence of their doctrines upon the tafte and
morals of the Athenian youth.
SOPHISTICATION, the mixing of any thing
with "what is not genuine j a pradtice too common in
the making up of medicines for fale ; as alfo among
vintners, diflillers, and others, who are accufed of fo-
phiflicating their wines, fpirits, oils, &c. by mixing
with them cheaper and coarfer materials ; and in many
cafes the cheat is carried on fo artfully as to deceive the
beft judges.
SOPHOCLES, the celebrated Greek tragic poet,
the fon of Sophilus an Athenian, was born at Co-
lonn, and educated with great attention. Superior vi¬
gour and addrefs in the exercifes of the paleftra, and
Ikill in mufic, were the great accomplilhments of young
men in the ftates of Greece. In thefe, Sophocles ex¬
celled *, nor was be lefs diftinguithed by the beauty of
his perfon. He was alfo inftrufted in the nobleft of all
fciences, civil polity and religion : from the firft of
thefe he derived an unthaken love of his country, which
he ferved in fome embaffies, and in high military com¬
mand with Pericles •, from the latter he was imprefled
with a pious reverence for the gods, manifeited by the
inviolable integrity of bis life. But his ftudies were
early devoted to the tragic mufe *, the fpirit of Efchy-
lus lent a fire to his genius, and excited that noble emu¬
lation which led him to contend with, and fometimes to
bear away the prize from, his great mafter. He wrote
43 tragedies, of which 7 only have efcaped the ravages
of time : and having teftified his love of his country by
refufing to leave it, though invited by many kings;
and having enjoyed the uninterrupted efleem and affec¬
tion of his fellow citizens, which neither the gallant ac¬
tions and fublime genius of Efchylus, nor the tender
fpirit and philofophic virtue of Euripides, could fecure
to them, he died in the 91ft year of his age, about 406
years before Chrift. The burial-place ot his anceftors
was at Decelia, which the Lacedemonians had at that
time feized and fortified ; but Lyfander, the Spartan
chief, permitted the Athenians to inter their deceafed
poet ; and they paid him all the honours due to his love
of his country, integrity of life, and high poetic excel¬
lence. Efchylus had at once feized the higheft poft of
honour in the field of poetry, the true fublime ; to that
eminence his claim could not be difputed. Sophocles
had a noble elevation of mind, but tempered with fo
fine a tafte, and fo chaftened a judgement, that he ne¬
ver pafied the bounds of propriety. Under his condiuft
the tragic mufe appeared with the chafte dignity of fome
noble matron at a religious folemnity j harmony is in
her voice, and grace in all her motions. From him the
Vol. XIX. Part II.
theatre received fome additional embellifhmeftts ^ and Sephocler
the drama the introduftion of a third fpeaker, wrhich Sort.us
made it more adlive and interefting : but his diltin- . ( ' 1
guiihed excellence is in the judicious difpofition of the
fable, and fo nice a connexion and dependence of the
parts on each other, that they all agree to make the
event not only probable, but even neceffary. This is pe¬
culiarly admirable in his “ Oedipus King of Thebes
and in this important point he is far fuperior to every
other dramatic writer.
The ingratitude of the children of Sophocles is well
known. They wiflied to become immediate matters of
their father’s poffeflions ; and therefore tired of his
long life, they accufed him before the Areopagus of
infanity. The only defence the poet made was to read
his tragedy of Oediptis at Colonos, which he had lately
finiftied ; and then he aiked his judges, whether the au¬
thor of fuch a performance could be taxed with infani¬
ty ! The father upon this was acquitted, and the child¬
ren returned home covered with (hame and confuficn.
The feven tragedies of Sophocles which ftill remain, to¬
gether with the Greek Scholia which accompany them,
have been tranflated into Latin by Jobnfon, and into
Englifh by Dr Franklin and Mr Potter.
SOPHORA, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs
of decandria, and to the order of monogynia ; and in
the natural fyftem arranged under the 3 2d order,
lionacece. See Botany Index.
SOPORIFIC, or Soporiferous, a medicine that
produces deep. Such are opium, laudanum, the feed
of poppies, &c. The word is formed from the Latin
fopor “ fleep.” The Greeks in place of it ufe the word
hypnotic.
SORBONNE, or Sorbon, the houfe or college of
the faculty of theology eftabliflied in the univerfity of
Paris. It was founded in 1252 by St Louis, or rather
by Robert de Sorbon his confeflbr and almoner, firft ca¬
non of Cambray, and afterwards of the church of Paris j
who gave his own name to it, which he himfelf took
from the village of Sorbon or Serbon, near Sens, where
he was born. The foundation was laid in 1250 ; Queen
Blanche, in the abfence of her hulband, furnilhing him
with a houfe which had formerly been the palace of
Julian the apoftate, of which fome remains are ftill
feen. Afterwards the king gave him all the houfes he
had in the fame place, in exchange for fome others.
The college has been fince magnificently rebuilt by the
cardinal de Richelieu. The defign of its inftiiution was
for the ufe of poor ftudents in divinity. There are
lodgings in it for 36 doftors, who are faid to be of the
fociety of the Sorbonne ; th.fe admitted into it without
being doftors, are faid to be of the hofpitality of the Sor¬
bonne. Six regent doftors formerly held leftures every
day for an hour and a half each ; three in the morning,
and three in the afternoon.
Sorbonne, is alfo ufed in general for the whole fa¬
culty of theology at Paris ; as the aflemblies of the
whole body are held in the houfe of the Sorbonne ;
and the bachelors of the other houfes of the faculty,
as the houfe of Navarre, &c. come hither to hold their
forhonnique, or aft for being admitted doftor in divinity.
SORBUS, Service-tree, a genus of plants belong¬
ing to the clafs of icofandria, and to the order of tri-
gynia. See Botany /«//<?#-—The aucuparia, mountain-
alh, quicken-tree, quick-beam, or roan-tree, rifes with
3 O a
/
Sorbu«,
Sorcery.
S O R
a rtraight upright ftem and regular branching head,
twenty or thirty feet high or more, covered with a
fmooth grayilh brown bark j pinnated leaves of eight or
ten pair of long, narrow, lerrated folioles, and an odd
one, fmooth on both fides; and large umbellate clufters
ol white flowers at the fides and ends of the branches,
fucceeded by clufters of fine red berries, ripe in autumn
and winter. There is a variety with yellow ftriped
leaves. This fpecies grows wild in many parts of this
ifland in mountainous places, woods, and hedge-rows,
often growing to the fize of timber ; and is admitted in¬
to moft ornamental plantations, for the beauty of its
growth, foliage, flowers, and fruit 5 the latter, in parti¬
cular, being produced in numerous red large bunches all
oyer the tree, exhibit a fine appearance in autumn and
winter, till devoured by the birds, efpecially the black¬
bird and thrufh, which are fo allured by this fruit as to
flock from all parts and feed on it voracioully.—In the
ifland of Jura the juice of the berries is employed as an
acid for punch. It is probable that this tree was in high
efteem with the Druids j for it is more abundant than
any other tree in the neighbourhood of thofe Druidical
circles of ftones, fo common in North Britain. It is ftill
believed by fome perfons, that a branch of this tree can
defend them from enchantment or witchcraft. Even
the cattle are fuppofed to be preferved by it from dan¬
ger. The dairy-maid drives them to the fummer paf-
tures with a rod of the roan-tree, and drives them home
again with the fame. In Strathfpey, we are told, a
hoop is made of the wood of this tree on the ift of
May, and all the ftieep and lambs are made to pafs
through it.
The domejlica, or cultivated fervice-tree, with eat¬
able fruit, grows with an upright ftem, branching 30
or 40 feet high or more, having a brownifti bark, and
the young (hoots in fummer covered with a mealy down 5
pinnated leaves of eight or ten pair of broadilh deeply
ferrated lob^s and an odd one, downy underneath ; and
large umbellate clufters of white flowers at the fides and
ends of the branches, fucceeded by bunches of large,
flefliy, edible red fruit, of various ftiapes and fizes.
.this tree is a native of the fouthern warm parts of
Europe, where its fruit is ufed at table as a defert, and
it is cultivated here in many of our gardens, both as a
fruit-tree and as an ornament to diverfify hardy planta¬
tions.
SORCERY, or Magic •, the power which fome per¬
fons were formerly fuppofed to poflefs of commanding
the devil and the infernal fpirits by (kill in charms and
invocations, and of loothing them by fumigations. Sor¬
cery is therefore to be diftinguiftied from witchcraft 5
an art which was fuppofed to be praftifed, not by com¬
manding evil fpirits, but by compaft with the devil.
As an inftance of the power of bad fmells over demons
or evil fpirits, we may mention the flight of the evil
fpirit mentioned in Tobit into the remote parts of Egypt,
produced, it is faid, by the (mell of the burnt liver of a
filh. Lilly informs us, that one Evans having raifed a
fpirit at the requeft of Lord Bothwell and Sir Kenelm
Digby, and forgetting a fumigation, the fpirit, vexed
at the difappointment, pulled him without the circle,
and carried him from his houfe in the Minories into a
field near Batterfea Caufeway.
King James, in his Dcemonologia^ has given a very
full account of the art of forcery, “ Two principal
S O R
things (fays he) cannot well in that errand be wanted : Sorcery,
holy water (whereby the devill mockes the papifts), and 'v—-
fome prefent of a living thing unto him. There are
likewife certaine dates and houres that they oblerve in
thL purpofe. Thefe things being all ready and pre¬
pared, circles are made, triangular, quadrangular, round,
double, or Angle, according to the forme of the appari¬
tion they crave. When the conjured fpirit appeares,
which will not be while after many circumflances, long
prayers, and much muttering and murmurings of the
conjurors, like a papift prieft difpatching a hunting
mafle—how loone, I fay, he appeares, if they have
mifled one jote of all their rites •, or if any of their feete
once flyd over the circle, through terror of his fearfull
apparition, he paies himfelf at that time, in his owne
hand, of that due debt which they ought him, and other-
wife would have delaied longer to have paied him : I
mean, he carries them with him, body and foule.” How
the conjurors made triangular or quadrangular circles,
his majefty has not informed us, nor does he feem to
imagine there was any difficulty in the matter. We are
therefore led to fuppofe, that he learned his mathematics
from the fame fyftem as Dr Sacheverell, who, in one of
his fpeeches or fermons, made ufe of the following fimile :
“ They concur like parallel lines, meeting in one com¬
mon centre.”
Another mode of confulting fpirits was by the beryl,
by means of a fpeculator or feer; who, to have a com¬
plete fight, ought to be a pure virgin, a youth who had
not known woman, or at leaft a perfon of irreproach¬
able life and purity of manners. The method of fuch
confultation is this : The conjuror having repeated the
neceffary charms and adjurations, with the litany or in¬
vocation peculiar to the fpirits or angels he willies to
call (for every one has his particular form), the feer
looks into a cryftal or beryl, wherein he will fee the
anfwer, reprefented either by types or figures j and
fometimes, though very rarely, will hear the angels or
fpirits fpeak articulately. Their pronunciation is, as
Lilly fays, like the Irilh, much in the throat. Lilly
deferibes one of thefe beryls or cryftals. It was, he
fays, as large as an orange, let in filver, with a crofs at
the top, and round about engraved the names of the
angels Raphael, Gabriel, and Uriel. A delineation of
another is engraved in the frontifpiece to Aubery’s
Mifcellanies.
Thefe forcerers or magicians do not always employ
their art to do mifehief j but, on the contrary, frequent¬
ly exert it to cure difeafes inflifted by witches ; to dif-
cover thieves •, recover ftolen goods ; to foretel future
events, and the (fate of abfent friends. On this account
they are frequently called white witches. See Magic,
Witchcraft, &c.
Our forefathers were firong believers when they en¬
abled, by ftatute 33 Hen. VIII. c. 8. all witchcraft and
forcery to be felony without benefit of clergy ; and
again, by ftatute 1 Jac. I. c. 12. that all perfons invok¬
ing any evil fpirit, or confulting, covenanting with, en¬
tertaining, employing, feeding, or rewarding any evil
fpirit; or taking up dead bodies from their graves to
be ufed in any witchcraft, forcery, charm, or inchant-,
ment 5 or killing or othervvife hurting any perfon by
fuch infernal arts •, (hould be guilty of felony without,
benefit of clergy, and fuller death. And if any perfon
ftiould attempt by forcery to difeover hidden treafure,
or
[ 47+ 1
SOR
Sorcery or to reftore ftolcn goods, or to provoke unlawful lo^e,
II or to hurt any man or beaft, though the fame w^ere not
SorreL gffg^ed, he or flie Ihould fulfer imprifonment and pil-
"~~v lory for the firft olfence, and death for the fecond.
Thefe a£ts continued in force till lately, to the terror
of all ancient females in the kingdom 5 and many poor
wretches were facrificed thereby to the prejudice of their
neighbours and their own illufions, not a few having
by ibme means or other confeffed the faft at the gal¬
lows. But all executions for this dubious crime are now
at an end ; our legiflature having at length followed the
wife example of Bouis XIV. in France, who thought
proper by an edi£t to reftrain the tribunals of jutcice
from receiving informations of witchcraft. And accord¬
ingly it is with us ena&ed, by ftatute 9 Geo. II. c. 5.
that no profecution (hall for the future be carried on
Remind any perfon for conjuration, witchcraft, forcery,
or inchantment : But the mifdemeanor of perfons pre¬
tending to ufe witchcraft, tell fortunes, or difeover ftolen
goods, by (kill in the occult fciences, is dill defervedly
punilhed with a year’s imprifonment, and Handing four
times in the pillory.
SOREX, the Shrew, a genus of animals belonging
to the clafs of mammalia, and order offeree. See Mam¬
malia Index.
SORITES, in Logic, a fpecies of reafoning in which
a great number of propofitions are fo linked together,
that the predicate of the one becomes continually the
fubjedl of the next following, till at laft a conclufion is
formed by bringing together the fubjedl of the firft pro-
pofition and the predicate of the laft. Such was that
merry argument of Themiftocles, to prove that his little
fon under ten years old governed the whole world.
Thus : My fon governs his mother; his mother me; I
the Athenians ; the Athenians the Greeks ; Greece com¬
mands Europe ; Europe the whole world: therefore my
fon commands the whole world. See Logic, N° 96, 97.
SORNING, in Scots Law. See Law, N° clxxxvi.
3°.
SORREL, in Botany, a fpecies of the RUMEX, which
grows in paftures and meadorvs, and is well known. The
natives of Lapland boil large quantities of the leaves in
water, and mix the. juice when cold with the milk of
their rein-deer, which they efteem an agreeable and
wholefome food. The Dutch are faid to cultivate this
plant for its ufefulnefs in the dyeing of woollen cloths
black •, and w'e know that by means of the common
broad-leaved forrel an excellent black colour is, in many
places of Scotland, given to woollen ftufts without the
aid of copperas. As this mode of dyeing does not in
the fin all eft degree injure the texture of the cloth, which
continues to the laft loft and filky, without that hard-
nefs to the touch which it acquires when dyed black by
means of copoeras, our readers will probably thank us
for the following receipt, with which we have been fa¬
voured by a learned phyfician :
Let the Huff to be dyed be well waftied with foap
and water, and afterwards completely dried. Then of
the common broad-leaved forrel boil as much as {hall
make an acid decoclion of fufficient quantity to let the
fluff to be dyed lie in it open and eafy to be flirred. The
greater quantity of farrel that is ufed, the better wall
the colour be ; and therefore if the pot or cauldron will
not hold enough at once, when part has been fufficiently
boiled, it muft be taken out and wrung, and a frelh
s o R
quantity be boiled in the fame juice or deco&ion. When Sorrel
the liquor is made fufficiently acid, ftrain it from the e
forrel through a fieve, put the cloth or yarn into it, and
let it boil for two hours, ftirring it frequently. If ftock-
ings be among the fluff to be dyed, it will be expe¬
dient, after they have been an hour in the boiling li¬
quor, to turn them infide out, and at the end of the
fecond hour let the whole be poured into a tub or any
other veffel. The pot or cauldron muft then be walhed,.
and water put into it, with half a pound of logwood
chips for every pound of dry yarn or cloth. The log¬
wood and wrater Ihould boil {lowly for four hours; and
then the cloth or yarn being wrung from the four liquor,
and put into the logwood decodlion, the whole muft be
fuffered to boil (lowly for four hours, (lockings, if there
be any, being turned infide out at the end of two hours.
Of this laft decotdion there muft, as of the former, be
enough to let the cloth lie open and eafy to be (lirred
while boiling. At the end of the four hours the cloth
muft be taken out, and among the boiling liquor, firft
removed from the fire, muft be poured a Scotch pint or
half an Engliffi gallon of dale urine for every pound of
dry cloth or other (luff to be dyed. When this com¬
pound liquor has been ftirred and become cold, the cloth
muft be put into it and ifuffered to remain well covered
for 12 hours, and then dried in the fhade *, after wffiich,
to dived it of fmell or any other impurity, it may be
waftied in cold water, and dried for ufe.
Wood-So RE EL. See Oxalis, Botany Index.
SORREL-Colour, in the manege, is a reddiffi colour,
generally thought to be a fign of a good horfe.
SORRENTO, a fea-port town of the kingdom of
Naples, with an archbifhop’s fee. It is feated in a pe-
ninfula, on the bay of Naples, at the foot of a moun¬
tain of the fame name, 17 miles fouth-eaft of Naples.
It is the birth-place of Torquato Taffo. E. Long. 14*
24. N. Lat. 40. 36.
SORTILEGE, (Sortilegium) a fpecies of divination
performed by means oifortes or lots.
The fortes Prenefinr, famous in antiquity, confided
in putting a number of letters, or even whole words,
into an urn and then, after (baking them together,
they were thrown on the ground } and whatever fen-
tences could be made out from them, conililuted the an-
fwer of the oracle. To this method of divination firc-
ceeded that which has been called the fortes Homeriance
and fortes Virgiliance, a mode of inquiring into futurity,
■which undoubtedly took its rife from a general cuftom
of the oracular priefts of delivering their anfvvers in verfe j
it fubfifted a long time among the Greeks and Romans j
and being from them adopted by the Chriftians, it was
not till after a long fucceffion of centuries that it became
exploded. Among the Romans it confided in opening
(ome celebrated poet at random, and among the Chrif¬
tians the Scriptures, and drawing, from the firft paffage
which prefented itfelf to the eye, a prognoftic ot what
would befal one’s lelf or others, or direflion for conduct
when under any exigency. There is good evidence that
this was none of the vulgar errors •, the greateft perfons,
philofophers of the bell repute, admitted this fuperfti-
tion. Socrates, when in prifon, hearing this line of
Homer,
Within three days I Phthia’s fhore (hall fee,
immediately faid, within three days I (hall be out of the
3 O 2 world }
[ 475 1
S O R
Sorfitege. V’Orld 3 gathering it from the double meaning of the
word Phthia, which in Greek is both the name of a
country and fignifies corruption or death. This predic¬
tion, addrefled to iEfchines, was not eafily forgotten, as
i-t was verified.
When this fuperftition pafied from Paganifm into
Chriftianity, the Chriftians had two methods of confult-
ing the divine will from the Scriptures 5 the one, cafual-
3y, to open the divine writings, and take their direction,
as above mentioned j the other, to go to church with a
purpofe of receiving, as a declaration of the will of hea¬
ven, the words of the Scripture, which were finging at
the inftant of one’s entrance.
This unwarrantable practice of inquiring into futurity
prevailed very generally in England till the beginning
of the 18 th century j and fometimes the books of
Scripture, and fometimes the poems of Virgil, were con-
fulted for oracular refponfes. One remarkable inllance
is that of King Charles I. who being at Oxford during
the civil wars, went one day to fee the public library,
where he was Ihown, among other books, a Virgil no¬
bly printed and exquifitely bound. The lord Falkland,
to divert the king, would have his majefty make a trial
of his fortune by the Series Virgiliance. Whereupon
the king opening the book, the paffage which happened
to come up was this :
At, hello aadacls populi vexatus et armis,
Finibus extorris, complexu avu/fus lull,
Auxilium imploret ; videatque indigna fuorum
Funera : nec, cum fe fub leges pads iniquce
Tradiderat, regno aut optata luce fruatur ;
Sed cadat ante diem^ mediaque inhumatus arena.
iEneid, lib. iv.
Vet let a race, untamed and haughty foes,
His peaceful entrance with dire arms oppofe|
Oppreffed with numbers in the unequal field,
His men difcouraged, and himfelf expelled,
Let him for fuccour fue from place to place,
Torn from his fubje&s, and his fon’s embrace :
Firlt let him fee his friends in battle flain,
And their untimely fate lament in vain ;
And when at length the cruel war (hall ceafe,
On hard conditions may he buy his peace.
Nor let him then enjoy fupreme command,'
But fall untimely by fome hoftile hand,
And lie unburied on the barren fand.
[ 476 ]
sou
j
* JEneic?.
lib. gi.
Lord Falkland obferving that the king was concern¬
ed at this accident, would likewife try his own fortune
in the fame manner, hoping he might fall upon fome
paffage that would have no relation to his cafe, and
thereby divert the king’s thoughts from any impreffion
which the other might have upon him j but the place
he (tumbled upon was as much fuited to his deftiny as
the other had been to the king’s j being the lamenta¬
tion of Evander for the untimely death of his fon Pal¬
las * : for this lord’s eldelt fon, a young man of an
amiable charafter, had been (lain in the firft battle of
Newbury.
We have ourfelves known feveral whofe devotion has
not always been regulated by judgement puriue this me¬
thod of divination ; and have generally obferved, that
the confequence has been defpair or prefumption. To
ibch we beg leave to recommend one paffage in Scrip¬
ture which will never difappoint them : Thou /halt not
tempt the Lord thy God.
SOtERIA, in antiquity, facrifices offered to the
gods for delivering a perfon from danger j as alfo poeti¬
cal pieces compofed for the fame purpofe.
SOUBISE, a town of France, in the department of
Lower Charente, and late territory of Saintonge. It is
feated on the river Charente, 22 miles fouth of Rochelle,
in W. Long. 1. 2. N. Lat. 45. 57.
SOUDAN, a kingdom oi Africa, (ituated between
ii° and 16° N. Lat. and 26° and 30° E. Long. See
Dar Fur.
SOUGH, among miners, denotes a paffage dug un¬
der ground, to convey off waters from mines. See
Mine.
SOVEREIGN, in matters of government, is applied
to the fupreme magiftrate or magiftrates of an indepen¬
dent government or (late; becaufe their authority is on¬
ly bounded by the laws of God and the laws of the
(late : fuch are kings, princes, &c. See Preroga¬
tive, &c.
SOVEREIGN Power, or Sovereignty, is the power of
making laws; for wherever that power refides, all others
muff conform to it, and be direfted by it, whatever ap¬
pearance the outward form and adminiftration of the go¬
vernment may put on. For it is at any time in the op-
tion of the legiflature to alter that form and adminiftra¬
tion by a new edi6! or rule, and to put the execution of
the laws into whatever hands it pleafes : and all the
other powers of the (late muft obey the legiflative power
in the execution of their feveral fun&ions, or elfe the
conftitution is at an end. In our conftitution the law
afcribes to the king the attribute of fovereignty : but
that is to be underftood in a qualified fenfe, i. e. as fu¬
preme magifl rate, not as foie legiflator; as the legifta-
tive power is veiled in the king, lords, and commons,
not in any of the three eftates alone.
SOU. See Sol.
SOUFFRIERE, a fmall town, (ituated at the bot¬
tom of a bay, near the leeward extremity of the ifland
of St Lucia. Of itfelf it is not entitled to much notice,
but the adjacent ground is very remarkable. The de¬
clivities of the furrounding hills are cultivated, and af¬
ford fugar-cane of a good quality.
The extremity of the fouth fide of Souffriere bay runs
into two deep hills of a conical (hape, and nearly per¬
pendicular, reckoned the higheft on the ifland, and
known by the appellation of the Sugar-Loaf Hills. It
is impoflible to afcend them j for although it was once
attempted by two negroes, it is faid that they never re¬
turned. Palling the hills to the windward of Souffriere,
a fine level country prefents itfelf, extending from 15
to 20 miles from the back of the Sugar -Loaf Hills along
the fea coaft, being wholly cultivated, and divided into
rich eftates. It is interfered by numerous rivers of very
clear water, which, by art, are made fubfervient to the
purpofe of fugar-making. The rains here are lefs fre¬
quent than on any other part of the ifland, and the wind
blows from the fea, or nearly fo.
There is a volcano in the vicinity of this town. Af¬
ter pafling one or two fmall hills, the fmell of fulphur is
fenfibly felt before any veftige of the place is perceived.
The firft thing difcerned is a rivulet of black running
wa.er, fending forth ftreams nearly in a (late of ebulli¬
tion, from which the volcano foon comes into view, fi-
tuated
Soteria
II.
Souffi iere.
sou
[ 477 1
SOU
Souffnere tuated in a hollow, and furrounded by hills on every
I! fide. There are many pits m the hollow, oi a bla.ck
^ Sounding- ^ th;ck boiling matter, which appears to work with
great force. Lava is ejefted by flow degrees, and there
is a large mafs of it in the centre of the hollow, forming
a fort of hill. The lava is faid to be. a fulphur mixed
with calcareous earth and fome fahne body. Small
quantities ef alum have been found in a perfeft. hate $
and there is a rivulet of good water in the opening, at
the north fide of the hollow. When the bottom ol it is
llirred, the water is very hot, fo much fo as not to be
touched. The liquid running from the pits is ftrongly
impregnated with fulphur, and very much refembles
the preparation fold in the {hops, called aqua fulphu-
rata.
SOUL, the principle of perception, memory, intel¬
ligence, and volition, in man } which, fince the earlieft
era of philofophy, has furniflied queftions of difficult in-
veftigation, and materials of keen and important contro-
verfy (fee Metaphysics, Part III. chap. ii. hi. iv. v. ;
and Resurrection, N° 42—48.). In the 4th volume
of the Memoirs of the Literary and Philofophical So¬
ciety of Manchefter, the reader will find a very valuable
paper by Dr Ferriar, proving, by evidence apparently
complete, that every part of the brain has been injured
without affecting the aft of thought. An abridgement
of that memoir would weaken its reafoning •, which,
built on matters of hA and experience, appears to us to
have (haken the modern theory of the Materialifts from
its very foundation.
Soul of Brutes. See Brutes.
SOUND, in Physics, a term which expreffes a Am¬
ple idea j it is that primary information which we.ob¬
tain of external things by means of the fenfe of hearing.
See Acoustics.
Sound, in Geography, denotes in general any ftrait
or inlet of the fea between two headlands. It is given
by way of eminence to the ftrait between Sweden and
Denmark, joining the German ocean to the Baltic, be¬
ing about three miles over. See Denmark, N° 32.
and Elsinore.
SOUND-Board, the principal part of an organ, and
that which makes the whole machine play. It is a re-
fervoir into which the wind, drawn in by the bellows, is
conducted by a port-vent, and thence diftributed into
the pipes placed over the holes of its upper part. The
wind enters them by valves, which open by preffing on
the keys, after the regifters are drawn, by which, the
air is prevented from going into any of the other pipes,
befides thofe in which it is required.
SOUND-Board alfo denotes a thin broad board placed
over the head of a public fpeaker, to enlarge or extend
and ftrengthen his voice.
Sound-boards are found by experience to be of no ufe
in theatres, as their diftance from the fpeaker is too
great to be impreffed with fufficient force. But found-
boards over a pulpit have frequently a good effefl, when
the cafe is conftrufted of a proper thicknefs, and accord¬
ing to particular principles.
SOUND-Pqf, is a poll placed in the infide of a violin,
&c. as a prop between the back and belly of the inftru-
ment, and nearly under the bridge.
SOUNDING, the operation of trying the depth of
the fea, and the nature of the bottom, by means of a
plummet funk from a fhip to the bottom.
There are two plummets ufed for this purpofe in na- Sounding,
vigation } one of which is called the hand-lead, weigh- »'
ing about 8 or 9 pounds j and the other the deepfea-
lead, Avhich weighs from 25 to 30 pounds •, and both
are fhaped like the fruflum of a cone or pyramid. The
former is ufed in (hallow waters, and the latter at a
great diftance from the ffiore 5 particularly on approach¬
ing the land after a fea-voyage. Accordingly the lines
employed for this purpofe are called the deep-fea lead¬
line, and the hand lead-line.
The hand lead-line, which is ufually 20 fathoms in
length, is marked at every two or three fathoms j fo
that the depth of the water may be afcertamed either in
the day or night. At the depth of tw7o and three fa¬
thoms, there are marks of black leather j at 5 fathoms,
there is a white rag j at 7, a red rag ; at 10, blacK
leather j at 13, black leather j at I5> a white rag j anti
at 17, a red ditto.
Sounding with the hand lead, which is called heaving
the lead by feamen, is generally performed by a man who
Hands in the main-chains to windward. Having the
line quite ready to run out without interruption, he holds
it nearly at the diftance of a fathom from the piummet j
and having fw’ung the latter backwards and forw7ards
three or four times, in order to acquire the greater ve¬
locity, he fwings it round his head, and thence as.far
forward as is neceffary j fo that, by the lead s finking
whilft the fhip advances, the line may be almoft perpen¬
dicular when it reaches the bottom, dhe perfon found¬
ing then proclaims the depth of the water in a kind oi:
fong refembling the cries of hawkers in a city. Ihus
if the mark of five fathoms is clofe to the furface of the
water, he calls, ‘ By the mark five I15 and as there is no
mark at four, fix, eight, &c.he eftimates thofe numbers,
and calls, ‘ By the dip four,’ &c. If he judges it to be
a quarter or an half more than any particular number,
he calls, ‘ And a quarter five! and a half four,’ &c. If
he conceives the depth to be three quarters more than a
particular number, he calls it a quarter lefs than the next,
thus, at four fathoms and three fourths he calls ‘ A quar¬
ter lefs five!’ and fo on.
The deep fea lead is marked with tw7o knots at 20
fathoms, three at 30, four at 40, and .fo on to the end.
It is alfo marked with a fingle knot in the middle of
each interval, as at 25, 35? 45 fathoms, &c. loufe
this lead more effedlually at fea, or in deep water on the
fea coaft, it is ufual previoufly to bring to the ffiip, in or¬
der to retard her courfe : the lead is then thrown as far
as poffible from the (hip on the line of her orift, fo that,
as it finks, the (hip drives more perpendicularly over .it.
The pilot, feeling the lead ftrike the bottom, readily
difcovers the depth of the water by the mark on the line
neareft its furface. The bottom of the lead being alio
well rubbed over with tallow, retains the diftinguiihing
marks of the bottom, as (hells, ooze, gravel, &c. which
naturally adhere to it.
The depth of the water, and the nature of the ground,
which is called the foundings, are carefully marked in the
log-book, as w7ell to determine the diftance of the place
from the (bore, as to correcl the obfervations of former
pilots.
A machine for the fame purpofe has been invented
by Mr Maffey, of which the following defcription is
given: . r n
“ The importance of obtaining true foundings at (ea mult
b5:
Sounding.
Plate
SOU [478
admitted by every feaman 5 and it is rather lingular,
that no other method than the common lead has hither¬
to been brought into ufe j as its imperfections are very
generally acknowledged.
“ Many veffels have been loft, by depending upon the
foundings taken in the ufual way. The difficulty of ob¬
taining the true perpendicular, and the uncertainty as to
the exaft moment when the lead ftrikes the bottom, up¬
on which the accuracy of the refult depends, mult al¬
ways prevent the poffibility of obtaining the true depth,
vvhile the (hip has any coniiderable way upon her. In¬
deed, it has been acknowledged by experienced feamen,
during fome experiments, made at various times, in the
river Merfey, that they could not depend upon the com¬
mon lead, when going five or fix knots in'the hour, in
ten or twelve fathoms of water. When the depth is
confiderable, the veffel muft be hove to, which is an ope¬
ration attended rvith great lois of time, and fometimes
confiderable injury to the fails; and during a chafe, this
inconvenience muft be particularly felt.
“ '-True foundings may be taken with this machine in
thirty fathoms water, -without the trouble of heaving the
veffel to, although ffie may be going at the rate of fix
miles in the hour. True foundings may alfo thus be
obtained in very deep water, where it is not poffible to
take them by the common lead.
ccccxcvn. “ Fig- rePrefents the founding machine, o is the
Fig. 'x. ’ funding weight, containing a regifter, 1, 2, with two
dials : the hand of the dial 1 makes one revolution when
the weight has defcended twenty fathoms, the other re¬
volves once when the defcent amounts to five hundred
fathoms. A rotator, fimilar to that attached to the
log, communicates with the wheel work of the dials
1, 2, by means of the rod r, on which there are three
univerfal joints, 3, 4, and 5. This rod is fupported du¬
ring the defcent of the iveight, by the drop, d, at the
end of which is a fork, 6, and a fri&ion wheel, 7.
“ When the machine is to be ufed, a founding line is
faftened to the ring, e ; and one of the vanes of the ro¬
tator is flipped into the fpring 8 : the rotator will then
be in the pofition indicated by the dotted lines, x. The
indices muft be fet at o, and the cover or lid, be (but.
The machine muft then be proje&ed perpendicularly
into the fea. As foon as it reaches the furface, the re-
fiftance of the water forces the dotted rotator, tf, out of
the fpring 8, and it affumes its perpendicular dire&ion
as reprefented by the rotator b. As the machine de-
fcends, it is evident the rotator will revolve, and its mo¬
tion be communicated freely paft the fri£lion wheel 7,
and the univerfal joint 5, to the wheel work of the dials
1, 2, and thus indicate the fpace paffed through in fa¬
thoms. When the machine has arrived at the bottom,
the rotator, as it is no longer buoyed up by the reaftion
of the water, will fall to the bottom, quitting the fork
of the drop d, which will alfo fall froln its horizontal
pofition, and in its defcent, by means of the locking rod
9, prevent the rotator from revolving as the machine is
drawn up. When at the bottom, the rotator will be in
the pofition of the dotted lines y.
“ This machine, fimple in its conftru&ion, and fcarcely
more liable to accident than the common lead, afcer-
tains, with the utmoft precifion, the perpendicular depth,
by the mere a£t of defcent through the water. No mif-
take can arife from that common fource of errour, the
drift or lee-way of the ftiip during the time of defcent j
4
1
o u
nor does an operation of fuch importance depend upon Sounding,
tiie unceitain fenfation cauied by the lead ftriking the''
bottom, on which the accuracy of the common log al¬
together depends, and which, it is well known, frequent-
lv and materially miueads the beft feaman : for though
a thoufand fathoms of line were paid out, in the fmalleft
depth of water, no inaccuracy could ariie, as the perpen¬
dicular depth, at the point of heaving, would be regi-
(lexed on the index. Ihe only inconvenience experi¬
enced would be the additional labour neceffary for haul¬
ing in the excefs of line. Fhe moft inexperienced per-
fon may u!e this machine, without rifle of error, in the
moft turbulent fea, and during the night.
I he adv antages already enumerated would render the
founding machine of great importance y but there are
other properties of ftill more confequence.
“ To heave a ftdp to, in order to obtain foundings, on a
lee (here, in ftormy weather, is a very difagreeable ope¬
ration,^ attended with much trouble, and lofs of way ■
alfo with confiderable danger to the fhip’s fails 5 indeed,
it would often, under fuch circumftances, be attended
with great hazard to the fafely of the (hip. To avoid
thefe unpleafant confequences, the matter fometimes
adopts a meafure, which he conceives to be the lefs ex¬
ceptionable alternative, by running on without founding
1 o prove how much inconvenience and danqer are
avoided by Maffey’s lead, it is enough to ftate, that
foundings may be taken in depth from 60 to 80 fathoms,
while the (hip is under way, at the rate of three miles
an hour ; and as the rate of failing may be ftill materi¬
ally reduced, without entirely flopping the veffel, or al¬
tering her courfe, fo may foundings be had, to any depth
required, while (lie is under way.
“ In order more clearly to (how the fuperiority of this
machine, and make it apparent, that the quantity of
ftray-line veered out dees not at all affeft the truth of the
refult : fuppofe the common lead thrown from themizen
chains of the (hip, which may be reprefented by the
point a of the triangle a b c, (fig. 2.), and that the ftiip f,V. -
has moved forwards through the fpace equal to the line ^
be, while the lead has defcended through the line ac 5
it is evident, that it is impoffible, in this cafe, to afeer-
tain the exaft depth, as a quantity of line, equal to a b,
would be paid out, whereas the true depth is equal only
to the line a c, which is much lefs. But the cafe is very
different when the patent founding machine is ufed, as
the operation ceafes when it has reached the bottom j
nor is the ftray-line, ab, whatever its length, at all taken
into the account.
“ ft has been extremely difficult, and fometimes im¬
poffible, to obtain foundings in very deep water with the
common lead, which may perhaps be thus accounted for.
The common line which is ufed for founding, though, if
left to itfelf, it would fink in water, yet its defcent would
be much (lower than that of the lead, feparately ; it
confequently follows, that the lead muft be fo much im¬
peded by carrying the line with it, that when it does
reach the bottom, there will be (carcely any fenfible
check to enable the feaman to know the prccife mo¬
ment. Indeed, if he can afeertain even this to a cer¬
tainty, he dill cannot depend upon the truth of his
foundings; for if there be the leaft drift or current, the
line itfelf will affume a curve, fimilar to that of the line
of a kite in th? air. Thefe two caufes will always ope¬
rate
sou
[ 479 ]
SOU
Sounding, rate againd the perfe£tion of the common mode of
, SouP- founding.
« After fo fully defcribing the principle of the patent
founding machine, it is fcarcely neceffary to prove, that
is liable to neither of the foregoing objections *, and it
may be fufficient to fay, that, as it will certainly find its
way to the bottom, if a fufficient portion of ftray-line be
allowed to guard againft its being checked in its pro-
grefs, and the certainty of its having reached the bot¬
tom may be afcertained by the arming, there can be no
doubt of the practicability of its obtaining foundings, in
any depth, and no reafonable doubt of their correftnefs
when obtained.
“ From the conftruCtion of this machine, it might be
imagined, that the rotator would impede its motion
through the water, and that it could not defcend lo ra¬
pidly as the common lead j but during repeated trials,
in thirteen fathoms water, in which the rotator was fre¬
quently detached, and the lead fuffered to defcend alone,
there was no difference perceptible in the time of their
defcent, though an excellent quarter fecond flop watch
was ufed during the experiment, to deleft any change.
The following table ffiows how very uniformly the times
of defcent correfponded with the depths in fathoms, du¬
ring a feries of trials made on the river Merfey, with the
patent lead, weighing 14 pounds.
“ The manner of conducing thefe experiments was fuch
as is deferving of perfeft reliance. Two pilots, of well-
known ability and experience, were employed : one threw
the lead, and the other, the moment he found, by the
ilackening of the rope, that the weight had arrived at
the bottom, cried ‘ flop,’ to a third perfon who held the
watch.
Time of defcent.
2 feconds
2j. 
3
5
6
6
7
Fathoms.
2t
3
4
8
8-
10
10
i^-
Time of defcent. Fathoms.
74 feconds ll-J
7i
7t
7i
71
8
84
1H
12
J3
IO
* N:W O',
your ml,
xxi. 250.
“ Taken when under fail, at upwards of five knots in
the hour.
“ Several captains and mafiers in the navy have made
trial of the log and founding machine, and given very
favourable reports of their performance ; and it has been
adopted by order of the Navy Board in the Britilh
navy
SOUP, a flrong deception of fleffi or other fub-
llances.
Portable or dry foup is a kind of cake formed by
boiling the gelatinous parts of animal fubftan'ces till the
watery parts are evaporated. This fpecies of foup is
chiefly ufed at fea, and has been found of great advan¬
tage. The following receipt will (how how it is pre¬
pared.
Of calves feet take 4 •, leg of beef 1 2 lbs.; knuckle
of veal 3 lbs-, and leg of mutton 10 lbs. Thefe are
to be boiled in a fufficient quantity of water, and the
feum taken off as ufual •, after which the foup is to be
feparated from the meat by {training and preffure. The
meat is then to be boiled a fecond time in other water j
and the two deceptions, being added together, mull be
left to cool, in order that the fat may be exaftly fepa-
rated. The foup muft then be clarified with five or fix
whites of eggs, and a fufficient quantity of common fait
added. The liquor is then {{rained through flannel,
and evaporated on the water-bath to the confiftence of
a very thick palte ; after which it is fpread rather thin
upon a fmooth Hone, then cut into cakes, and laftly
dried in a ftove until it becomes brittle 5 thefe cakes are
kept in well clofed bottles. The fame procefs may be
ufed to make a portable foup of the fleffi of poultry ; and
aromatic herbs may be ufed as a feafoning, if thought
proper.
Thefe tablets or cakes may be kept four or five
years. When intended to be ufed, the quantity of half
an ounce is put into a large glafs of boiling water,_
which is to be covered, and fet upon hot aflres for a
quarter of an hour, or until the whole is entirely difi-
folved. It forms an excellent foup, and requires no ad¬
dition but a fmall quantity of fait.
SOUR-croute. See Croute.
SOUR-Gourd, or African Ca/abajh-iree. See Adan
sonia, Botany Index.
SOUTH, Dr Robert, an eminent divine, was the
fon of Mr William South a merchant of London, and
was born at-Hackney near that city in 1633. He Hu-
died at W7eHminHer fchool, and afterwards in Chriffi-
church college, Oxford. In 1654, wrote a copy °f
Latin verfes to congratulate Cromwell upon the peace
concluded with the Dutch ; and the next, year a Latin
poem, entitled Mujica Incantans. In 1660 he was defi¬
ed public orator of the univerfity } and the next year
became domeHic chaplain to Edward call of Clarendon,
lord-high chancellor of England. In 1663 he was in-
flalled prebendary of WeHminfler, admitted to the de¬
gree of doflor of divinity, and had a finecure beflowed
on him in Wales by his patron the earl of Clarendon 5
after whofe retirement into France in 1667 he became
chaplain to the duke of York. In 1670 he was inHal-
led canon of ChriH church in Oxford } and in 1676 at¬
tended as chaplain to Laurence Hyde, Efq. ambaffador
extraordinary to the king of Poland. In 1678 he was
prefented to the reftory of Blip in Oxfordffiire 5 and
in 16S0 rebuilt the chancel of that church, as he after¬
wards did the reflory-houfe belonging to it. After the
revolution he took the oath of allegiance to King Wil¬
liam and Queen Mary, though he excufed himfelf from
accepting a great dignity in the church, vacated by the
perfonal refufal of that oath. His health began to de¬
cline feveral years before his death, which happened in
1716. He was interred in Weftminfter Abbey, where
a monument is erefted to his memory. He publilhed,
1. Aniinadverfions on Dr Sherlock’s Vindication of the
Holy and Ever Bleffed Trinity. 2. A Defence of his
Animadverfions. 3. Sermons, 8 vols 8vo. And after
his deceafe were publiflied his Opera Fojlhuiva Latina,
and Ins pollhumous Engliffi wmrks. Dr South was re¬
markable for his wit, which abounds in all his writings,
and particularly in his fermons 5 but at the fame time
they equally abound in ill-humour, fpleen, and fatire.
He was remarkable for being a time-ferver. During
the life of Cromwell he was a Haunch Prcfbyterian, and
then railed againH the Independents : at the Reflora-
tion
Soup •
11
South.
SOU t 480 ] .SPA
tion he exerted his pulpit-eloquence againft the Prelby-
terians j and in the reign of Queen Anne, was a warm
advocate for Sacheverel.
South, one of the four cardinal points from which
the winds blow.
SOUTH Sea, or 'Pacific Ocean, is that vaft body of
water interpofed between Afia and America. It does
not, however, ftridlly fpeaking, reach quite to the con¬
tinent of Afia, excepting to the northward of the pe-
ninfula of Malacca : for the water interpofed between
the eaftern coatt of Africa and the peninfula juft men¬
tioned has the name of the Indian ocean. The South
fea then is bounded on one fide by the weftern coaft of
America, through its whole extent, from the unknown
regions in the north to the flraits of Magellan and
Terra del Fuego, where it communicates with the fou-
thern part of the Atlantic. On the other fide, it is
bounded by the coaft of Afia, from the northern pro¬
montory of Tfchukotlkoi Nofs, to the peninfula of Ma¬
lacca already mentioned. Thence it is bounded to the
fouthward by the northern coafts of Borneo, Celebes,
Macaffar, New Guinea, New' Holland, and the other
iflands in that quarter, which divide it from the Indian
ocean. Then, wafhing the eaftern cqaft of the great
ifland of New Holland, it communicates with that vaft
body of water encompafling the whole fouthern part of
the globe, and which has the general name of the Sou¬
thern ocean all round. Thus does this vaft ocean occu¬
py almoft the femicircumference of the globe, extending
almoft from one pole to the other, and about the equa¬
torial parts extending almoft 180° in longitude, or
12,500 of our miles.
The northern parts of the Pacific ocean are entirely
deftitute of land j not a fingle ifland having yet been
difcovered in it from the latitude of 40° north and up¬
wards, excepting fuch as are very near the coaft either
of Alia or America } but in the fouthern part there
are a great number.
Till very lately the South fea was in a great mea-
fure unknown. From the great extent of ice which
covers the fouthern part of the globe, it rvas imagined
that much more land exifted there than in the northern
regions: but that this could not be jufily inferred mere¬
ly from that circumftance, is plain from what has been
advanced under the article America, N° 3---24 \ and
the fouthern continent, long known by the name of
Terra Auflralis, has eluded the fearch of the moft ex¬
pert navigators fent out from Britain and France by
royal authority. See Terra Australis.
SOUTH Sea Company. See Company.
SOUTHAMPTON, a fea-port town of Hampfhire
in England. It is commodioufly feated on an arm of
the fea $ is a place of good trade, and well inhabited.
It is furrounded by walls and feveral watch-towers, and
had a ftrong caftle to defend the harbour, now in ruins.
It is a corporation and a county of itfelf, with the title
of an earldom, and fends two members to parliament.
W. Long. 1. 26. N. Lat, 50. 55.
SOUTHERN, Thomas, an eminent dramatic wri¬
ter, was bom at Dublin in 1660, and received his edu¬
cation in the univerfity there. He came young to
London to ftudy law j but inftead of that devoted him-
feif to poetry and the writing of plays. His Perfian
Prince, or Loyal Brother, was introduced in 1682,
when the Tory intereft was triumphant in England 5
3
and the characler of the Loyal Brother being intended Southern
to compliment James duke of York, he rewarded the II
author when he came to the throne with a commiflion ^a‘
in the army. On the Revolution taking place, he re¬
tired to his ftudies, and wrote feveral plays, from which
he is fuppofed to have derived a very handfome fubfift-
ence, being the firft who raifed the advantage of play¬
writing to a fecond and third night. The moft finihed
of all his plays is Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave, which
is built on a true ftory related in one of Mrs Behn’s no¬
vels. Mr Southern died in 1746, in the 86th year of
his age ; the latter part of which he fpent in a peaceful
ferenity, having, by his commiftion as a foldier, and the
profits of his dramatic works, acquired a handfome for¬
tune ; and being an exadl economift, he improved what
fortune he gained to the beft advantage. He enjoyed
the longeft life of all our poets $ and died the richeft of
them, a very few excepted. His plays are printed in
two vols i2mo.
Southern Cotitinent. See America, N° 3—24,
and Terra Aufralis.
SOUTHERNWOOD. See Artemisia, Botany
Index.
SOUTHWARK, a town of Surry, and a fuburb
of the city of London, being feparated from that me¬
tropolis only by the Thames. See London, N° 96.
SOW. See Sus, Mammalia Index.
Sow, in the iron wrorks, the name of the block or
lump of metal they work at once in the iron furnace.
Sow-Thiftle. See Sonchus, Botany Index.
SOWING, in Agriculture and Gardening, the depo-
fiting any kind of feed in the earth for a future crop.
See Agriculture.
DrillsOWING. See DRJLLSowing.
SOY. See Dolichos.
SOZOMENUS, Hermias, an ecclefiaftical hifto-
rian of the 5th century, was born in Bethelia, a town
of Paleftine. He was educated for the law, and be¬
came a pleader at Conftantinople. He wucte an A-
bridgment of Ecclefiaftical Hiftory, in two books, from
the afeenfion of our Saviour to the year 323. This
compendium is loft ; but a continuation of it in nine
books, written at greater length, down to the year
440, is ftill extant. He feems to have copied Socrates,
who W'rote a hiftory of the fame period. The ftyle of
Sozomenus is perhaps moie elegant j but in other re-
fpefls he falls far fliort of that writer, difplaying through¬
out his whole book an amazing credulity and a fuper-
ftitious attachment to monks and the monaftic life. The
beft edition of Sozomenus is that of Robert Stephen in
1544. has been tranfiated and publifhed by Vale-
fius, and republifhed with additional notes by Reading at
London, 1720, in 3 vols folio.
SPA, a town of Germany, in the circle of Wcftpha-
lia and biftiopric of Liege, famous for its mineral wa¬
ters, lies in E. Long. 5. 50. N. Lat. 50. 30. about 21
miles fouth-eaft from Liege, and 7 fouth-weft from
Lomburg. It is fituated at one end of a deep valley
on the banks of a fmall rivulet, and is furrounded on all
fides by high mountains. The fides of thefe mountains
next to Spa are rude and uncultivated, prefenting a
rugged appearance as if (hattered by the convulfions of
earthquakes; but as they are ftrewed with tall oaks and
abundance of fhrubs, the country around forms a wild,
romantic, and beautiful landfcape. The accefs to the
town
SPA [ 481 ] SPA
town 13 very beautiful. The road winds over the
mountains till it ddcends to their bottom, when it
runs along a fmooth valley for a mile or a mile and a
half.
The town confifts of four ftreets in form of a crofs,
and contains about 400 inhabitants. Spa has no wealth
to boalt of. It can tcarcely lurnifh the neceffaries of
life to its own inhabitants during the winter, and almoft
all the luxuries which are requifite for the great con-
courfe of affluent vifitors during the fummer are carried
from Liege by women. Its only fource of wealth is its
mineral waters. No fooner does the wa’-m feafon com¬
mence, than crowds of valetudinarians arrive, as well as
many other perfons who are attracted folely by the love
of amufement, and fome from lefs honourable motives.
The inhabitants, who fpend feven or eight months of
the year without feeing the face of a ftranger, wait for
tire return of this period with impatience. The wel¬
come found of the carriages brings multitudes from the
town, either to gratify their curiofity, or to offer their
fervices in the hopes of fecuring your employment while
you remain at Spa. Immediately after your arrival, your
name and defignation is added to the printed lift of the
annual vifitors ; for which you pay a ftated fum to the
bookfellers, who has a patent for this purpofe from the
prince bifhop of Liege. This lift not only enables one
to know at a glance whether any friends or acquaint¬
ance are refiding there, but alfo to diftinguifh perfons
of rank and fafhion from adventurers, who feldom have
the effrontery to infert their names.
There are two different ways of accommodating the
vifitors at Spa with lodging and neceffaries. People
may either lodge at a hotel, wdiere every thing is fur-
niflied them in a fplendid and expenfive ftyle ; or they
may take up their refidence in private lodgings, from
which they may fend for provifions to a cook’s Ihop.
Among the people who vifit Spa, there are many
perfons of the firft rank and falhion in Europe. Per¬
haps indeed there is no place in Europe to which fo
many kings and princes refort; but it is alfo vifited by
many felf-created nobility, who, under the titles of
counts, barons, marquifes, and knights, contrive by
their addrefs, and artifices, to prey upon the rich and
unexperienced.
The manners eftablilhed at Spa are conducive both to
health and amufement. Every body riles early in the
morning, at fix o’clock or before it, when a great
many horfes ftand ready faddled for thofe who choofe
to drink the Sauveniere or Geronftere w7aters at a little
diftance from Spa. After this healthy exercife a part
of the company generally breakfaft together atVaux-
hall, a magnificent and fpacious building. At this
place a number of card-tables are opened every fore¬
noon, round which many perfons affemble and play for
flakes to a very confiderable amount. A ball too is ge¬
nerally held once a w'eek at Vauxhall, befides two balls
at the affembly rooms near the Pouhon in the middle of
the towm.
The moft remarkable waters at Spa are, 1. The Pou¬
hon, fituated in the middle of the town 5 2. The Sau¬
veniere, a mile and a half eaft from it j 3. Groifbeck,
near to the Sauveniere ; 4. Tonnelet, fituated a little to
the left of the road which leads to the Sauveniere ;
5. Geronftere, two miles fouth from Spa 5 6. War-
troz, near to the Tonnelet 5 7. Sarts or Nivefet, in the
diftridft of Sarts; 8. Chevron or Bru, in the principality
ofSlavelot; 9. Couve j 10. Beverfe ; n.Sige; 12.
Geremont. Thefe four laft are near Malmedy.
Dr Brownrigg w7as the firft perfon who difeovered
that fixed air, or, as it is now generally called, carbonic
acid gas, forms a principal ingredient in the compofition
of the Spa waters, and aftually feparated a quantity of
this elaftic fluid, by expofing it to different degrees of
heat from ixo° to 170° of Fahrenheit. From 20 oun¬
ces 7 drams and 14 grains apothecaries weight of the
Pouhon water, he obtained 8 ounces 2 drams and 50
grains. Since June 1765, W'hen Dr Brownrigg read a
paper on this fubjeft before the Royal Society of Lon¬
don, the waters of Spa have been often analyfed, but
perhaps by none with more accuracy than by Dr Aflr,
who publifhed a book on the chemical and medicinal
properties of thefe waters in 1788. We (hall prefent
the refult of his analyfis of the five principal fprings in
the following table.
Fountains.
Pouhon
Geronftere
Sauveniere
Groilbeck
Tonnelet
Quantity
of Wa¬
ter.
Ounces.
33-
32-75
32.50
32.25
32-
Ounce
mealures
of Gas.
35-75
24-75
33-5°
35-5°
4°-75
Suiicl
contents.
Grains.
16.25
5-5°
3-75
5-25
2.00
Aerated
Lime.
2-75
2.50
1.50
I.50
-\erated
Magne-
fia.
9-50
-i crated
Mineral
Alkali.
2.25
I-75
o-75
1.
0.75
Aerated
iron.
I*75
o-75
o.co
0.75
I.
Selenite
0.50
Aerated
Vegetah.
Alkali.
The Pouhon fpring rifes from the hill to the north
of Spa, which confifts of argillaceous fchiftus and fer-
rugineous (late. The other fountains rife from the fur¬
rounding hills to the fouth-eaft, fouth, weft, and north-
weft of the town 5 and this ridge of mountains is form¬
ed of calcareous earths mixed with filiceous fubftances.
The furface of the mountains is covered with woods,
interfperfed with large boggy fwamps filled with mud
and water. The Pouhon is confidered as the principal
fpring at Spa, being impregnated with a greater quan¬
tity of iron than any of the reft, and containing more
Vol. XIX. Part II.
fixed air than any except the Tonnelet. It is from this
fpring that the Spa water for exportation is bottled 5
for which the demand is fo great, that, according to .
the beft information which Mr Thickneffe could obtain, *
the quantity exported amounts to 200,000 or 250,000 through
bottles annually. This exported water is inferior in itsfAe Pais
virtue to that which is drunk on the fpot; for the vef-^as'
fels into which it is collected are injudicioufly expofed to
the fun, rain, wind, and duft, for feveral hours before
they are corked, by which means a confiderable part of
its volatile ingredients muft be evaporated j for it has
3 P been
SPA [48
been found by experiment, that by expofmg it to a gen¬
tle heat, air-bubbles afcend in great numbers. It is in
1 its greateft perfection when collected in cold dry wea¬
ther ; it is then pellucid, colourlefs, and without fmell,
and almoft as light as diftilled water. It varies in its
heat from 52° or 530 to 67° of Fahrenheit’s thermome¬
ter.
The Geronftere is a much weaker chalybeate water
than the Pouhon ; and as it is exceedingly naufeous,
and taftes and fmells like rotten eggs, it certainly con¬
tains tome hepatic gas. This is a circumftance which
Dr A(h feems not to have attended to fufficiently. The
Sauveniere water alfo, when newly taken from the well,
fmells a little of fulphur. The Groilbeck contains more
alkali, and almoft as much gas as the Pouhon, and has
been celebrated for its good effeCts in the cafe of calcu¬
lous concretions. The Tonnelet contains more gas
than any of the reft. So fmall is the quantity^ of any
foffil body held in fufpenfion by the aerial acid in it,
and fo volatile is the gas, that it begins to pafs off very
rapidly the moment it is taken out of the well, and in a
Ihort time is entirely gone. Dr Afh informs us, that
in the neighbourhood of this well, the cellars, on any
approaching change of weather, are found to contain
much fixed air ^ and the bed prognoftic which they
have of rain is the averfion which cats fhow to be car¬
ried into tbefe cellars.
The Spa waters are diuretic, and fometimes purga¬
tive. They exhilarate the fpirits with an influence much
more benign than wine or fpirituous liquors, and they
are more cooling, and allay thirft more eftedlually than
common water. They are found beneficial in cafes
of weaknefs and relaxation, either partial or univerfal
in nervous diforders •, in obftrudtions of the liver and
fpleen •, in cafes where the blood is too thin and pu-
trefcent 5 in cafes of exceffive dilcharges proceeding
from weaknefs; in the gravel and ftone •, and in moft
cafes where a ftrengthening remedy is wanted. But they
are hurtful in confirmed obftru£iions attended with fe¬
ver, where there is no free outlet to the matter, as in ul¬
cerations of the lungs. They are alfo injurious to bi¬
lious and plethoric conftitutions, when ufed before the
body is cooled by proper evacuations.
SPACE. See Metaphysics, Part II. Chap. iv.
Space, in Geometry, denotes the area of any figure,
or that which fills the interval or diftance between the
lines that terminate it.
SPADIX, in Botany, anciently fignified the recep¬
tacle of the palms. It is now ufed to exprefs every
flower-ftalk that is protruded out of a fpatha or fheath.
The fpadix of the palms is branched ; that of all
other plants fimple. Phis laft cale admits or fome va-
netv 5 in callfl, dracontnun, and pothos, the florets co¬
ver ft on all fides •, in arum, they are difpofed on the
lower part only ^ and in 'sojicra on one fide. See Bo¬
tany.
SPAGIRIC art, a name given by old authors to
that fpecies of chemiftry which works on metals, and is
employed in the fearch of the philofopher’s ftone.
SPAHI3, horfemen in the Ottoman army, chiefly
2 ] SPA
raifed in Afia. The great ftrength of the grand feig- Spam. .
nior’s army confifts in the janifaries, who are the foot $
and the fpahis, who are the horfe. 1
SPAIN. The kingdom of Spain, which occupies bySmiauon^
far the greater portion of the fouth-weftern peninfula of^^
Europe, is bounded on the north by the bay of Bifcay
and Pyrenean mountains, which feparate it from France j
on the call by the Mediterranean iea *, on the fouth by
the ftraits of Gibraltar, which divide it from the Afri¬
can kingdom of Morocco ; and on the weft, partly by
the Atlantic ocean, hut chiefly by the narrow kingdom
of Portugal. This laft is the only artificial boundary
of the Spanifh territory, and confilts of ideal lines, ex¬
cept in three parts, where the river Minho to the
north, and the Douro and the Chanca, till its jun£lion
with the Guadiana to the call, form rather more natural
limits. 2
From Cape Ortegal in N. Lat. 43 44,» roc^ Extent,
of Gibraltar, in N. Lat. 350 5/, the continent of
Spain extends through nearly 8° of latitude, while its
extent from weft to eaft, viz. from Cape Finifterre in
Bong. 17' W. from Greenwich to Cape Creus, or Cioix,
in Long. 30 30' E. from the fame meridian, comprehends
nearly 130 of longitude. In Britilh miles, its length
from north to fouth, viz. from Cape Penas to Gibraltar,
may be eftimated at 530 miles, while its medium
breadth may be computed at 440. According to De
Laborde, its fuperficial extent, exclufive of Portugal, is
25,137 fquare French leagues, or about 21,coo iquare
Englifti leagues.
Befides the continental part of Spain, this monarchy
comprehends feveral iflands in the Mediterranean, efpe-
cially Majorca, Minorca, and Ivi^a 5 the Canary
illands, and feveral places on the north-weftern coalt ot
Africa ; the Philippine and Ladrone iflands j together
with an immenfe territory both in North and South
America, comprehending Mexico, or New Spain, New
Mexico, the ifland of Cuba, Porto Rico, &c. in North
America, and in the fouthern part of that continent,
the greateft portion of Berra Firma, Peru, Chili, al-
rnofl the whole of Paraguay, with an extenfive tenitory
lying on the banks of the river Plate. ... .3
The ufual divifion of the Spanifh continent is into Divifioni
fourteen provinces, viz. thofe of Catalonia, Aragon,
and Navarre, on the confines of I ranee 5 Biscay,
Asturias, and Gallicia, on the ftioies of the At¬
lantic ; Leon and Estremadura, on the fide of Por¬
tugal ; Andalusia chiefly on the ftraits of Gibraltar }
Granada, Murcia, and Valencia, on the fhores
of the Mediterranean 5 Old and New Castile in toe
centre.
The lateft writer on the geography of Spain, De La¬
borde, reckons only 13 provinces, as he includes Gra¬
nada under Andalufia. In the following table we have
brought together the moft important circumftances re-
fpefling each of thefe provinces, viz. their fubdivifions,
extent in fquare Britifti miles, population at the end of
the 18th century, and chief towns-, and we have
arranged the provinces in the order followed by X^a-
borde.
f ’ \
\ ;
> 1
c^1
/
n*t
■ sV
mp^A 7
S ? J
Tlate CCCrXt \ i
SPA
[ 483 3
SPA
Provinces.
Province of Catalonia.
Kingdom of Valencia.
Province of Estremadura.
Province of Andalusia.
Kingdom of Murcia.
Kingdom of Aragon.
Kingdom of Navarre.
Province of Biscay.
Principality of the Asturias.
Kingdom of Gallicia.
Kingdom of Leon.
Kingdom of Old' Castile.
Kingdom of New Castile.
Kingdom of Majorca.
I (land of Minorca.
Subdivifions.
Extent in
fquare miles,
County of Rouflillon 1
  — Cerdagne 3
Kingdom of Seville
 Granada
 — Cordova
Jaen
Bifcay Proper 1
Alava >
Guipuzcoa J
Oviedo
Santillana
:ia 7
anca j
os
r
na j
Leon
Palencia
Zamora
Salamanca
Burgos
Avila
Segovia
Toledo "1
Cuenca C
Lamanca J
Iflands of Majorca
   Cabrera
— Iviga
10,400
7,800
16,000
12,600
4>50°
i,080
2,400
8,812
16,500
2,287
4,000
3)3751
1,200 3
11,500
10,800
22,000
1,4401
1103
360
Population.
Chief Towns.
814,412
93 V 5°
416,922
754,293
661,661
236,016
177,r36
337,686
623,308
287,382
116,042
74,000
12,076
350,000
1,350,000
665,432
1,190,180
1,146,809
136,000
27,000
Barcelona, Tarragona, Urgel, Lerida, Ge-
rona, Salfona, Vich, Tortola, Figueras, &c.
Valencia, Alicant, Elche, Orihuela, Cai-
tellan, Alzira, Carcaxente, Gandia, Xaci-
va, Otiniente, Alcoy, Segorbe, &c.
Badajoz, Placencia, Coria, Merida, Trux-
illo, Xera de los Cavalleros, Llerina,
Almatona, Zafra, &c.
Seville, Xeres de la Frontera, Arcos, Ca¬
diz, Real Ejo, Ayamonte, Nivela, &c.
Granada, Malaga, Loxa, Santa Fe, dnti-
quera, Ronda, Guadix, Baza, &c.
Cordova, and Archidona, &c.
Jaen, Ubeda, Baeza, Anduxar, &c.
Murcia, Carthagena, Lorca, Chinchilla,
Alba Cete, Villena, Almanza, &c.
Zaragoza, laca, Barbaftro, Huefca, Tara-
zona, Albarrazin, Teruel, &c.
Pampeluna, Tudela, &c.
Bilboa, Vermijo, &c.
Vittoria, Trevino, Onate, &c.
St Sebastian, Fuenaraba, Tolofa, Placen
tia, &c.
Oviedo, Aviles, Luarca, Gijon, &c.
Santillana, San Vincente, Riva de Sella,
&c.
San Jago de Compostella, Bayona, Lu¬
go, Orenfe, Mondonedo, Corunna, Vigo,
&c.
Leon, Duero, Aftorga, Salamanca, Zamora,
&.C.
Burgos, Ofma, Siguenza, Avila, Vallado¬
lid, Segovia, Calahorra, Soria, &c.
Madrid, Toledo, Aranjuez, Talavera della
Reyna, &c.
CuENgA, Guete, Alacon, &c.
Ocana, Hucles, Laguardia, Tarrazona, &c.
Palma, Alcudia, See.
IvigA.
Mahon, Cittadella.
10,308,505
Some account of thefe provinces will be found under
the 'articles Andalusia, Aragon, Asturias, Bis¬
cay, Castile, Catalonia, Estremadura, Galli¬
cia, Granada, Leon, Murcia, Nava*re, Valen¬
cia, Ivica, Majorca and Minorca ; but, for the
belt view of their prefent Hate, we muft refer our read¬
ers to De Laborde’s View of Spain, vols i. ii. and iii. or
to Playfair’s Geography, vol. i.
In its general appearance, Spain prefents a pieafing
variety of hill and dale, mountain and valley. It muft 4 ^
be regarded as a mountainous country, its plains beingK
few in number and of fmall extent. Fhe moft remark¬
able of thefe occupies the centre of the kingdom, efpeci-
ally New Caftile, which forms the moft elevated traft
of level country to be found in Europe, having a mean
elevation of more than 300 fathoms above the level ol
the fea. The country is well wooded, and abounds with
rivers j but thefe are often very deficient in water, and
■ 3 P 2 Spain}
Soil.
S PA [ 484
Spain. Spain, especially on its eaftern coaft, is remarkable for
v ' the drynefs of its foil. Notwithftanding this aridity,
however, moll: parts of the kingdom teem with fertility,
and native verdure and high cultivation render the Ice-
nery delightful. Here and there, indeed, occurs a
tradl: of defert utterly incapable of cultivation ; but, in
general, nature has done much more for the country
c than the labour of its inhabitants.
The foil is faid to be in general light, and eafily
wrought; but on many parts of the eaftern coaft it is
compofed chiefly of a ftiflp loam or clay. The moft fer¬
tile parts of the kingdom are in Valencia, on the coaft
of Granada, in the kingdom of Old Caftile, and in Se¬
veral parts of thofe of .New Caftile and Leon. The foil
of Catalonia is very difcouraging, except in the valleys,
and the fame may be faid of all the provinces bordering
on the Pyrenees j the foil of Eftremadura, though na¬
turally good, has been fo long abandoned to itfelf, that
it has almoft ceafed to produce, and that of Andalufia
has a very mixed charadler. The foil of Murcia is un¬
commonly arid ; that of the Afturias cold ; that of Gal-
licia extremely wet. In the neighbourhood of Cartha-
gena there is an extenfive traft, which is fo covered
with ftones as to form a defert as fterile and untameable
6 as any on the fandy plains of Africa or Arabia.
Mon#tains. We have faid that Spain is a mountainous country.
The chain of the Pyrenees, common to it and France,
is by no means the moft confiderable in point either of
elevation or extent; though that chain may be regard¬
ed as the common root or origin of all the reft. From
the weftern corner of the Pyrenees a vaft ridge branches
off through Navarre, Bifcay, Afturias, and Gallicia,
terminating only at Cape Finifterre, and Cape Ortegal.
T his ridge is the Cantabrian mountains, and is diftin-
guithed into feveral fubordinate groups, denominated
from the principal towns fituated in their vicinity. Thus
we hav# the mountains of Mondonedo in Gallicia. In
general, thefe groups are called Sierras, from the jag¬
ged ox ferrated appearance of their tops; as the Sierra
de la Afiarias, Sierra d'Avi/a, &c. The fubordinate
mountains that extend from the Sierra of the Afturias in
the north, to the Alpuxaras in the fouth, run in paral¬
lel lines; and the fame diredlion prevails in the moun¬
tains of Saint Andero, which join the Pyrenees.
From the mountains of Biicay arifes a main ridge,
which, after proceeding a little to the fouth, divides in¬
to three or four branches. OF thefe the moft northerly
chain feparates the provinces of Old Caftile and New Ca¬
ftile, extending to the confines of Portugal, and called
the mountains of Guadarrama. A fecond branch divides
the principal part of New Caftile from the province of
La Mancha, running from the north-eaft to the fouth-
weft, as far as Badajos in Eftremadura. The moft re¬
markable part of this chain is the Sierra of Guadalupe.
South of thefe runs the Sierra Morena, or Sable moun¬
tains, rendered claflical by the inimitable pen of Cer¬
vantes. This is the laft chain till we reach the Alpux¬
aras, that extend through the provinces of Granada and
Andalufia.
Of thefe mountains there are two points, which, in
elevation, exceed Mont Perdu, the higheft of the Py¬
renees, viz. the Pico de Venleta, in the Sierra Nevada,
or fnowy mountains of Granada, which is elevated more
than 1781 fathoms above the level of the ocean, and
the peak of Mulahafen, in the fame chain, raifed above
]
SPA
1824 fathoms, which is within 76 fathoms of the peak
of Teneriffe.
Spain':
I he principal capes and promontories of the Spaniftr^ ?
continent are, Cape Creus, Cape St Antoine, oppofite promonto-
the ifiand of Iviga; Cape Palas, near Carthagena ; ries.
Cape de Gatte, near Almeria, and the promontory on
which ftands the town of Gibraltar, all on the coaft of
the Mediterranean ; and Cape Machicaco, Cape Penas,
Cape Ortegal, the promontory of Ferrol, Cape Fini¬
fterre, and Cape Trafalgar, on the coafts of the Atlan¬
tic.
The principal bays and gulfs on the coaft of Spain, Bays and
purfuing the fame courfe, are the following ; the bay gulfs,
of Valencia, the bay of Alicant, the gulf of Carthagena,
the bay of Almeria, the bay of Gibraltar, the harbour
of Cadiz, the bay of Corunna, commonly called the
Groyne, and the bay of Bifcay. 9
The rivers of Spain are intimately connefled with the Rivers,
mountains from which they derive their fource, and be¬
tween the chains of which they generally flowT. The
moft important are, the Ebro, rifing in the mountains
of Santillana in the Afturias, and running in a fouth-
eaftern diredlion between the Caftiles and Valencia on
the one hand, and the provinces of Navarre, Aragon,
and Catalonia, on the other, till it reaches the Mediter¬
ranean, at a fmall diftance from Tcrtofa ; the Xacarr
rifing in the Sierra of Cuenca in New Caftile, and flow¬
ing into the Mediterranean confiderably to the fouth-
ward of Valencia; the Segura,- rifing in. a mountain of
the fame name, traverfing the province of Murcia, and
meeting the Mediterranean about midway in the capital
of that province, and Alicant. Thefe flow into the
Mediterranean, and there are feveral other rivers of lefs
note, which pour their waters into the fame fea, and
which w’e can merely enumerate. Thefe are the Ter
at Gerona, the Lobregate at Barcelona, and the Mi-
jares, pafling by Segorbe. The rivers which flow' into
the Atlantic are, the Guadalquiver, rifing at the foot of
Mount Segura, from the oppofite fide of which origi¬
nates the river of the fame name, flowing with a flug.
gift* courfe through the province of Andalufia, and meet¬
ing the Atlantic a little to the north-wreft of Xeres; the
Guadiana, rifing among fome lakes to the north-weft of
Alcaraz in New Caftile, and pafling between the Sierra
Morena and the Sierra de Guadalupe, till, near Bada¬
jos, it enters the kingdom of Portugal, and runs nearly
in a foutherly direction, till it meets the Atlantic at
Ayamonte ; the Tagus, rifing among the mountains of
Albara^in in New Caftile, and running wcfterly till, at
Alcantara, it becomes a river of Portugal; the Douro,
rifing in Old Caftile near Soria, and pafling by Valla¬
dolid and Zamora, near which it forms a part of the
boundary of Portugal ; the Minho, rifing in the moun¬
tains of Gallicia, and running to the fouth-weft, till it
meets the Atlantic to the north cf Camina. The only
other river of any importance in this direftion is the
Lima, fuppsfed to be the Lethe of the poets, which
rifes in Gallicia, and flow's into the fea below Viara.
If we except the feries of fmall lakes from which we £21^5°
have faid the'river Guadiana takes its rife, there are, in
Spain, few lakes that merit particular notice. The moft
remarkable of thefe is the lake of Abulfera, in the pro¬
vince of Valencia. This lake begins near the village of
Catarroija, about a league fouth of the city of Valencia^
and extends nearly four leagues as far as Cullera. When
f- it
SPA t 48S ] SPA
Spain, it is full, it is about four leagues long, two in breadth,
u"-v and fix in circumference 5 but it is fo ihallow, that fmall
boats can fcarcely float in it. To fupply the deficiency
of water, an engine is employed, by which the neigh¬
bouring waters are drawn into the bed of the lake; and
any fuperabundant water occafioned by heavy rains, is
carried off into the fea by means of an artificial opening.
This lake contains a great many fifii, and numerous
aquatic birds make it their haunt. On certain days in
the year the inhabitants of Valencia make incurfions hi¬
ther to fhoot the birds, and the furface of the lake is at
„ thefe times covered with boats.
Forefts. Many parts of the kingdom of Spain abound in large
trafts of wood. Extenfive forefts are found in Catalo¬
nia, the Afturias, Gallicia, and in the Sierra Morena.
It is in the mountainous chains that the forefts of Spain
are moft remarkable ; and there are few of thefe heights,
except in the fnowy regions of the Sierra Nevada, but
what are covered with wood almoft to their fummits.
Climates The climate of Spain is as delightful as that of any
and ieafons. part of Europe ; and though at certain feafons of the
year the eaftern coaft is fubjeft to exceflive heat and
drought, and the north-weftern to almoft perpetual
rains, the temperature is in general mild, and the air fa-
lubrious.
The climate of Spain has been admirably depifted by
M. A. de Humboldt 5 and we ftiall here prefent to our
readers the fubftance of his remarks, as they are related
by De Laborde, in his view of Spain.
No country of Europe prefents a configuration fo An¬
gular as Spain. It is this extraordinary form which ac¬
counts for the drynefs of the foil in the interior of the
Caftiles, for the power of evaporation, the want of ri¬
vers, and that difference of temperature which is obfer-
vable between Madrid and Naples, two towns fituated
under the fame degree of latitude.
The interior of Spain is, as we have feen, an elevated
plane, which is higher than any of the fame kind in Eu¬
rope, occupying fo large an extent of country. The
mean height of the barometer at Madrid is 26 inches
2}- lines. It is therefore ^ lower than the mean height
of the mercury at the level of the ocean. This is the
difference of the preffure of the atmofphere that is expe¬
rienced by all bodies expofed to the air at Madrid, and at
Cadiz and Bourdeaux. At Madrid the barometer falls
as low as 25 inches 6 lines, and fometimes even lower.
The following is a table of the variations in the height
of the barometer during the firft nine months of the
year 1793.
Months.
Maximum.
Minimum.
Mean Height
of the Mercury
I793-
January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
Auguft,
September,
Inches.
. 26
26
26
26
26
26
26
26
26
Lines
5.8
5-3
4-7
2.4
4.6
4-
4 3
3.2
4-3
Inches.
25
25
25
25
25
2?
26
25
25
Lines
9.8
6.2
6.
6.9
10.5
ix.8
°-7
11.
Inches.
26
26
25
25
26
26
26
26
26
Line?
2.6
1.6
11.6
11.6
0.8
1.6
2.4
1.4
I-7
From the mean height of the barometer at Madrid, Spain,
we find that capital to be elevated 309^ fathoms above —y“-p
the level of the ocean. Madrid, confequently, Hands
as high as the town of Infpruck, fituated in one of the
higheft defiles of the Tyrol, while its elevation is 15
times greater than that of Paris, and three times greater
than that of Geneva.
According to M. Thalacker, the mineralogift, who
has taken ieveral heights with the barometer in the en¬
virons of Madrid, the elevation of the king’s palace at
San Ildefonfo is 593 fathoms, which is higher than the
edge of the crater of Mount Vefuvius, and is, ftriflly
fpeaking, in the regions of the clouds, which generally
float from 550 to 600 fathoms high.
The height of the plain of the Caftiles has an evident
effeft on its temperature. We are aftoniftred at not
finding oranges in the open air under the fame latitude
as that of Tarentum, part of Calabria, Theffaly, and
Afia Minor ; but the mean temperature of Madrid is
very little fuperior to that of Marfeilles, Paris, and Ber¬
lin, and is nearly the fame with that of Genoa and
Rome. The following table fliews the mean tempera¬
ture at Madrid and at Rome, during the firft nine
months of the years 1793 and 1807.
■vt iaund.
At Rome.
Mouths
Deg. ot Fahrenheit
Deg. ot Fahrenheit.
January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
Auguft,
September,
39° 3
43 24
47 54
52 19
59 4
72 32
77 !3
81 34
65 45
3°
30
I5
3°
3°
40° ir 15'
47 49 3°
50 15 45
54 34 3°
65 56 *5
72 3°
79 *5
79
72 34 3°
Thus, the mean temperature at Madrid appears to
be 59a of Fahrenheit, while that of the coafts of Spain,
from the 410 to the 36° of Lat. is between 63^° and
68° of Fahrenheit. In the former climate we find that
orange trees will not flourilh in perfe&ion, while in the
latter we fee banana trees, heliconias, and even fugar-
canes, growing in fituations that are flickered from the
cold winds.
Spain prefents few fpecies of animals that are not Animals,
found in the other parts of fouthern Europe. Among
the quadrupeds, we may remark, as peculiar to Spain,
the genet, (viverra genetta). The bear is found in fe-
veral parts of the great Pyrenean chain, efpecially on
fome of the mountains of Aragon, as well as thofe of
Occar and Reynofa in Old Caftile. Wolves are met
with in all the higher and mountainous parts of the
country, and wild boars on the mountains of Navarre^
on the Pinar, and the Sierra de Carafcoy, in the king¬
dom of Valencia. The roebuck is found on fome of
the mountains of Navarre, and the lynx and the ibex
on thofe of Cuenca in New Caftile, in the valleys of
Aure and Giftau, as well as in the Pyrenees. The
glory of Spanifti zoology is the horfe, for which this
kingdom has bsen famous in all ages. The Spanifti
horfess
SPA
Spain.
f
' horfes have probably originated from the Barbs of the
north of Africa, fuppofed to be the immediate offspring
of the Arabian breed. The Spaniih mules are alfo ex¬
cellent, and the afs is here no ignoble animal, though
not equal to thofe of Arabia. There is little remark¬
able in the breed of cattle, but the Merino (Keep have
long been diftinguifhed, and are perhaps fuperior to any
in the rvorld for the beauty of the fleece, if not for the
delicacy of the mutton. The flocks of Merino (beep
^re fometimes extremely large, and Mr Townfend men¬
tions one nobleman who pofielfed not fewer than 40,000.
The whole number in the kingdom may be eftimated at
about 5,000,000. Thefe animals were, by a fpecial
code, called the Mejia, authorifed to travel from one
province to another, according as the feafon prefented
the beft pafturage in the mountains or the plains. The
fleece of the Merino (heep is efleemed double in value
to that of any other breed.
Of the birds more peculiarly found in Spain, the vul¬
ture, percnopterus, the cuculus glandarius, cuculus tri-
da Uy la , motacilla hifpanica, hirundo tnellia, and Inrun-
do rupejlris, are the molt remarkable.
Frdh-water fiflies are very plentiful in the Spanifli
livers; but tbofe in mofl: efteem are from the fmall
river Tormes in Old Caftile, where have been taken
trout of 20 lbs. weight. The tench of the lakes near
Tobar in New Caftile, are remarkably fine and deli¬
cate, and are taken in great abundance every year, dur¬
ing the months of May and June. The filh taken on
the coafts are much the fame as tbofe of the other coun¬
tries bordering on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.
The tunny was formerly taken on the eaftern coaft,
where it formed a particular branch of the fiftiery, but
is now, w7e believe, little regarded.
Among the Spanifh infefls, the moft remarkable are,
the cantharides, (meloe vejicatorias), and the kermes in-
fe£f {coccus 1 lids'). The latter infedf is much cultivated
as an article of dyeing, efpecially in the territory of
Bujalance, and of Fernan Nunes in the kingdom of
Cordova, as alfo in the vicinity of the town of De las
Aguas, four leagues from Alicant, and near the river
Henares, in New Caftile. The evergreen oaks on
which thefe animals feed, prefent in the fpring, a mofl:
Angular appearance, from the red nidi of the kermes,
with which their leaves are covered.
Vegetables. c°untry of Europe of the fame extent, furnifties
fuch an ample field for the refearches of the botanift, as
Spain j and indeed its botany conftitutes a very impor¬
tant part of its natural hiftory. The mountainous dif-
trifts are clothed with the ever green oak, the common
oak, the chefnut, and in fome places various fpecies of
pine ; but their mofl: ufeful produdfion is the cork tree.
The fmaller heights produce the wild olive, the almond,
the fhumac, the laurel, the bay, the cyprefs, Canary
and Portugal broom, the yellow jeflamine, and the
Provence rofe. The vine, the palm tree, the oiange,
the lemon and the olive, are fo nearly naturalized as to
■require but little cultivation ; and the fame may be faid
of the kali {falfola fodaj which is produced in large
quantities on the coafts, and furniflies the heft kind of
kelp, commonly called barilla, ufed in the manufacture
of foap and glafs. The plains and valleys are covered
W’ith many of thofe plants which form fome of the
greateft ornaments of our flower gardens, as the tulip,
feveral fpecies of iris, the paeony, the paflion flower, the
1
Spain.
*4
486 ] SPA
orange and martagon illy, the jonquil, feveral fpecies of
narciflus and hyacinth, and above all the rhododendron.'
1 he mountains, however, exhibit the greateft variety
of botanical riches. Thofe mofl: worthy of the vifits and
refearches of the enterprifing botanift, are, the Sierra de
Guadalupe in Eftremadura j the mountains of Moncayo
in Aragon 5 of Pineda, Guadarrama, and Cuenca, in
New Caflile ; of Carofcoy, in the kingdom of Murcia j
ct Pena-Colofa, Mongi, Aytona, and Mariola, in the
kingdom of Valencia, and the Pyrenees.
The fugar-cane, was, before the difeovery of the Weft
India iflands, one of the moft important objedls of Spa¬
nifh cultivation, and numerous fugar mills were elta-
bliftied along the coaft of the Mediterranean, efpecially
in the kingdom of Granada. At the conqueft of that
Mooriftr kingdom, not fewer than fourteen fugar plan¬
tations and two mills, were found within the province.
Some fugar canes are ftill cultivated in the kingdom of
Valencia, but the manufacture of fugar is difeontinued,
and the canes are ufed only for diftillation. There is,
wTe believe, ftill a manufactory for fugar from Spanifli
canes in Granada. ^
Spain has long been celebrated for the riches of its Minerals,
mineral kingdom, and it may ftill be confidered as the
Mexico and Peru of Europe. There are few metals
which may not be found in this kingdom -, and, till the
difeovery of America put the Spaniards in polfeflion of
mines which far furpafs their own in produce, the gold
and filver mines of Spain were thought to be nearly the
richeft in the world. At prefent, no gold mines are
wrought, but grains of that metal are found diffemina-
ted in ferruginous quartz, forming a vein that paffes
through a mountain near the village of San Ildefonfo in
Old Caftile. Spangles of gold are found intermixed
with emery, in a mine near Alocer in Eftremadura,
and in the territory of Molena in Aragon j and this
metal is occafionally found in the fand of two rivers j
the Agneda, in the kingdom of Leon, which rifes from
the mountains of Xalamo, and the Tagus in New Caf¬
tile, efpecially in the vicinity of Toledo.
Silver is much more abundant, but moft of its mines
have alfo been abandoned. We believe the only filver
mine now in work is that of the Sierra de Guadalupe,
near the village of Logrozen, where the filver is found
mixed with micaceous fchiftus. The moft remarkable
filver mines formerly worked are thofe of Alrodoval del
Campo ; of Zalamea on the road to Alocer in Eftrema¬
dura ; of Almazaron near Carthagena; three in the
Sierra Morena, about a league from Guadalcanal, in
the kingdom of Seville, and another about two leagues
from Linarez, in the kingdom of Jaen. This laft mine
was well known both to the Carthaginians and the
Romans; while Spain was under the dominion of the
former it belonged to Himilca, the wife of Afdrubal.
After having been long abandoned, it wa$ again wrought
in the 17th century, when a vein of ore five feet in dia¬
meter was difeovered ; at prefent, however, it is no lon¬
ger in a ftate of aftivity.
Mines of copper are found near Pampeluna in Na¬
varre, near Salva Tierra in Alava; near Efcarray, and
at the foot of the mountains of Guadarama in Old Caf¬
tile •, near Lorea in Murcia j near the Chartreufe of the
Val de Chrifto in Valencia ; in the Sierra de Guadalupe
in Eftremadura; in the mountains near Cordova ; near
Riotinto, and at la Canada de los Conejos in Seville ;
in
SPA [ 487 3 SPA
Spain, in the diftrift of Albuladui in Granada, and near Le-
' v 1 f narez in the kingdom of Jaen.
'There are numerous lead mines, efpecially near Tor-
tofa in Catalonia ; at Zoma, Benafques, and Plan in
Aragon j near Logrofen and Alcofer in Ellremadura j
in the mountain Guadarrama in Old Caftile j near los
Alumbres and Lorca in Murcia ; at Alcaniz and Con-
ftantina in Seville, and at the diftrift of Linarez in
Jaen.
The mines of iron are abundant, and need not be
enumerated. Of antimony there are two mines, both
in the diftridf of La Mancha. One of thefe is at Alen-
dia, near Almodovar ; the other at the foot of the Sier¬
ra Morena. There is only one mine of cobalt, viz. in the
province of Aragon, found in the valley of Gedon.
There are two mines of cinnabar in Valencia; one about
two leagues from Alicant in the limeftone mountains of
Alcoray j the other between Valencia and San Felipe;
and two others in the fame province, that produce native
mercury, but none of thefe are worked. The moft
abundant mine of mercury and cinnabar united is in the
diftrift of La Mancha, on the borders of Cordova. It
is fituated in a hill of fandftone which reds on Hate.
The whole length of the hill is traverfed by two princi¬
pal veins, both of which were wrought by the Romans.
The whole of this mine vras lately wrought by the
agents of the king, and its produce was very abundant.
Plumbago is found in a thick vein intermixed with feld-
fpar, about a league from the village of Real Monalterio,
in the kingdom of Seville. Mines of fulphur occur, both
in Aragon and Murcia 5 jet has been found in the di-
ftrift of Old Colmenar, in Old Caftile ; and there is
good evidence of the prefence of coal at feveral places
in Catalonia, in the Afturias, New Caftile, and Aragon ;
but it is faid that no coal mines have as yet been open¬
ed.
The marbles of Spain are very numerous and valuable.
A black marble, veined with white, is procured near-
Barcelona *, many dendritic marbles occur near Tortofa.
Near the town of Molina, in Aragon, is found a gra¬
nular marble fpotted with red, yellow', and white. At
the village of Salinos, in the diftridf of Guipuzcoa, is a
beautiful blue pyritical marble, containing marine fhells.
From Monte Sagarra, near Segorbia, in the province of
Valencia, are procured feveral fine marbles, which were
held in great eftimation even by the Romans. The pro¬
vince of Granada, however, contains more valuable va-
■rieties of this beautiful mineral than all the reft of Spain 3
of thefe fome of the principal are the following. A
pure white ftatuary marble, of which the w-hole moun¬
tain of Filabra, near Almeria, is compofed 3 a frefh-co-
loured marble from a mountain near Antiquera 3 an
exquifitely beautiful wax-coloured alabafter, from the
vicinity of the city of Granada 3 and a finely veined
^ marble from the Sierra Nevada.
Mineral Of the Spaniftr mineral voters the following are the
waters. moft celebrated. The principal cold fprings are, a he¬
patic water in the town of Buron, in Valencia 3 a car¬
bonated water at Gerona, in Catalonia; a faline purga¬
tive w-ater at Vacia-Madrid, three leagues from the ca-
pi'al, and another of a fimilar nature near Toledo.
The principal hot fprings are, the baths of Abu-Zu-
lena, at Javal-Cohol, near Baeza 3 a hepatic fpnng ufed
foi bathing near Alhama de Granada 3 another near
Almeria, in the province of Granada, to which are at¬
tached both bathing and vapour baths: all thefe were Spain,
difcovered, or at lealt brought into general ufe, by the u—‘-v—
Moors. A very copious hot fpring near Merida, in
F.ftremadura, made ufe of by the Romans. The Calda
de Bonar, in the neighbourhood of Leon, a fpring of
tepid water frequented by the Romans, and ftill exhi¬
biting the ruins of baths and ancient inferiptions. A
very hot fpring near Orenfe, in Gallicia. A fpring at
Alhama, near Calatayud, in Aragon, formerly much
frequented, but now in a ftate of negleft. The Fuente
de Buzot, near Alicant, a faline fpnng of the tempera¬
ture of 104° Fahrenheit. A very copious and hot
fpring at Archena, near Murcia, where ftill remain the
ruins of Roman and Moorifh baths. A hepatic fpring
near Arnedillo, in Old Caftile. I7
Among the natural curiofities of Spain, we may parti-Natural
cularize the mountain of Montferrat in Catalonia (fee cub°fihes»-
Montserrat) 3 the infulated hill of rock fait near the
town of Cardona, in Catalonia (fee Geology, N° io2.)3
the fubterranean lake contained within a cavern in the
neighbourhood of the Cava Perella, in the ifland of
Minorca 3 the ftaladlitic cave called St Michael’s, on
the wTeft fide of the rock of Gibraltar, and the river
Guadiana, which appears and difappears feveral times
in the courfe of its progrefs to the fea. l8
The various groups of iflands that are fubje6t to Spain Spaniflf
have long been diftinguifhed by particular names. Thus idands.
Majorca, Minorca, Cabrera and Dragonera, wrere called
by the ancients Infulce Baleares, and are ftill named
the Balearic IJles ; while Ivica and Feromentara form a
lefier group, denominated the Pityufe IJles. Of thefe
iflands, the latter were taken pofleflion of by the Car¬
thaginians nearly 700 years before the Chriftian era 3
and about 200 years after that enterpr ling people made
thcmfelves mafters of the Balearic illes. After the fall of
Carthage, all thefe illands long maintained a ftate of
piratical independence, and only Majorca was ever com¬
pletely fubjeft to the Romans. In the time of Auguftus
we are told that the Balearic ifles were fo infefted with
rabbits, that the inhabitants fent deputies to Rome for
aftiftance to deftroy thefe formidable invaders of their
plantations. In the year 426 of the Chriftian era, thefe
iflands came into the pofleflion of the Vandals, from-
whom they were taken at the end of the 8th century
by the African Moors. At the beginning of the 9th
century they were feized on by a fleet fent into the Me¬
diterranean by Charlemagne ; but they were foon after
reconquered by the Moors, who maintained the fove-
reignly in thefe iflands till, in 1228, they were finally
difpoflelTed by Don James grandfon of Alphonfo II.
king of Aragon..
Though Spain appears to have been known to the 0f'
Phoenicians nearly 1000 years before the birth of Chrift, Spam,
it feems to have been little regarded by the Greeks till
after the period when Herodotus compofed his biftory.
Some part cf this country was probably the Tarftiifh of
Scripture, from which the Phoenicians imported gold,
fiver, and other precious commodities into Judea.
When the Greeks had eftablifhed a colony at Marfeilles,
they muft have been well acquainted with at leaf! the
northern part of this peninfula, to which they gave the
names of Iberia and Celtiberia,. from two nations who
then inhabited the country, and of Hefperia, from its
extreme fituation in the weft of the then known world.
The name Hifpania, from which its modern appellation
IS-'-*
Spain.
20
Original
population.
Spain in¬
vaded by
the Cartha
ginians.
An. 240.
JB. C.
22
State of
Spain at'
the Roman
conqudl.
SPA ’[ 48B
is derived, was bellowed on it by the Romans; but the
etymology of this name is uncertain.
The Aborigines of Spain wYere doubtlefs a Celtic tribe,
which probably paffed into this peninfula from the ad¬
joining continent of Gaul, though at a very early period
they appear to have been mixed with a colony of Mau-
ritani, or Moors from the coaft of Africa. The Celtic
inhabitants, or Celtiberi, feem to have poffeffed the north-
eaft of the peninfula, while the Mauritani occupied the
fouthern and fouth-weflern diftri£ts.
Nothing certain is known refpefting the early ftate
of Spain, till the commencement of the firlt Punic war
between the Romans and the Carthaginians, in the mid¬
dle of the third century before Chrift. Not long be¬
fore this date, probably at the beginning of the century,
the latter people had pofleffed themfelves of Catalonia,
when their general Hamilcar Barcas is faid to have
founded the city of Barceno, the modern Barcelona.
The Carthaginian colony, however, feems to.have been
rather a mercantile than a warlike fettlement, and the
Celtiberi wrere more the allies than the fubjefts of their
African neighbours. Of the contefts carried on be¬
tween the Carthaginians and the Romans, till the final
fubjugation of the former, and the confequent occupa¬
tion of'all their territories by the Roman republic, wre
have given an account under the articles Carthage
and Rome. We fhall here briefly confider the Hate of
Spain at the time of its occupation by the Romans, and
relate the events to which that occupation gave rife,
and which are lefs connefted with the more immediate
tranfa£lions of the Punic wars.
At the time of the Roman conqueft, Spain, though
.prodigious quantities of filver had been carried out of
it by the Carth: t'nians and Tyrians, w^as yet a very
rich country. In the molt ancient times, indeed, its
riches are faid to have exceeded what is related of the
moll wealthy country in America. Ariftotle affures us,
that when the Phenicians fiift arrived in Spain, they
exchanged their naval commodities for fuch immenfe
quantities of filver, that their (hips could neither con¬
tain nor fuftain its load, though they ufed it for ballad,
and made their anchors and other implements of filver.
When the Carthaginians fird came to Spain, they found
the quantity of filver nothing leffened, fince the inha¬
bitants at that time made all their utenfils, and even
mangers, of that precious metal. In the time of the
Romans this amazing plenty was very much diminifh-
ed ; howTever, their gleanings were by no means defpi-
•cable, fince in the fpace of nine years they carried off
111,542 pounds of filver, and 4095 of gold, befides an
immenfe quantity of coin and other things of value (a).
The Spaniards wrere always remarkable for their brave¬
ry, and fome of Hannibal’s bed troops w7ere brought
from thence ; but as the Romans penetrated farther
into the country than the Carthaginians had done, they
met WTth nations whofe love of liberty wTas equal to
their valour, and w’hom the whole drength of their em¬
pire was fcarcely able to fubdue. Of tbefe the mod for-
1
SPA
midable were the Numantines, Cantabrians, and Aflu- Spain,
rians. ^"“"v l>
In the time of the third Punic war, one Viriathus, a g„cc*jres
celebrated hunter, and afterwards the captain of a gang .p Viria-
of banditti, took upon him the command of fome na- thus againfl:
tions who had been in alliance with Carthage, and ven-tlie K-0-
tured to oppofe the Roman power in that part of Spain mans’
called Lujitania, now Portugal. The preetor, named
Vetilius, who commanded in thofe parts, marched againd
him with 10,000 men j but was defeated and killed,
with the lofs of 4000 of his troops. The Romans im¬
mediately difpatched another praetor with 10,000 foot
and 1300 horfe : but Viriathus having fird cut off a de¬
tachment of 4000 of them, engaged the red in a pitch¬
ed battle j and having entirely defeated them, reduced
great part of the country. Another praetor, who was
lent with a new army, met with the fame fate j fo that,
after the dedruftion of Carthage, the Romans thought
proper to fend a conful named Quintus Fabius, who de¬
feated the Lufitanians in feveral battles, and regained
two important places which had long been in the hands
of the rebels. After the expiration of Fabius’s confu-
late, Viriathus continued the war with his ufual fuccefs,
till the fenate thought proper to fend againd him the
conful £). Csecilius Metellus, an officer of great valour
and experience. With him Viriathus did not choofe to
venture a pitched battle, but contented himfelf with
adling on the defenfive } in confequence of which the
Romans recovered a great many cities, and the whole
of Tarraconian Spain was obliged to fubmit to their
yoke. The other conful, named Serviiicinus, did not
meet with the fame fuccefs ; his army was defeated in
the field, and his camp was nearly taken by Viriathus.
Notwithdanding the good fortune of Metellus, how¬
ever, he could not withdand the intrigues of his coun¬
trymen againd him, and he was not allowed to finidi
the war he had begun with fo much fuccefs. In re-
fentment for this he took all imaginable pains to weak¬
en the army under his command : he difbanded the
flower of his troops, exhaufted the magazines, let the
elephants die, broke in pieces the arrows which had
been provided for the Cretan archers, and threw them
into a river. Yet, after all, the army which he gave
up to his fucceffor C^. Pompeius, confiding of 30,000
foot and 2000 horfe, was fufficient to have crufhed Vi¬
riathus if the general had known how to ufe it. But,
indead of oppofing Viriathus with fuccefs, the impru¬
dent conful procured much more formidable enemies.
The Termantians and Numantines, who had hitherto
kept themfelves independent, offered very advantageous
terms of peace and alliance with Rome ; but Pompeius
infided on their delivering up their arms. Upon this
war was immediately commenced. The conful with
great confidence inveded Numantia 5 but being repulfed
with confiderable lofs, he fat down before Termantia,
where he was attended with dill worfe fuccjefs. The
very fird day, the Termantines killed 700 of his le¬
gionaries -} took a great convoy which was coming to
the
(a) In this account we mud allow fomething for the exaggerations of fabulous hidorians. There is no doubt,
however, that Spain was at this time immenfely rich, and if we may believe Strabo, there was then a mine near
Carthage which yielded every day 25,000 drams of filver, or about 300,000!. per annum.
2
Spairt.
*4
The Ro¬
mans fur-
rounded on
all lides
and forced
te conclude
a peace
vintn Viri-
athus.
25
Viriathus
treache-
roufly mur¬
dered.
26
The Ro¬
mans de¬
feated by
the Numan'
tines.
SPA [ 489 ]
the Roman camp: and having defeated a confiderable chufe to
body of their horfe, puflied them from pod to polf till
they came to the edge of a precipice, where they all
tumbled down, and were dallied to pieces. In the mean
time Servilius, who had been continued in his command
with the title of proconful, managed matters fo ill, that
Viriathus furrounded him on all fides, and obliged him
to lue for peace. The terms offered to the Romans
were very moderate ; being only that Viriathus Ihould
keep the country he at that time poffefled, and the Ro¬
mans remain mailers of all the relt. This peace the
proconful was very glad to fign, and afterwards pro¬
cured its ratification by the fenate and people of Rome.
The next year £). Pompeius was continued in his
command againlt the Numantines in Farther Spain,
while f). Servilius Crepio, the new conful, had for his
province Hither Spain, where Viriathus had eftablilhed
his new Hate. Pompeius undertook to reduce Numan-
tia by turning alide the ftream of the Durius, now the
Douro, by which it was fupplied with water ; but, in
attempting this, fuch numbers of his men were cut off,
that, finding himfelf unable to contend with the enemy,
he was glad to make peace with them on much worfe
terms than they had offered of their own accord. The
peace, however, was ratified at Rome ; but in the mean
time Caepio, defirous of fhowing his prowefs ag nnft the
renowned Viriathus, prevailed on the Romans to de¬
clare war againft him without any provocation. As
Caepio commanded an army greatly fuperior to the Lu-
fitanians, Viriathus thought, proper to fiue for peace j but
finding that Caepio would be fatisfied with nothing lefs
than a furrender at difcretion, he refolved to Hand his
ground. In the mean time, the latter having bribed
fome of the intimate companions of Viriathus to murder
him in his fleep, he by that infamous method put an end
to a war which had lafted 14 years, very little to the
honour of the republic.
After the death of Viriathus, the Romans with like
treachery ordered their new conful Popilius to break the
treaty with the Nufnantines. His infamous condufl
■ met with the reward it deferved ; the Numantines fd-
lying out, put the whole Roman army to flight with
fuch {laughter, that they were in no condition to aft
during the whole campaign. Mancinus, who fucceeded
Popilius, met with ftill worfe fuccefs ; his great army,
conliliing of 30,000 men, was utterly defeated by 4000
Numantines, and 20,000 of them killed in the purfuit.
The remaining 10,000, with their general, were pent
up by the Numantines in fuch a manner that they could
neither advance nor retreat, and would certainly have
been all put to the fword or made prifoners, had not
the Numantines, with a generofity which their enemies
never poffefled, offered to let them depart upon condition
that a treaty Ihould be concluded with them upon very
moderate terms. This the conful very willingly pro-
mifcd, but found himfelf unable to perform. On the
contrary, the people, not fatisfied with declaring his
treaty null and void, ordered him to be delivered up to
the Numantines. The latter refufed to accept him, un-
lefs he had along with him the 10,000 men whom they
had relieved as before related. At laft, after the conful
had remained a whole day before the city, his fucceffor
Furius, thinking this a fuflicient recompenfe to the Nu¬
mantines for breaking the treaty, ordered him to be re¬
ceived again into the camp. However, Furius did not
Vol. XIX. Part II.
SPA
engage with fuch a defperate and refolute Spain,
enemy as the Numantines had Ihowed themfelves $ and 'J 'J
the war with them was dilcontinued till the year 133 Sc,
B. C. when Scipio Almilianus, the deftroyer of Car- mihanus
thage, was fent againfi: them. Againlt this renowned fent againft
commander the Numantines with all their valour werethem-
not able to contend. Scipio,iiaving with the utmoft care An. 133,
introduced ftrift difeipline among his troops, and re-
formed the abufes which his predeceffors had fuffered in
their armies, by degrees brought the Romans to face
their enemies, which at his arrival they had abfolutely
refufed to do. Having then ravaged all the country
round the town, it was foon blocked up on all lides,
and the inhabitants, began to feel the want of pro-
vilions. At laff they relolved to make one defperate at¬
tempt for their liberty, and either to break through
their enemies, or perilh in the attempt. With this view
they marched out in good order by two gates, and fell
upon the works of the Romans with the utmoft fury.
The Romans, unable to Hand this defperate Ihock, were
on the point of yielding, when Scipio, haftening to the
places attacked, with no fewer than 20j0C0 men, the
unhappy Numantines were at laft driven into the- city,
where they fultained for a little longer the miferies of
famine. Finding at laft, however, that it vvas altoge¬
ther impoffible to hold out, it was refolved by the ma¬
jority to fubmit to the pleafure of the Roman comman-
der. But this refolution was not univerfally approved. Miferable
Many Ihut them/elves up in their houfes, and died olenc'ofihe
hunger, while even thofe who had agreed to furrender P60!1*6’
repented their offer, and fetting fire to their houfes,
perithed in the flames with their wives and children, fo
that not a Angle Numantirre was left alive to grace the
triumph of the conqueror of Carthage.
Alter the deftrudtion of Numantia the whole of Spain
fubmitted to the Roman yoke 5 and nothing remarkable
happened till the times of the Cimbri, when a praetorian
army was cut off in Spain by the Lufitanians. From
this time nothing remarkable occurs in the hiftory of
Spain till the civil war between Marius and Sylla. The
latter having crufhed the Marian faction, as related un¬
der the article Rome, proferibed ail thofe that had Tided
againft him whom he could not immediately deffroy.
Among thefe was Sertorius, a man of oonfummate va-Sertorfus
lour and experience in war. He had been appointed fupports the
praetor of Spain by Marius j and upon the overthrow of ^lat'.ai'1 tac*
Marius, retired to that province. Sylla no fooner ^on ‘a
heard of his arrival in that country, than he fent thi-"p<l‘ *
ther one Caius Annius with a powerful army to drive
him out. As Sertorius had but few troops along with
him, he difpatched one Julius Salinator with a body
of 6000 men to guard the pafles of the Pyrenees, and
to prevent Annius from entering the country. But Sali-
nator having been treacheroufly murdered by affaffins
hired by Annius for that purpofe, he no longer met
with any ©bftacle j and Sertorius was obliged to em-Is driven
bark for the coaft of Africa with 3000 men, being allout>ancl
he had now remaining. With thefe he landed in Mau- undei'g°es
ritania ; but as his men were ftraggling carelefsly about, harcJ*
great numbers of them were cut off by the Barbarians.
This new misfortune obliged Sertorious to re-embark for
Spain ; but finding the whole coaft lined with the
troops of Annius, he put to fea again, not knowing
what courfe to fleer. In this new voyage he met with
a fmall fleet of Cilician pirates j and having prevailed
3 Q. with
SPA
t 490 ]
SPA
Si/iia.
Lands in
Africa, and
carries on a
fuccefsful
war in that
country.
32
Returns to
Spain, and
defeats the
Romans
there.
33
Eredts Lu
iitania into
a republic.
with them to join him, he made a defcent on the coaft
of Ivi^a, overpowered the garrifon left there by An-
nius, and gained a confiderable booty. On the news
of this vidlory Annius fet fail for Ivi^a, with a confi-
derable fquadron, having 5000 land forces on board.
Sertorius, not intimidated by the fuperiority of the
enemy, prepared to give them battle. But a violent
ftorm arifing, molt of the fhips were driven on fhore
and dallied to pieces, Sertorius himfelf with great diffi¬
culty efcaping with the fmall remains of his fleet. For
fome time he continued in great danger, being prevent¬
ed from putting to fea by the fury of the waves, and
from landing by the enemy ; at laft, the ftorm abating,
he pafled the ftraits of Gades, now Gibraltar, and land¬
ed near the mouth of the river Baetis. Here he met
with fome feamen newly arrived from the Atlantic or
Fortunate iflands; and was fo charmed with the account
which they gave him of thofe happy regions, that he
refolved to retire thither to fpend the reft of his life in
quiet and happinefs. But having communicated this
defign to the Cilician pirates, they immediately aban¬
doned him, and fet fail for Africa, with an intention to
affift one of the barbarous kings againft bis fubjefls who
had rebelled. Upon this Sertorius failed thither alfo,
but took the oppofite fide •, and having defeated the king
named Afcalis, obliged him to fliut himfelf up in the
city of Tingis, now Tangier, which he clofely befieged.
But in the mean time Pacianus, who had been fent by
Sylla to affift the king, advanced with a confiderable
army againft Sertorius. Upon this the latter, leaving
part of his forces before the city, marched with the reft
to meet Pacianus, whofe army, though greatly fuperior
to his own in number, he entirely defeated ; killed the
general, and took all his forces prifoners.— 1 he fame of
this viflcry foon reached Spain ; and the Lufitanians,
being' threatened with a new war from Annius, invited
Sertorius to head their armies. With this requeft he
very readily complied, and foon became very formidable
to the Romans. Titus Didius, governor of that part
of Spain called Bcetica, firft entered the lifts with him 5
but he being defeated, Sylla next difpatched Metellus,
reckoned one of the beft commanders in Rome, to ftop
the progrefs of this new enemy. But Metellus, not-
withftanding all his experience, knew7 not how7 to a61:
againft Sertorius, wffio w7as continually changing his fta-
tion, putting his army into new7 forms, and contriving
new ftratagems. On his firft arrival he fent for L. Do-
mitius, then praetor of Hither Spain, to his afliftance j
but Sertorius being informed of his march, detached
Hirtuleius, or Herculeius, his quaeftor, againft him, who
gave him a total overthrow. Metellus then difpatched
Lucius Lollius praetor of Narbonne Gaul againft Hir-
tuleius •, but he met with no better fuccefs, being ut¬
terly defeated, and bis lieutenant-general killed.
The fame of thefe vlftories brought to the camp of
Sertorius fuch a number of illuftrious Roman citizens
of the Marian fadlipn, that he formed a defign of eredft-
ing Lufitania into a republic in oppofition to that of
Rome. Sylla w7?.s continually fending frefh (upplies to
Metellus 5 but Sertorius with a handful of men, ac-
cuftomed to range about the mountains, to endure hun¬
ger and thirft, and live expofed to the inclemencies of
the weather, fo harafled the Roman army, that Me¬
tellus himfelf began to be quite difeouraged. At laft,
Sertcrius hearing that Metellus had fpoken difrefpefl-
fully of his courage, challenged his nntagonift to end Spain,
the w7ar by fingle combat ■, but Metellus very pru--\r—
dently declined the combat, as being advanced in years j
yet this refufal brought upon him the contempt ot the 34
unthinking multitude, upon which Metellus refolved to Obliges
retrieve his reputation by fome fignal exploit , and tQ
therefore laid fiege to Lacobriga, a confiderable city in (-erre
thofe parts. This he hoped to reduce in two days, ascobriga.
there was but one well in the place ■, but Sertorius ha¬
ving prcviouily removed all thofe who could be of no
fervice during the fiege, and conveyed 6000 Ikins full of
water into the city, Metellus continued a long time be¬
fore it without making any impreftion. At laft, his
provifions being almoft fpent, he fent out Aquinus at
the head of 6000 men to procure a new fupply ; but
Sertorius falling unexpeftedly upon them, cut in pieces
or took the whole detachment j the commander himfelf
being the only man wffio efcaped to carry the news of
the difafter ; upon which Metellus was obliged to raife
the fiege wffih difgrace. 3-
And now Sertorius, having gained fome intervals cfCiviiizesihe
cafe in confequence of the many advantages he had ob-Lufitaniansi
tained over the Romans, began to civilize his new fub-
■jedls. Their favage and furious manner of fighting he
changed for the regular order and difeipline ol a well-
formed army •, he beftow7ed liberally upon them gold and
filver to adorn their arms, and by converfing familiarly
with them, prevailed with them to lay afide their oxvn
drefs for the Roman toga. He fent for all the children
of the principal people, and placed them in the great
city of Ofca, now Huefca, in the kingdom of Ara¬
gon, where he appointed them maflers to inftrudl them
in the Roman and Greek learning, that they might, as
he pretended, be capable of lharing with him the go¬
vernment of the republic. Thus he made them really
hoilages for the good behaviour of their parents ; how¬
ever, the latter wrere greatly pleafed with the care he
took of their children, and all Lufitania were in the
higheft degree attached to their new fovereign. This
attachment he took care to heighten by the power of
fuperftition ; for having procured a young hind of a
milk-white colour, he made it fo tame that it followed
him wherever he went 5 and Sertcrius gave cut to the
ignorant multitude, that this hind was infpired by Dia¬
na, and revealed to him the defigns of his enemies, of
which he always took care to be well informed by the
great numbers of fpies whom he employed. t
While Sertorius was thus employed in eftablifhing his
authority, the republic of Rome, alarmed at his fuccefs,
refolved to crufli him at all events. Sylla-xvas now dead,
and ail the eminent generals in Rome folicited this ho-p0mpey tlie
nourable though dangerous employment. After much Great fent
debate a decree was pafled in favour of Pompey the
Great, but without recalling Metellus. In the mean ‘!,1"
time, the troops of one Perpenna, or Perperna, had,
in fpite of all that their general could do, abandoned
him, and taken the oath of allegiance to Sertorius.
This was a moft fignal advantage to Sertorius ; for Per¬
penna commanded an army of 33,000 men, and had
come into Spain with a defign to fettle there as Serto-
rius had done ; but as he was defeended from one of
the firft families of Rome, he thought it below his dig¬
nity to ferve under any general, however eminent he
might he. But the troops of Perperna were of a dif¬
ferent opinion j and therefore declaring that they would
ferve
37
Sertorius
befieges
Lauion.
SPA [ 49
Spain, ferve none but a general who could defend himfelf, they
— 1 lo a man joined Sertorius } upon which Perperna him¬
felf finding he could do no better, confented to ferve
alio as a (ubaltern.
On the arrival of Pompey in Spain, feveral of the
cities which had hitherto continued faithiul to Serto¬
rius began to waver) upon which the latter refolved,
by fome fignal exploit, to convince them that Pompey
could no more fcreen them from his refentment than Me-
tellus. With this view he laid fiege to Lauron, now
Lirias, a place of confiderable flrength. Pompey, not
doubting but he (liould be able to raife the fiege, march¬
ed quite up to the enemy’s lines, and found means to
inform the garrifon-that thole who befieged them were
themielves befieged, and would foon be obliged to re¬
tire with lofs and difgrace. On hearing this meffage,
“ I will teach Sylla’s difciple (faid Sertorius), that it is
the duty of a general to look behind as well as before
him.” Having thus fpoken, he fent orders to a detach¬
ment of 6ooo men, who lay concealed among the moun¬
tains, to come down and fall upon his rear if he ihould
offer lo force the lines. Pompey, furprifed at their fud-
den appearance, durfi: not ftir out of bis camp ; and in
the mean time the befieged, defpainng of relief, iur-
rendered at difcretion ; upon which Sertorius granted
them their lives and liberty, but reduced their city to
aflies.
While Sertorius was thus fuccefsfully contending
with Pompey, his queftor Hirtuleius was entirely de¬
feated by Metellus, with the lofs of 40,000 men ; upon
which Sertorius advanced with the utmoit expedition to
the banks of the Sucro in Tarraconian Spain, with a
defign to attack Pompey before he could be joined by
Metellus. Pompey, on his part, did not decline the
combat ; but, fearing that Metellus might ihare the
glory of the vi&ofy, advanced with the gieateft expe¬
dition. Sertorius put off the battle till towards the
evening; Pompey, though he knew that the night would
prove difadvant&geous to him, whether vanquiihed or
vi&orious, becauie his troops were unacquainted with
the country, refolved to venture an engagement, efpe-
cially as he feared that Metellus might arrive in the
mean time, and rob him of part of the glory of con¬
quering fo great a commander. Pompey, who com¬
manded his own right wing, foon obliged Perperna,
who commanded Sertorius’s left, to give way. Here¬
upon Sertorius himfelf, taking upon him the command
of that wing, brought back the fugitives to the charge,
and obliged Pompey to fly in his turn. In his flight he
was overtaken by a gigantic African, who had al¬
ready li ted up his hand to ducharge a blow7 at him
with his broad fword ; but Pompey prevented him by
cutting off his right hai d at one blow7. As he ftill
continued his flight, he was wounded and thrown from
his horfe -, fo that he would certainly have been taken
prifoner, had not the Africans who purfued him quar¬
relled about the rich furniture of his horfe. I his gave
an opportunity to the general to make l is efcape •, fo
.that at length he reached his camp with much difficul¬
ty. But in the mean time Afranius, who commanded
the left wing of the Roman army, had entirely defeated
the wing which Sertorius had left, and even purfijed
them fo clofe that he entered the camp along with
them. Sertorius, returning fuddenly, found the Ro¬
mans bufy in plundering the tents j when taking ad van-
38
Takes and
hums it in
the light of
Pompty.
39
Defeats
Pompey on
the banks
of the
Sucro.
Spain.
40
Pompey
An. 73.
B. C.
i ] SPA
tage of their fituation, he drove them out with great
{laughter, and retook their camp. Next day he offered
battle a fecond lime to Pompey 5 but Metellus then co¬
ming up with all his forces, he thought proper to de¬
cline an engagement with both commanders. In a few
days, however, Pompey and Metellus agreed to attack defeated a
the camp of Sertorius. The event was fimilar to that of lecond
the former battle 5 Metellus defeated Perperna, and Ser-nrac’
torius routed Pompey. Being then informed of Per-
perna’s misfortune, he haftened to his relief; rallied the
fugitives, and repulfed Metellus in his turn, wounded
him with his lance, and would certainly have killed
him, had not the Romans, afhamed to leave their gene¬
ral in diftrefs, haftened to his affiiiance, and renewed the
fight with great fury. At lait Sertorius u7as obliged to
quit the field, and retire to the mountains. Pompey pompfery and
and Metellus haftened to befiege him ; but while they Metellus
were forming their camp, Sertorius broke through their driven from
lines, and ef'eaped into Lufitania. Here he foon raifed Sp«in by
fuch a powerful army, that the Roman generals, withSertoriUb'
their united forces, did not think proper to venture an
engagement with him. They could not, however, refift
the perpetual attacks of Sertorius, who now7 drove them
from place to place, till he obliged them to feparate 5
the one went into Gaul, and the other to the foot of the
Pyrenees. 4}
Thus did this celebrated commander triumph over all
the power of the Romans ; and there is little doubt ouily‘mur-
he would have continued to make head againfl; all the^rgd.
other generals whom the republic could have fent, had
he not been affaffinated at an entertainment by the infa¬
mous treachery of Perperna, in 73 B. C. after he had
made head againft the Roman forces for almoit 10
years. Pompey was no fooner informed of his death,
than, without waiting for any new7 fuccours, he marched
againft the traitor, whom he eafily defeated and took
prifoner 5 and having caufed him to be executed, thus
put an end, with very little glory, to a moft dangerous
wrar.
Many of the Spanifh nations, however, ftill continued
to bear the Roman yoke with great impatience ; and as
the civil wrars which took place firft between Julius Cm-
far and Pompey, and afterwards between Ocfavianus
and Antony, diverted the attention of the republic from
Spain, by the time that Auguftus had become foie maf-
ter of the Roman empire, they were again in a condi¬
tion to affert their liberty. The Cantabrians and As¬
turians wTere the moft powerful and valiant nations at
that time in Spain ; but, after incredible efforts, they
w7ere obliged to lay down their aims, or rather were
almoft exterminated by Agrippa, as related under thefe
articles.
When the Romans firft became maflers of the weftern Spain under
peninfula of Europe, to which, as we have faid, they the Ro-
gave the name of Hifpania, it w7as divided into twTo pro-n!ans*
vinces, called Citerior and Ulterior, which were go¬
verned, fometimes by praetors, and fometimes by pro-
confuls. In the diftribution of the empire by Auguftus,
Ilifpania Citerior contained the modern provinces of
Gallicia, the Afturias, Biicay, Navarre, Leon, the two
Caftiles, Aragon, Catalonia, Murcia, and Valencia ; and
w7as denominated Provincia Tarraconenjis, from the city
of Tarragona in Catalonia, which was then the feat of
government. Hifpania Ulterior was fubdivided into
Bietica, including the provinces new called Granada
3 ^ and
43
Spain,
44
State of
Reman
Spain.
SPA [ 49
and Andalulia j and Lufitania, comprehending the great-
eft part of Eftremadura, and the modern kingdom of
Portugal. The province called Tarraconenjis was then
inhabited by the following tribes, viz. the Shifetani,
occupying the fea coaft, at the north eaft, between the
Ter and the Lobregat, and having for their capital
Germa ; the Ceretani, inhabiting the diftridt of Cerda-
na, at the foot of the Pyrenees, whofe capital was Jtilia,
the modern Liivia ; the Valetani, occupying the lea
coaft between the rivers Ter and Lobregat, in the im¬
mediate neighbourhood of the Anfetani, and whofe ca¬
pital was Barcelona ; the Cofetani to the left of the
mouth of the Ebro, with Tarragona for their capital ;
the Locetatii, on the left bank of the river Sicoris ; the
Illergctes, extending from that river to the fmall ftream
Gallego, which joins the Ebro near Zaragoza, whofe
capital was Lerida } the Jacetani in the northern extre¬
mity of Aragon, having their feat of government at
Jacaj the Vqfconcs m Navarre, and the Varduii in the
modern Guipuzcoa. Thefe nations occupied the fou-
thern and eaftern parts of the province. The northern
was polfeffed by the Cari/H, the O/tregones, both in Bif-
cay; the Cantabri, cantoned near the fource of the
Ebro, and along the bay of Bifcay ; the AJlures in Af-
turias and part of Leon ; the Callceci in Gallicia ; the
Vaccem along the Douro ; the Arebaci in Old Caftile ;
the Celtiberi, between the Ebro and the fource of the
Tagus, and many others of inferior note.
Lufitania was held by three principal tribes, the Z«-
$tam, occupying the greater part of the province, and
having for their capital the modern Lifbon 3 the Vetto-
nes and the Ce/tici.
Beetle a was inhabited by the Turdetani, the' Turduli,
the Ba/titani, and the Bajluli.
All thefe diftridls, with their principal towns, are
minutely treated of by Dr Playfair, in the firft volume
of his geography.
When incorporated with the Roman empire, Spain
partook of its tranquillity, and received in exchange
for her liberty, at leaft wife laws and a mild govern¬
ment. If (he could not prevent herfelf from falling un¬
der the dominion of the mafters of the world, (lie was at
lead; the moft powerful, the richeft, and the happieft
province of their empire. C lumella has left us an in-
terefting account of her agriculture under the firil empe¬
rors. The tradition of her ancient population is proba¬
bly exaggerated, but the ruins of feveral towns prove it
to have been confiderable. It was increafed by a great
many Roman families after the conqueft ; feveral legions
were eftabhlhed in Spain 3 25 colonies rvere diftributed
irj the moft fertile parts of the country, and intermarried
with the inhabitants. After a while the Spaniards, fee¬
ing in their mafters only countrymen, were the firft to
folicit the rights of Roman citizens, by which they weie
completely confolidated. Some municipal towns went
fo far as to defire permiflion to take the title of colonies,
■though in the change they loft their independence, near-
Iv in the fame manner ascertain prop ietors of lands un¬
der the feudal fyftem converted their domains into fiefs,
in order to enjoy the honours attached to them. The
government was, in general, milder in S ain than in
the other Roman provinces. The adnv'niftration was
carried on in the towns b\ magiflrates named by them-
felves, and the different piov.nc.es were under the fuper-
SpniHi
2 ] SPA
intendance of prsetors, proconfuls, and legates or depu¬
ties, according to the different eras of the Roman em-'
pire ; thofe in their refpective departments took care of
all the works of public utility, the aquedu&s, baths,
circufes, and highways, whole magnificent ruins are
ftill exitting 3 but they were principally employed in
collefting the revenues of the ftate, which were fingu-
larly analogous to thofe of the prefent times. They
principally arofe from dues, fines, or alienations of pro¬
perty, and the produce of the mines. Spain at that
time drew from her own mines the fame riches Ihe now
draws from the new world, and they were diftributed in
nearly the fame manner. One part belonged to the ftate,
and the other to the inhabitants of the country, who
paid a certain duty on the metals which they procured
from the mines. Their returns went on increafing, and
depended entirely on the number of hands which could
be devoted to work in the mines. An employment,
fo 1 aborious, however, which required a numerous popu¬
lation, tended to diminilh that population by the excef-
five fatigues which it occafioned. Agriculture alfo buf¬
fered by the accumulation of eftates in the hands of a
few wealthy landholders. By the little attention paid
to it by the proprietors, and by the defefts infeparable
from the fyftem of cultivation by means of Haves, com¬
merce and induftry languslhed 3 and Spain, after having
fhared in the fplendor of the Roman empire, was begin¬
ning to participate in its decline, when a new calamity,
by completing her ruin, prepared her regeneration.
This calamity was the irruption of the northern
hordes, which foon involved Spain in the general at¬
tack. This province was invaded firft by the Franks,
who in the third century had entered Gaul with a formi¬
dable force.
The Rhine, though dignified by the title of Safeguard Spain m-
of the Provinces, was an imperfedl barrier againft the vaf*ecl
daring fpirit of enterprife with which the Franks were’he Frank‘i*
aftuated. Their rapid devaftations ftretched from the A‘ D‘ 26°’
river to the foot of the Pyrenees 3 nor were they flop¬
ped by thofe mountains. Spain, which had never dread¬
ed, wTas unable to refift the inroads of the Germans.
During 12 years, the greateft part of the reign of Gal-
lienus, that opulent country was the theatre of unequal
and deftru£Hve hoftilities. Tarragona, the flourilhing
capital of a peaceful province, was backed and almoft
deftroyed ; and fo late as the days ot Orofius, who wrote
in the 5th century, wretched cottages, fcattered amidft
the ruins of magnificent cities, ftill recorded the rage of
the barbarians. When the exhaufted country no longer
fupplied a variety of plunder, the Franks feizedon fome
veflels, and retreated to Mauritania. ^
The fituation of Spain, feparated, on all fides, from By the
the enemies of Rome, by the fea, by the mountains, and suevi, Varf.
by inSermediate provinces, had fecured the long tran-^al5>
quillity of that remote and fequeftered country 3 and we An. 409.
may obferve, as a fure fymptom of domeftic happinefs,
that, in a period of 400 years, Spain furniftied very few
materials to the hiitoiy of the Roman empire. The
footfteps of the Barbarians, who, in the reign of Gal-
lienus, had penetrated bey' nd the Pyrenees, were foon
obliterated by the return of peace ; and in the 4th cen¬
tury of the Chriftian era, the cities of Emerita or Meri¬
da, of Corduba, Seville, Bracara, and Tarragona, were
numbered with the moft iiluftiious of the Roman world.
The
45
SPA [ 493 1 s p A
Spain. The various plenty of the animal, the vegetable, and
■■ i y'i.wi. mineral hingdoms, was impioved and manufadfured
by the Ikill of an induftrious people •, and the peculiar
advantages of naval itores contributed to fupport an ex-
tenfive and profitable trade. The arts and faiences fiou-
rifhed under the protection of the emperors 5 and if the
character of the Spaniards was enfeebled by peace and
fervitude, the hofiile approach of the Germans, who had
fpread terror and defolation from the Rhine to the Py¬
renees, feemed to rekindle fome fparks of military ar¬
dour. As long as the defence of the mountains was in-
trufted to the hardy and faithful militia of the country,
they fuccefsfully repelled the frequent attempts of the
Barbarians. But no (boner had the national troops been
compelled to refign their poll to the Honorian bands,
in the fervice of Confiantine, than the gates of Spain
were treacheroufiy betrayed to the public enemy, about
ten months before the fack of Rome by the Goths. 1 he
confcioufnefs of guilt, and the third: of rapine, prompted
the mercenary guards of the Pyrenees to defert their
Ration ; to invite the arms of the Suevi, the Vandals,
and the Alani; and to fwell the torrent which was
poured with irrefiftible violence from the frontiers of
Gaul to the fea of Africa. The misfortunes of Spain
may be defcribed in the language of its mod eloquent
hidorian, who has concifely expreffed the paflionate, and
perhaps exaggerated, declamations of contemporary
writers. “ The irruption of thefe nations was followed
by the mod dreadful calamities ; as the Barbarians ex-
ercifed their indifcriminate cruelty on the fortunes of the
Romans and the Spaniards 5 and ravaged with equal fu¬
ry the cities and the open country. The progrefs of
famine reduced the miferable inhabitants to feed on the
tie(li of their fellow creatures •, and even the wild beads,
who multiplied, without controul, in the defert, were
exafperated, by the tade of blood, and the impatience of
hunger, boldly to attack and devour their human prey.
Pedilence (bon appeared, the infeparable companion of
famine} a large proportion of the people was (wept
away •, and the groans of the dying excited only the
envy of their furviving friends. At length the Barba¬
rians, fatiated with carnage and rapine, and afflifted by
the contagious evil which they themfelves had introdu¬
ced, fixed their permanent feats in the depopulated coun¬
try. The ancient Gallicia, whofe limits included the
kingdom of Old CafHle, was divided between the Suevi
and the Vandals, the Alani were fcattered over the
provinces of Carthagena and Lufitania, and from the
Mediterranean to the Atlantic ocean ; and the fruitful
territory of Bse ica was allotted to the Silingi, another
branch of the Vandalic nation. After regulating this
partition, the conquerors contracted with their new fub-
jefts fome reciprocal engag?:ments of protection and obe¬
dience : the lands were again cultivated and the towns
and villages were again occupied by a captive people.
The greateft part of the Soaniards was even difpofed to
prefer this new condition of poverty and barbarifm, to
the fevere oppreffions of the Roman government; yet
there were many who (till afferted their native freedom,
• Mariana 3nd wllo rdfufedi move erpecially in the mountains of
tattVb v Grallicia, to fubmit to the barbarian yoke
The important prefent of the heads of Jovinus and
Sebaftian, had approved the friendfhip of Adolphus,
and reflored Gaul to the obedience of his brother Ho-
norius. Peace was incompatible with the fituation and
temper of the king of the Goths. He readily accepted Spain,
the propofal of turning his viftorious arms againft the —v—,“l
barbarians of Spain ; the troops of Comtantius intercept¬
ed his communication with the fea-ports o( Gaul, and
gently prtffed his march towards the Pyrenees. Pie
paffed the mountains, and furpriied, in the name of the
emperor, the city of Barcelona. The fondnefs of Adol¬
phus for his Roman bride, Placidia, was not abated by time
or poffeflion •, and the birth of a ibn, (urnamed, from his
illuftrious grandfire, Theodofius, appeared to fix him
for ever in the intereft of the republic. The lofs of that
infant, whofe remains were depofited in a filver coffin
in one of the churches near Barcelona, afflifted his pa¬
rents ; but the griet of the Gothic king was fufpended
by the labours of the field : and the courfe of his victo¬
ries was foon interrupted by domeftic treafon. Pie had
imprudently received into his fervice one pf the follow¬
ers of Sams ; a barbarian of a daring fpirit, but ot a
diminutive llature 5 whofe (ecret defire of revenging the
death of his beloved patron, was continually irritated
by the farcafms of his infolent mafter. Adolphus was An. 415.
affaffinated in the palace of Barcelona ; the laws of the
fuccefiion were violated by a tumultuous faCfion 5 and a
ftranger to the royal race, Singeric, the brother of Sa¬
ms himfelf, was (bated on the Gothic throne. The firfi:
abt of his reign was the inhuman murder of the fix chil¬
dren of Adolphus, the iffue of a former marriage, whom
he tore, without pity, from the feeble arms of a vene¬
rable bifhop. The unfortunate Placidia, inflead of the
refpectful compaffian, which (he might have excited in
the moft favage breads, was treated with cruel and
wanton infult. The daughter of the emperor Theodo¬
fius, confounded among a crowd of vulgar captives, was
compelled to march on foot above x 2 miles, before the
horfe of a barbarian, the affaffm of a hulband whom Pla¬
cidia loved and lamented.
But Piacidia foon obtained the pleafure of revenge ; Conquered
and the view of her ignominious fufferings might roufe by the
an indignant people againd the tyrant, who was affaffi-Goths,
nated on the feventh day of his ufurpation. After the An. 415
death of Singeric, the free choice of the nation bedowed —4l8* -
the Gothic fceptre on Wallia, whofe warlike and ambi¬
tious temper appeared, in the beginning of his reign, ex¬
tremely hodile to the republic. He marched, in arms,
from Barcelona to the ffiores of the Atlantic ocean,
which the ancients revered and dreaded as the boundary
of the world. But when he reached the fouthern pro¬
montory of Spain, and, from the rock now covered by
the fortrefs of Gibraltar, contemplated the neighbouring
and fertile coad of Africa, Wallia refumed thedefignsof
conqued, which had been interrupted by the death of
Alaric. The winds and waves d fappointed the en-
terprifes of the Goths ; and the minds of a fuperdi-
tious people were deeply affebled by the repeated difad-
ers of dorms and (hipwrecks. In this difpofition, the
fucceffor of Adolphus no longer refufed to liden to a
Roman atrbaffador, whofe propofals were enforced by
the real, or fuppofed, approach of a numerous army,
under the conduft of the brave Condantius. A folemn
treaty was dipulated and obferved : Placidia was ho¬
nourably redored to her brother j 600,000 meafures of
wheat were delivered to the hungry Goths; and Wallia
engaged to draw his fword in the fervice of the empire.
A bloody war was indantly excited among the barbari-’
ans of Spain j and the contending princes are faid to
SPA [ 494 ] SPA
Spain. have addiefled their letters, their ambaffadors, and their
«~ l10ftages, to the throne of the weftern emperor, exhort¬
ing him to remain a tranquil fpedfator of their conteft ;
the events of which mull; he favourable to the Homans,
by the mutual daughter of their common enemies. The
Spanith war was obftinately fupported, during three
campaigns, with del’perate valour, and various luccefs j
and the martial achievements of Wallia diffufed through
the empire the fupevior renown of the Gothic hero. He
exterminated the Silingi, who had irretrievably ruined
the elegant plenty of the province of Baetica. He flew
in battle the king of the Alani ; and the remains of
thofe Scythian wranderers, who efcaped from the field,
inftead of chooiing a new leader, humbly fought a re¬
fuge under the ftandaid of the Vandals, with whom
they were ever afterwards confounded. The Vandals
themfelves, and the Suevi, yielded to the efforts of the
invincible Goths. The promifeuous multitude of bar¬
barians, whofe retreat had been intercepted, were driven
into the mountains of Gallicia, where they flill conti¬
nued, in a narrow compafs, and on a barren foil, to ex-
ercife their domeftic and implacable hollilities. Lithe
pride of viftory, Wallia was faithful to his engage¬
ments j he reftored his Spanifh conquefts to the obedi¬
ence of Honorius ; and the tyranny of the imperial offi¬
cers foon reduced an oppreffed people to regret the time
of their barbarian fervitude. While the event of the
war wTas ftill doubtful, the firfi advantages obtained by
the arms of Wallia, had encouraged the court of Ra¬
venna to decree the honours of a triumph to their feeble
fovereign. He entered Rome like the ancient conquer¬
ors of nations; and if the monuments of fervile corrup¬
tion had not long fince met with the fate which they
deferved, we fhould probably find that a crowd of poets,
and orators, of magiftrates and bifhops, applauded the
fortune, the wifdom, and the invincible courage, of the
emperor Honorius.
An. 42T. After the retreat of the Goths, the authority of Ho¬
norius had obtained a precarious eftablifliment in Spain;
except only in the province of Gallicia, where the Suevi
and the Vandals had fortified their camps, in mutual
diicord, and hoflile independence. The Vandals pre¬
vailed ; and their adverfaries were befieged in the Ner-
vafean hills, between Leon and Oviedo, till the ap¬
proach of Count Afterius compelled, or rather provoked,
the victorious barbarians to remove the feene of the war
to the plains of Baetica. The rapid progrefs of the
Vandals foon required a more effectual oppofition ; and
the matter-general Coftinus marched againft them with
a numerous army of Romans and Goths. Vannuifhed
in battle by an inferior enemy, Coftinus fled with difho-
nour to Tarragona ; and this memorable defeat, which
has been reprefented as the puniihment, was moft pro¬
bably the effect, of his rafli prefumption. Seville and
Carthagena became the reward, or rather the prey, of
the ferocious conquerors ; and the veffels which they
found in the harbour of Carthagena, might eafily trans¬
port them to the ifles of Majorca and Minorca, where
the Spanifh fugitives, as in a fecure recefs, had vainly
concealed their families and their fortunes. The expe¬
rience of navigation, and perhaps the profpeCt of Africa,
encouraged the Vandals to accept the invitation which
they received from Count Boniface; and the death of
Gonderic ferved only to forward and animate the bold
enterprife. In the room of a prince, not confpicuous
4
for any fuperior powers of the mind or body, they ac- Spain,
quired his baflard brother, the terrible Genferic; a '"““'“v “
name which, in the defhuClion of the Roman empire,
has deferved an equal rank with the names of Aiaric
and Attila. Almoit in the moment of his departure he
was informed, that Hermanric, king of the Suevi, had
piefumed to ravage the Spanith territories, which he
was refolved to abandon. Impatient of the infult, Gen¬
feric purfued the hafty retreat of the Suevi as far as Me¬
rida ; precipitated the king and his army into the river
Anas, and calmly returned to the fea fhore, to embark
his vidtorious troops. The veffels which tranfported the
Vandals over the modern ftraits of Gibraltar, a channel
only twelve miles in breadth, were furnifhed by the Spa¬
niards, who anxioufly wifhed their departure ; and by
the African general, who had implored their formidable
affiftai ice.
When Theodoric king of the Vifigoths encouraged Ar,
Avitus to affume the purple, he offered his perfon and
his forces, as a faithful foldier of the republic. The ex¬
ploits of Theodoric foon convinced the world, that he
had not degenerated from the warlike vintues of his an-
ceflors. After the efiablifhment of the Goths in Aqui-
tain, and the paffage of the Vandals into Africa, the
Suevi, who had fixed their kingdom in Gallicia, afpired
to the conquell of Spain, and threatened to extinguifh
the feeble remains of the Roman dominion, The pro¬
vincials of Carthagena and Tarragona, afflidled by an
hoflile invafion, reprefented their injuries and their ap~
prehenfions. Count Fronto was difpatched, in the name
of the emperor Avitus, with advantageous offers of
peace and alliance; and Theodoric interpofed his
weighty mediation, to declare that, unlefs Iris brother-
in-law, the king of the Suevi, immediately retired, he
fhould be obliged to arm in the caufe of juib’ce and of
Rome. “ Tell him,” replied the haughty Rechiarius,
“ that I defpife his friendfhip and his arms ; but that I
fliall foon try, whether he will dare to expert my arri¬
val under the walls of Thouloufe.” Such a challenge
urged Theodoric to prevent the-bold defigns of his ene¬
my : He paffed the Pyrenees at the head of the Vifi-
golhs; the Franks and Burgundians ferved under his
ffandard ; and though he profeffed himfelf the dutiful
feivant of Avitus, he privately ftipulated, for himfelf
and his fucceffors, the abfolute pcffeffion of his Spanifh
conquefls. The two armies, or rather the two nations,
encountered each other on the banks of the river Urbi-
cus, about i 2 miles from Allorga ; and the decifive vic¬
tory of the Goths appeared for a while to have extirpa¬
ted the name and kingdom of ths Suevi. From the field
of battle Theodoric advanced to Braga, their metropo¬
lis, which flill retained the fplendid vefiiges of its an¬
cient commerce and dignity. Flis entrance was not pol¬
luted with blood, and the Goths refpefted the chaflity
of their female captives, more efpecially of the confe-
crated virgins ; but the greateft part of the clergy and
people were made flaves, and even the churches and al¬
tars were confounded in the univerfal pillage. The un¬
fortunate king of the Suevi had efcaped to one of the
ports of the ocean ; but the obflinacy of the winds op-
pofed his flight; he was delivered to his implacable ri¬
val; and Rechiarius, who neither defired nor expefled
mercy, received, with manly conftancy, the death which
he would probably have infkfted. After this bloody
facrifice to policy cr refentment, Theodoric carried his
viil.orioYSS
SPA
[ 495 ]
SPA
4$
Introduc¬
tion of
Chriftiani-
ty
5^9
Spain. v!£lorious arms as far as Merida, the principal town of
 Lufitania, without meeting any refiftance, except from
the miraculous powers of St Eulalia ; but he was flop¬
ped in the full career of fuccefs, and recalled from
Spain, before he could provide for the fecurily of his
conquerts. In his retreat towards the Pyrenees, he re¬
venged his difappointment on the country through
which he paffed •, and in the fack of Pallentia and A-
florga, he fliewed himfelf a faitblefs ally, as well as a
cruel enemy.
Recared was the firft Catholic king of Spain. He had
imbibed the faith of his unfortunate brother, and he flip-
ported it with more prudence and fuccefs. Inftead of re¬
volting againft his father, Recared patiently expe£ted
An. 5S6. hour 0f death. Inflead of condemning his me¬
mory, he pioufly fuppofed, that the dying monarch had
abjured the errors of Arianifm, and recommended to
his fon the converfion of the Gothic nation. Ho ac-
complifli that falutary end, Recared convened an affem-
bly of the Arian clergy and nobles, declared himfelf a
Catholic, and exhorted them to imitate the example of
their prince. The laborious interpretation of doubtful
texts, or the curious purfuit of metaphyfical arguments,
would have excited endlefs controverfy ; and the mo¬
narch difcreetly propofed to his illiterate audience, two
fubftantial and viflble arguments, the teftimony of Earth
and of Heaven. The Earth had fubmitted to the Ni-
cene fynod : the Romans, the Barbarians, and the inha¬
bitants of Spain, unanimoufly profefled the fame ortho¬
dox creed ; and the Viligoths refilled, almoft alone, the
confent of the Chriftian world. A fupcrftitious age
was prepared to reverence, as the teftimony of Heaven,
the preternatural cures which were performed by the
fkill or virtue of the Catholic clergy ; the baptifmal
fonts of Oflet in Bmtica, which were fpontaneoufly re-
pleniftied each year, on the vigil of Eafter ; and the
miraculous flirine of St Martin ef Tours, which had al¬
ready converted the Suevic prince and people of Galli-
cia. The Catholic king encountered fome difficulties
on this important change of the national religion. A
confpiracy, fecretly fomented by the queen-dowager,
wras formed againft his life •, and two counts excited a
dangerous revolt in the Narbonnefe Gaul. But Reca-
I red difarmed the confpirators, defeated the rebels, and
executed fevere juftice ; which the Arians, in their turn,
might brand with the reproach of perfecution. Eight
bithops, whofe names betray their Barbaric origin, ab¬
jured their errors ; and all the books of Allan theology
were reduced to allies, with the houfe in which they
had been purpofely collefted. The whole body of the
Vifigoths and Suevrwere allured or driven into the pale
of the Catholic communion ; the faith, at leaft, of the
riling generation, was fervent and lincere ; and the de¬
vout liberality of the Barbarians enriched the churches
and monafteries of Soain. Seventy bifhops affembled in
the council of Toledo, received the fubmiffion of their
conquerors; and the zeal of the Spaniards improved
the Nicene creed, by declaring the proceffion of the
Holy Ghoft from the Son, as well as from the Father j
a weighty point of doflrine, which produced, long af¬
terwards, the fchifm of the Greek and Latin churches,
i iie royal profelyte immediately faluted and confulted
Pope Gregory, liirnamed the Great, a learned and holy
prelate, whofe reign was diftinguiflred by the converfion
cf heretics and infidels. The ambaffadovs of Recared
refpeftfully offered on the threlhold of the Vatican his Spa;n.
rich prefents of gold and gems : they accepted, as a lu- '
crative exchange, the hairs of St John the Baptift j * Gibbon's
a crofs, which inclofed a fmail piece of the true wood 5 4t^
and a key, that contained 1’ome particles of iron which ^
had been feraped from the chains of St Peter*.
After their converfion from idolatry or herefy, the Legiflative
Franks and the Viligoths were difpofed to embrace, afiemblies
with equal fubmiffion, the inherent evils, and the acci-^^jA,,
dental benefits of fuperftition. But the prelates ofspajn.
France, long before the extinction of the Merovingian
race, had degenerated into fighting and hunting barba¬
rians. They difdained the ufe of fynods ; forgot the
laws of temperance and chaftity, and preferred the in¬
dulgence of private ambition and luxury, to the greateft
intereft of the facerdotal profeffion. The bifhops of
Spain refpefted themfelves, and were refpecVed by tbe
public : their indiffoluble union difguifed their vices,
and confirmed their authority 5 and the regular difei-
pline of the church introduced peace, order, and ftabi-
lity into the government of the ftate. From the reign
of Recared, the firft Catholic king, to that of Witiza,
the immediate predeceffor of the unfortunate Roderic,
fixteen national councils were fucceffively convened.
The fix metropolitans, Toledo, Seville, Merida, Braga,
Tarragona and Narbonne, prefided according to their
refpeCtive feniority ; the affembly was coropofed of their
fuffragan bifhops, who appeared in perfon, or by their
proxies ; and a place was affigned to the moft holy, or
opulent, of the Spaniffi abbots. During the firft three
days of the convocation, as long as they agitated the
ecclefiaftical queftions of doctrine and difeipline, the
profane laity was excluded from their debates ; which
were condufted, however, with decent folemniiy. But,
on the morning of the fourth day, the doors were thrown
open for the entrance of the great officers of the palace,
the dukes and counts of the provinces, the judges of the
cities, and the Gothic nobles ; and the decrees of Hea¬
ven were ratified by the confent of the people. The
fame rules were obferved in the provincial affemblies,
the annual fynods, which were empowered to hear com¬
plaints, and to redrefs grievances j and a legal govern¬
ment was fupported by the prevailing influence of the
Spanilh clergy. The bifhops who, in each revolution,
were prepared to flatter the victorious, and to infult the
proftrate, laboured, with diligence and fuccefs, to kindle
the flames of perfecution, and to exalt the mitre above
the crown. Yet the national councils of Toledo, in
which the free fpirit of the Barbarians was tempered?
and guided by epifcopal policy, have eftablifhed feme
prudent laws for the benefit of the king and people.
The vacancy of the throne was fupplied by the choice
of the bifhops and palatines 5 and after the failure of the
line of Alaric, the regal dignity was ftill limited to the
pure and noble blood of the Goths. The clergy, who
anointed their lawful prince, always recommended, and
fometimes praClifed, the duty of allegiance ; and the
fpiritual cenfures were denounced on the heads of the
impious fubjeCts, who fhould refill his authority, con-
fpire againft his life, or violate, by an indecent union,
the chaftity even of his widow. But the monarch him¬
felf, when he afeended the throne, was bound by a re¬
ciprocal oath to God and his people, that he would
faithfully execute his important truft. The real or
imaginary faults of his adminiftration were fubjeCI to
the- '
Spain.
5°
Code of
the Vi-
figoths.
SPA [ 496 ]
tlie controul of a powerful ariftocracy ■, and the biihops mountainous
and palatines were guarded by a fundamental privi¬
lege that they fliould not be degraded, imprifoned,
tortured, nor punithed with death, exile, or confifca-
tion, unlefs by the free and public judgement of their
peers.
One of thefe legiflative councils of Toledo, examined
and ratified the code of laws which had been compiled
by a fucceflion of Gothic kings, from the fierce Eurice,
to the devout Egica. As long as the Vifigoths them-
felves were fatisfied with the rude cuftoms of their an-
ceftors, they indulged their fubjefls of Aquitaine and
Spain in the enjoyment of the Roman law. Their gra¬
dual improvement in arts, in policy, and at length in
religion, encouraged them to imitate, and to fuperfede,
thefe foi'eign inftitutions, and to compofe a code of civil
and criminal jurifprudence, for the ufe of a great and
united people. The fame obligations, and the fame
privileges, were communicated to the nations of the
Spaniih monarchy ; and the conquerors, infenfibly re¬
nouncing the Teutonic idiom, fubmitted to the reftraints
of equity, and exalted the Romans to the participation
of freedom. The merit of this impartial policy was en¬
hanced by the fituation of Spain, under the reign of the
"Vifigoths. The provincials were long feparated from
their Arian mafters, by the irreconcileable difference of
religion. After the converfion of Recared had removed
the prejudices of the Catholics, the coafts, both of the
ocean and Mediterranean, were ftill poffeifed by the
Eaftern emperors, who fecretly excited a diicontented
people to rejeft the yoke of the barbarians, and to affert
the name and dignity of Roman citizens. The alle¬
giance ef doubtful fubje&s is indeed moft eifedlually fe-
cured by their own perfuafion, that they hazard more in
a revolt, than they can hope to obtain by a revolution ;
but it has appeared fo natural to opprefs thofe whom we
hate and fear, that the contrary fyftem well deferves the
praife of wifdom and moderation.
The Gothic princes continued to reign over a confi-
derable part of Spain till the beginning of the 8t.h cen¬
tury, when their empire was overthrown by the Sara-
racens. During this period, they had entirely expelled
the eaftern emperors from what they pofielfed in Spain,
The Gothic and even made confiderable conquefts in Barbary j but
kingdom towards the end of the 7th century the Saracens over¬
overthrown ran au part; 0f world w}th a rapidity which no-
oJns^6 ^ara* thing could refill; j and having foon poffeffed themfelves
of the Gothic dominions in Barbary, they made a de-
fcent upon Spain about the year 711 or 712. The
king of the Goths at that time was called Roderic, and
by his bad condu£t had occafioned great difaffeftion
among his fubje&s. He therefore determined to put
all to the ilfue of a battle, knowing that he could not
depend upon the fidelity of his own people if he allow¬
ed the enemy time to tamper with them. The two ar¬
mies met in a plain near Xeres in Andalufia. The
Goths began the attack with great fury j but though
they fought like men in defpair, they were at laft de¬
feated with exceflive flaughter, and their king himfelf
was fuppofed to have perilhed in the battle, being never
more heard of.
By this battle the Moors in a fhort time rendered
themfelves mafters of almoft all Spain. The poor re¬
mains of the Goths were obliged to retire into the
SPA
parts of Afturias, Burgos, and Bifcay : Spain,
the inhabitants of Aragon, Catalonia, and Navarre, v'-—*
though they might have made a confiderable Hand a-
gainft the enemy, chofe for the moft part to retire into ^
Fiance. In 718, however, the power of the Goths be-The power
gan again to revive under Don Pelagio or Pelayo, a t the
prince of the royal blood, who headed thofe that had re-
retired to the mountains alter the fatal battle of Xeres.' '''''' uer
The place where he firft laid the foundation of his go-
Pelagio.
51
An. 711.
vernment was in the Aftuvias, in the province ot Lie- An,7l
bana, about nine leagues in length and four in breadth.
This is the moft inland part of the country, full of
mountains enormoufly high, and fo much fortified by
nature, that its inhabitants are capable of refilling al¬
moft any number of invaders. Alakor the Saracen go¬
vernor was no fooner informed of this revival of the Goth¬
ic kingdom, than he fent a powerful army, under the
command of one Alchaman, to crufti Don Pelagio be¬
fore he had time to ellablilh his power. The king,
though his forces were fufficiently numerous (every one He gjveJ
of his fubjefls arrived at man’s etlate being a foldier),the Sara-
did not think proper to venture'a general engagement'''s a
in the open field; but taking poft with part of them(lrcacl,uI
himfelf in a cavern m a very high mountain, he con¬
cealed the reft among precipices, giving orders to them
to fall upon the enemy as foon as they ftiould perceive
him attacked by them. Thefe orders were pundlually
executed, though indeed Don Pelagio himfelf had re-
pulfed his enemies, but not without a miracle, as the
Spanith hiftorians pretend. The flaughter was dread¬
ful ; for the troops who lay in ambufcade joining the
reft, and rolling down huge ftones from the mountains
upon the Moors (the name by which the Saracens were
known in Spain), no fewer than 124.OOO of thefe un¬
happy people perifhed in one day. The remainder fled
till they were flopped by a river, and beginning to coaft
it, part of a mountain fuddenly fell down, flopped up the
channel of the river, and either crufhed or drowned, by
the fudden rifing of the water, almoft every one of that
vaft army.
The Moors were not fo much diftieartened by thisAno(}.er
difafter, but that they made a fecond attempt againft army cut in
Don Pelagio. Their fuccefs was as bad as ever, thepiece^r
greateft part of their army being cut in pieces or takeI^f -
taken \ in confequence of which, they loft all the
Afturias, and never dared to enter the lifts with Pelagio
afterwards. Indeed, their bad fuccefs had in a great
meafure taken from them the defire of conquering a
country where little or nothing was to be gained 5 and
therefore they rather direct'd their force againft France,
where they hoped for more plunder. Into this coun¬
try they poured in prodigious multitudes j but were
utterly defeated, in 732, by Charles Martel, with the
lofs of 300,000 men, as the hiftoriaus of thofe times
pretend.
The fubfequent hiftory of Spain is rendered fo confu-
fed by the numerous kingdoms that were eftablifhed ei¬
ther by the Chriftians or the Moors, that fome chrono¬
logical guide is neceffary to make it intelligible. Be¬
fore purfuing the thread of the narration, we ftiall lay
before our readers the following chronological table of
the cotemporary monarchs from Pelagio to Ferdinand
VII.
Chronological
3
/
Spaift.
SPA [ 497 ] SPA
Chronological Table of the Kings of Spain.
Spain,
1112
SPA
SPA
r 493 1
^ pa m.
Tear.
1126
1134
1150
“i'T
1158
1162
1188
i194
1196
1213
1214
1217
I234
1236
1252
12 53
1270
^273
1274
1276-
1284
1285
1291
1295
1202
I3°4
t3 so
1312
1315
i3‘6
13 2 2
13 26
,327
i3 28
I333
I336
1349
13>°
1369
I374
’379
J.;8?
1390
1392
I399
1396
14°4
1408
1412
1416
1423
M25
1427
143 2
I441
x445
slftnrias and Leon.
Alphonfo Vlil.
Ferdinand II.
Alphonfo IX.
CaJIile.
Alp Wo III.
Sancho II.
Alphonlo IV.
Aragon.
Ramiro II.
Petronilla.
Alphonfo II.
Pedro II
Henry.
Berenger. Ferd. I.
Alphonfo V.
Sancho III.
Ferdinand II.
James I.
Pedro III.
Alphonfo III.
James II.
Alphonfo VI.
Pedro.
Henry II.
John.
Henry III.
John II.
Alphonfo IV.
Pedro IV.
Martin.
Navarre.
Garcias V.
Srncho VI.
Sancho VII.
Saracens.
Phibaut I.
Thibaut II.
Henry.
Joanna.
Ferdinand I.
Alphonfo V.
Lewis.
Philip.
Charles.
Joanna II.
Charles II.
Mahomet.
Muley.
Charles III.
Blanche.
John.
Mahomet II.
Nazer.
Ifmael.
Mahomet HI.
Juzaf I.
Lago I.
Mahomet IV.
Mahomet V.
Juzaf II.
Baiba.
Juzaf III.
Elazlri,
Zagair.
Juzaf IV.
Ben Ofmin.
Spain,
145°
Spains
Year.
J453
145 8
H59
1474
M75
1479
148 s
1504
1506
1516
lSS3
I556
i572
1598
SPA
r 499 3
■{Jlarias and Leon.
Cajlile.
Henry IV.
Ifabella and Ferdi¬
nand V.
Joan.
Philip I.
Charles I.
Philip II.
Philip III.
Aragon.
John II.
Ferdinand II.
SPA
Navarre.
Eleonora.
Francis.
Catherine.
John.
Henry.
Joanna III.
Anthony.
Henry.
Saracens.
Ifmael.
Abilhuffa*.
Abouabdalla.
SpaU
Kings of Spain.
Years.
1516
I556
1598
1621
1665
1 700
1723
1724
1746
1759
1.7 8 8
1808
Monarchs.
House of Austria.
Charles I. (V.).
Philio II.
Philip III.
Philip IV.
Charles II.
House of Bourbon.
Philip V.
Louis I.
Philip V. again.
Ferdinand VI.
Charles III.
Charles IV.
Ferdinand VII.
v
An. 737. Hon Pel agio died in 737 j and lb on aiter his ueatn
fuch inleftine divifions broke out among the Moors, as
greatly favoured the increafe of the Chriftian power.
Xn 74 5 Don Alonfo the Catholic, fon-in-lavv to Pela¬
gic, in con'mmPiion wi‘h his brother I roila, p.ilL.d i. e
mountains, and fell upon tire northern part Gadicia;
ci; and meeting with little refillance, he recovered a>moil
Conquefts the whole of that province in a fmgle campaign. A xt
oftbe Chri- yt.ai- ]je invaded the plains of Leon and Caftle ; and
itises. gefore the Moors could atfemble any force to oppo'e
B' 74S' him, he reduced Morgas, Leon, Saldagna, Montes cle
Oca, Amaya, Alava, and all the country at the foot of
the mountains. The year following he pufhed his con-
1 quells as far as the borders of Portugal, and the next
campaign ravaged the country as far as Caftile. Being
ienfihle^ however, that he was yet unable to defend the
Hat country which he had conquered, he laid the whole
of it wade, obliged the Chritlians to retire to the
mountains, and carried oft' all the Moors for Haves.
Thus fecured by a defert frontier, he met with no in¬
terruption for fome years 5 during which time, as his
kingdom advanced in {Length, lie allowed his fubjefts
gradually to occupy part of the Hat country, and to re¬
build Leon and Aftorgas, which lie had demoliftied.
He died in 758, and was fucceeded by his Ion Hon ^
Froila. In his time Abdoulrahman, the khalirPs vice- The bara-
rov in Spain, threw off the yoke, and rendered him- cm in
felf independent, fixing the feat of his government at^baj^,a!0v^
Cordova. Thus the inteftinc divifions among the Moorsof the Kha-
were compofed ; 7et their fuccefs feems to have been hffs.
little better than before; for, foon after, Froila encoun- Au. 753.
tered the Moors with fuch fuccefs, that 54,000 of them
were killed cn the fpot, and their general taken prifoncr.
Soon after he built the city of Oviedo, which he made
3 R 2 the
Hiftory of
the king-
dom of
Navarre.
An. 850.
5*
Conquefts
of Charles
the Great.
An. 921.
59
Exploits of
Almanzor
a Saracen
general.
An. 979
SPA' [ 500 ] SPA
the capital of his dominions, in order to be in a better
condition to defend the flat country, which he now de¬
termined to people.
In the year 850 the power of the Saracens received
another blow by the rife of the kingdom of Navarre.
This kingdom, we are told, took its origin from an ac¬
cidental meeting of gentlemen, to the number of 600,
at the tomb of an hermit named John, who had died
among the Pyrenees. At this place, wdiere they had
met on account of the fuppofed fan&ity of the decea-
fed, they took occaflon to converfe on the cruelty of
the Moors, the miferies to which the country was ex-
pofed, and the glory that would refult from throwing
off their yoke \ which, they fuppofed, might eafily be
done, by reafon of the ftrength of their country. On
mature deliberation, the proje£t was approved ■, one Don
Garcias Ximenes was appointed king, as being of illu-
ftrious birth, and looked upon as a perfon of great abi¬
lities. He recovered Ainfa, one of the principal towns
of the country, out of the hands of the infidels, and his
lucceflbr Don Garcias Inigas extended his territories as
far as Bifcay j however, the Moors ftill poffeffed Por¬
tugal, Murcia, Andalufia, Valencia, Granada, Tortofa,
with the interior part of the country as far as the moun¬
tains of Caftile and Zaragoza. Their internal diiTen-
fions, which revived after the death of Abdoulrahman,
contributed greatly to reduce the power of the infidels
in general. In 778, Charles the Great being invited
by fome difcontented Moorith governors, entered Spain
with two great armies; one palling through Catalonia,
and the other through Navarre, where he pulhed his
conquefts as far as the Ebro. On his return he was at¬
tacked and defeated by the Moors 5 though this did
not hinder him from keeping pofieflion of all thofe
places he had already reduced. At this time he feems
to have been mailer of Navarre: however, in 831 Count
Azner, revolting from Pepin fon to the emperor Louis,
aflerted the independency of Navarre •, but the fove-
reigns did not affume the title of kings till the time of
Don Garcias, who began to reign in 857.
In the mean time, the kingdom founded by Don Pe¬
lagic, now called the kingdom of Leon and Oviedo, con¬
tinued to increafe rapidly in ftrength, and many advan¬
tages were gained over the Moors, who having two ene¬
mies to contend with, loft ground every day. In 921,
however, they gained a great victory over the united
forces of Navarre and Leon, by which the whole force
of the Chriftians in Spain mull have been entirely bro¬
ken, had not the vidlors conduced their affairs fo
wretchedly, that they fuffered themfelves to be almoft
entirely cut in pieces by the remains of the Chriftian
army. In Ihort, the Chriftians became at length fo ter¬
rible to the Moors, that it is probable they could not
long have kept their footing in Spain, had not a great
general, named Mohammed Ebn Anar Almanzor, ap¬
peared, in 979, to fupport their finking caufe. This
man was vilir to the king of Cordova, and being ex¬
ceedingly provoked againft the Chriftians on account
of w'hat his countrymen had fuffered from them, made
war with the moll implacable fury. He took the city
of Leon, murdered the inhabitants, and reduced the
houfes to dfhes. Barcelona lhared the fame fate j Caf¬
tile was reduced to a defert; Gallicia and Portugal ra¬
vaged ; and he is faid to have overcome the Chriftians
in fifty different engagements. At laft, having taken
_ 6°
1 r , He is de-
a defeat‘feated, and
and demolilhed the city of Compoftella, and carried off Spain,
in triumph the gates of the church of St James, a flux
happened to break out among his troops, which the fu-
perftitious Chriftians fuppofed to be a divine judge¬
ment on account of his facrilege. Taking it lor
granted, therefore, that the Moors were now entirely
deftitute of all heavenly aid, they fell upon them with
fuch fury in the next engagement, that all the valour
and conduft of Almanzor could not prevent
Overcome with ftiame and defpair at this misfortune,
he defired his followers to drift for themfelves, wdiile he felf to
himfelf retired to Medina Coeli, and put an end to hisdeath*
life by abftinence in the year 998. An.^98.
During this period a new Chriftian principality ap-Rjfe 0fthe
peared in Spain, namely that of Caftile, which is now kingdom of
divided into the Old and New Caftile. The Old Gaftile.
Caftile was recovered long before that called the New. A■n• io37*
It w-as leparated from the kingdom of Leon on one fide
by fome little rivers j on the other, it was bounded by
the Afturias, Bifcay, and the province of Rioja. On.
the fouth it had the mountains of Segovia and Avila ;
thus lying in the middle between the Chriftian king¬
dom of Leon and Oviedo, and the Mooriflr kingdom of
Cordova.. Hence this diftriPl loon became an objedl of
contention between the kings of Leon and thofe of
Cordova ; and as the former were generally vidlorious,
fome of the principal Caftilian nobility retained their
independence under the prote£lion of the Chriftiair
kings, even when the power of the Moors wTas at its
greateft height. In 884 w’e firft hear of Don Rodri¬
guez affirming the title of count of Cajlile, though it
does not appear that either his territory or title were
given him by the king of Leon. Neverthelefs, this
monarch having taken upon him to puniftr forire of the
Caftilian lords as rebels, the inhabitants made a formal
renunciation of their allegiance, and fet up a new kind
of government. The fupreme power was now veiled
in two perfons of quality ftykd judges; however, this
method did not long continue to give latisfaftion, and
the fovereignty was once more veiled in a Angle perfon.
By degrees Caftile fell entirely under the power of the
kings, of Leon and Oviedo-, and, in 1037, Don San-
cho bellowed it on his eldelt fon Don Ferdinand, with
the title of king; and thus the territories of Caftile
were firft firmly united to thofe of Leon and Oviedo,
and the fovereigns were thenceiorth ilyled kings of Leon
and Cafile. ^
Befides all thefe, another Chriftian kingdom was fetRife f
up in Spain about the beginning of the 1 ith century. rag0n.,
This was the kingdom of Aragon. The inhabitants An. 1035.
were very brave, and lovers of liberty, fo that it is pro¬
bable they had in fome degree maintained their inde¬
pendence, even when the power of the Moors was
greateft. The hiftory of Aragon, however, during
its infancy, is much lefs known than that of any of <5,
the others hitherto mentioned. We are only affured, State of
that about the year 1035, Don Sancbo, fumamed the m
Great, king of Navarre, erefted Aragon into a kingA1^
dom in favour of his fon Don Ramiro, and afterwards"^ ceIU
it became very powerful. At this time, then, we maytury.
imagine the continent of Spain divided into two unequal
parts by a ftraight line drawn from eaft to weft, from
the coatls of Valencia to a little below- the mouth of the
Douro. The country north of this belonged to the
Chriftians, who, as yet, had the fmalleit and kail valu¬
able
<4
S\ P A
able *(hare, and all the reft to the Moors,
wealth and real power, both by land and lea, the
Moors were much fuperior; but their continual dif-
lenfions greatly weakened them, and every day facili¬
tated the progrcfs of the Chriftians. Indeed, had either
of the parties been united, the other muft foon have
yielded j for though the Chriftians did not make war
upon each other conftantly as the Moors did, their mu¬
tual feuds were yet fufficient to have ruined them, had
their adverCaries made the proper ufe of the advantages
thus afforded them. But among the Moors almoft eve¬
ry city was a kingdom •, and as thefe petty fovereign-
ties fupported one another very indifferently, they fell
a prey one after another to their enemies.. In 1080,
the king of Toledo was engaged in a war with the king
of Seville, another Moorilh potentate ; which being ob-
ferved by Alphonfo king of Callile, he alfo invaded his
Toledo and territories • and in four years made himfelf mafter of
Madrid ta- ^ cjty 0f Toledo, with all the places of importance in
Chriftfans.6 its neighbourhood j from thenceforth making Toledo
An. 10S0. the capital of his dominions. In a Ihort time the .whole
province of I^Tew Caftile fubmitted} and IMadnd, the
prefent capital of Spain, fell into the hands of the
Chriftians, being at that time but a fmall place.
The Moors were fo much alarmed at thefe conquefts,
that they not only entered into a general confederacy
<»5 againft the Chriftians, but invited to their affiftance
A fignal Mahomet Ben Jofeph the fovereign of Barbary.. He
via°ry .accordingly came, attended by an incredible multitude p
tfoe^Moors." but was utterly defeated by the Chriftians in the defiles
An. 1212. of the Black Mountain, or Sierra Morena, on the bor¬
ders of Andalufia. This vidory happened on the 16th
of July 1212, and the anniverfary is ftill celebrated at
Toledo. This vi&ory-was not improved •, the Chrif-
tian army immediately difperfed themfelves, while the
Moors of Andalufia were ftrengthened by the remains-
of the African army y yet, inftead of being taught, by
their paft misfortunes, to unite among themfelves, their
diffenfions became worfe than ever, and the conquefts of
An. 1236. the Chriftians became daily more rapid. In t 236, Don
Ferdinand of Caftile and Leon took the celebrated city
of Cordova, the refidence of the firft Moorifh kings; at
the fame time that James I. of Aragon difpoffeffed
them of the ifland of Majorca, and drove them out of
Valencia. Two years after, Ferdinand made himfelf
mafter of Murcia, and took the city of Seville y and in
66 Ferdinand IV. reduced Gibraltar.
England in- ' In the time of Edward III. we find England, for the
ter teres in time, interfering in the affairs of Spain, on the fol-
the Spanifli jowing occaf10n. In the year I 284 the kingdom of Na-
U airs' varre had been united to" that of France by. the mar¬
riage of Donna Joanna queen of Navarre with Philip
the Fair of France. In 1328, however, the kingdoms
were again feparated, though the fovereigns of Navarre
were .ftill related to thofe of France. In 13 5°) Charles,
furnamed the Wicked, afcended the throne oi Navarre,
and married the daughter of John king of France.
Notwithftanding this alliance, and that he himfelf was
related to the royal family of France, he fecretly enter¬
ed into a negociation with England againft; the French
monarch, and even drew into his fchemes the dauphin
Charles, afterwards furnamed the Wife. The young
prince, however, was foon after made fully fenftble of
the danger and folly of the connexions into which he
had entered y and, by way of atonement, promifed to
Spain.
67
r 5°1 i s p A. .
In point of facrifice his affociates. Accordingly he invited the king
of Navarre, and fome of the principal nobility of the
fame party, to a feaft at Rouen, where he betrayed ^
them to his father. The moft obnoxious were execu-The king of
ted, and the king of Navarre was thrown into prifon. Nava.re
In this extremity, the party of the king of Navarre hadj™P“j^ed
recourle to England. Ihe prince ot Wales, ftlinamed^|ng 0f
the Black Prince, invaded France, defeated King John at France.
PoiXiers, and took him prifoner * y which unfortunate * See
event produced the moft violent difturbances in thatXvwce,
kingdom, ihe dauphin, now about 19 years °f age, X
naturally affumed the royal power during his father’s
captivity : but poffeffed neither experience nor autho¬
rity fufficient to remedy the prevailing evils. In order
to obtain fupplies, he affembled the ftates of the king¬
dom : but that afftmbly, inftead of fupporting his ad-
miniftration, laid hold of the prefent opportunity to de¬
mand limitations of the prince’s power, the punifhment
of paft; malverfations, and the liberty of the king of Na¬
varre. Marcel, provoft of the merchants of Paris, and
firft magiftrate of that city, put himfelf at the head of
the unruly populace, and pufhed them to commit the
moft criminal outrages againft the royal authority. They
detained the dauphin in a kind of captivny, murdered
in his prefence Robert de Clermont and John de Con-
flans, marefchals of France y threatened all the other
minifters with the like fate y and when Charles, who
had been obliged to temporize and difiemble, made his
efeape from their hands, they levied war againft him,
and openly rebelled. The other cities of the kingdom,
in imitation of the capital, fliook off the dauphin’s au¬
thority, took the government into their own hands, and
fpread the contagion into every province, . 6S
Amidft thefe diforders, the king ot Navarre made his£fcape<:(
efcape from prifon, and prefented q dangerous leader and heads
to the furious malecontents. He revived his pretenfions the French
to the crown of France : but in all his operations hej""
aXed more like a leader of banditti than one who afpi-
red to be the head of a regular government, and who
was engaged by his ftation to endeavour the re-eftablifti-
ment of order in the community. All the Irencn,
therefore, who wifhed to reftore peace to their country,
turned their eyes towards the dauphin y who, though
not remarkable for his military talents, daily gained by
his prudence and vigilance the afeendant over his ene¬
mies. Marcel, the feditious provoft of Paris, was llaiu
in attempting to deliver that city to the king of Na¬
varre. The capital immediately returned to its duty :
the moft confiderable bodies of the mutinous peafants
were difperfed or put to the fvvord y fome bands of mi¬
litary robbers underwent the fame fate y and France
began once more to affume the appearance of civil go¬
vernment.
John was fucceeded in the throne of France by his
fon Charles V. a prince educated in the fchool of adver-
fity, and well qualified, by his prudence and experience,
to repair the Ioffes which the kingdom had iuftained
from the errors of his predeceffors. Contrary to the
praXice of all the great princes of thofe times, who held
nothing in eftimation but military courage, he feems to
have laid it down as a maxim, never to appear at the
head of his armies y and he was the firft European mo¬
narch that (bowed the advantage of policy and forefight
over a rafti and precipitate valour.
Before Charles could think of counterbalancing fo
great
, malecon-
' tents.
SPA
Spain.
6 9
Is defeated
and obliged
to fab mi t to
the terms
preferibed
by Charles
V. of
France.
[ 502 ]
SPA
7°
Account of
the banditti
called cc77i-
f antes or
compa¬
nions.
. I1
Reign of
Pedro the
Cruel, ki’.g
ef Caftik*.
72
The Com¬
panies em¬
ployed a-
gainft him.
great a power as England, it was neceffary for him to
remedy the many diiorders to which his own kingdom
was expofed. He accordingly turned his arms againit
the king of Navarre, the great dilturber of France du¬
ring that age ; and he defeated that prince, and redu¬
ced him to terms, by the valour and conduct of Ber¬
trand du Guefclin, one of the molt accomplifhed cap¬
tains ef thofe times, whom Charles had the difeernment
to choofe as the in It rumen t of his viftories. He alfo
fettled the affairs of Britanny, by acknowledging the
title of Mountfort, and receiving homage for his do¬
minions. But much was yet to be done. On the con-
clufion of the peace of Bretigni, the many military ad¬
venturers who had followed the fortunes of Edward,
being difperfed into the feveral provinces, and poffeffed
of ftrong holds, refufed to lay down their arms, or relin-
quifh a couife of life to which they were now accuitom-
ed, and by which alone they could earn a fubfiftence.
They aflbeiated themfelves with the banditti, who we?e
already inured to the habits of rapine and violence ; and,
under the name of companies and companions, became a
terror to all the peaceable inhabitants. Some Engiifh
and Gafcon gentlemen of character were not afhamed
to take the esmmand of thefe ruffians, whofe number
amounted to near 40,000, and who bore the appear¬
ance of regular armies rather than bands of robbers.
As Charles was not able by power to redrefs fo enor¬
mous a grievance, he was led by neceffity, as well as by
the turn of his charafter, to correct it by policy : to dif-
cover feme method of difeharging into foreign countries
this dangerous and inteftine evil; and an occafion now
offered.
Alphonfo XL king of Caftile, who t®ok the city of
Algezira from the Moors, after a famous fiege of two
years, during which artillery are faid firlt to have been
ufed by the befieged, had been fucceeded by his fon
Pedro I. furnamed the Cruel; a prince equally perfidi¬
ous, debauched, and bloody. He began his reign with
the murder of his father’s miflrefs, Leonora de Gufman :
his nobles fell every day the victims of his feverity : he
put to death his coufin and one of his natural brothers,
from groundlefs jealoufy •, and he caufed his queen
Blanche de Bourbon, of the blood of France, to be
thrown into piifon, and afterwards 4poifoned, that he
might enjoy in quiet the embraces of Mary de Padella,
with whom he was violently enamoured.
Henry count of Traftamara, the king’s natural bro¬
ther, alarmed at the fate of his family, and dreading his
own, took arms againft the tyrant ; but having failed
in the attempt, he fled to France, where he found the
minds of men much inflamed againft Pedro, on account
of the murder of the French princefs. He afked per-
miftion ef Charles to enlift the companies in his fervice,
and to lead them into Caftile againft his brother. The
French king, charmed with the projeft, employed du
Guefclin in negociating with the leaders of thefe ban¬
ditti. The treaty was foon concluded *, and du Guef¬
clin having completed his levies, led the army fiift to
Avignon, where the pope then reftded, and demanded,
fword in hand, abfolution for his ruffian foldiers, who
had been excommunicated, and the fum of 200,oco
livres for their fubfiftence. The firft was readily pro-
mifed him, but fome difficulty being made with regard
to the fecond, du Guefclin replied, “ My fellows, I be¬
lieve, may make a ffiift to do without your abfolution, Spaiit,
but the money is abfolutely neceffary.” His holinefs '■—-v*”"—*'
then extorted from the inhabitants of the city and its
neighbourhood the fum of ioo,coo livres, and offered it
to du Guefclin. “ It is not my purpofe (cried that ge-
nerous warrior) to opprefs the innocent people. The
pope and his cardinals can fpare me double the fum from
their own pockets. I therefore infill:, that this money
be reitored to the owners j and if I hear they are de¬
frauded of it, I will myfelf return from the other fide
of the Pyrenees, and oblige you to make them reftitu-
tion.” The pope found the neceffity of fubmitting, and
paid from his own treafury the fum demanded. ^,
A body of experienced and hardy foldiers, conduced He is drive®
by fo able a general, eafily prevailed over the king of out, but af-
Caftile, whofe fubjeffs were ready to join the enemy filed))}-
againft their oppreffor. Pedro fled from his dominions,
took flicker in Guienne, and craved the proteffion of
the prince of Wales, whom his father had invefted with
the fovereignty of the ceded provinces, under the title
of the principality of Aquitaine. The prince promifed
his afliftance to the dethroned monarch ; and having ob¬
tained his father’s confent, he levied an army, and fet
out on his enterprife.
The firft lofs which Henry of Traftamara fuffered
from the inlerpofition of the prince of Wales, was the
recalling of the companies from his fervice-} and 10
much reverence did they pay to the name of Edward,
that great numbers of them immediately withdrew from
Spain, and enlifted under his fiandard, Henry, how¬
ever, beloved by bis new fubjeffs, and fupported by the
king of Arragon, was able to meet the enemy with an
army of X 00,000 men, three times the number of thofe
commanded by the Black Prince : yet du Guefclin, and
all his experienced officers, advifed him to delay a deci-
five action ; fo high was their opinion of the valour and
condiuft of the Engiifh hero ! But Henry, trufting to
his numbers, ventured to give Edward battfo on the
banks of the Ebro, between Najara and Navarette 3 74
where the French and Spaniards were defeated, wilh^heSpa-
the lofs of above 20,oco men, and du Guefclin and
other officers of diflinftion taken prifoners. All Caftile pttfci-rdto-
fubmitted to the viftor 3 Pedro was reftored to theied.
throne, and Edward returned to Guienne with his ufual
glory 3 having not only overcome the greattft general
of his age, but reftrained the moft blood-thirfty tyrant
from executing vengeance on his prifoners.
This gallant wanior had foon reafon to repent of his
connexion with a man like Pedro, loft to all fenfe of
virtue and honour. The ungrateful monfter refufed the
ftipulated pay to the Engiifh forces. Edw ard abandon¬
ed him : he treated his fubjefts with the utmoft barba¬
rity ; their animofity was louftd againft him 3 and du
Guefclin having obtained his ranfom, returned to Caftile
with the count of Traftamara, and feme forces levied
anew in France. They were joined by the Spanifh
malecontents 3 and having no longer the Black Prince ^
to encounter, they gained a complete viftory over Pedro Is again
in the neighbourhood of Toledo. The tyrant now took^r(Vc‘1 °ut*
refuge in a caftle, where he was foon after befieged by
the vifhors, and taken prifoner in endeavouring to make<1^1^
his efcape. He was condu£t#d to his brother Henry 3
againft vdiom he is faid to have rufhed in a tranfport of
rage, difarmed as he was. Henry flew him with his
own
■SPA r 503 ] SPA
Spa'n. own hand, in refentment of his cruelties j and, though
  a bailard, was placed on the throne oi Caliile, which he
tranhnitted to his poiterity.
There is Iktlc doubt tnat the eharadler of Pedro has
been greatly mifreprelented, and that what is conddered
by moit hiiiorians as tyranny and wanton cruelty, uas
only an inflexible regard to juitice, neceffary per,naps, in
thofe days of anarchy and rebellion. Perhaps that un¬
fortunate monarch ow’es to the hatred of thofe he meant
to reduce to order, much of the obloquy which has been
fo plentifully beltowed upon him by hiitorians, who
have painted him tons as a tyrant fo bloody, to wicked,
as almoit to exceed the bounds of probability. In An-
.d.dufia, where he fixed his refidence and feemed molt to
delight, his memory is not held in the fame abhor ence.
The Sevillian writers (peak of him very differently *,
and in dead of his ufual appellation of Pedro el cruel,
diftinguith him by that of cljujliciero. It is certain that
his bailard-brothervand murderer, Henry of Traffama-
ra, was guilty of crimes fully as atrocious as any of thoffe
-imputed to Don Pedro j but as he deffroyed him, his
family, and adherents, the friends of the new fpurious
race of monarebs were left at full liberty to blacken the
charnfters of the adverfe parly, without the fear of being
called to an account for calumny, or even contradidled.
Truth is now out of our reach ; and for want of proper
proofs to the contrary, vee muff fit down contented with
what hiffory has left us ; and allow Don Pedro to have
been one of the molt inhuman butchers that ever dif-
graced a throne.
After the death of Pedro the Cruel, nothing remark¬
able happened in Spain for almoff a whole century •, but
the debaucheries of Henry IV. of Caftile roufed the re¬
fentment of his nobles, and produced a molt Angular in-
furrection, which led to the aggrandizement of the Spa-
^ nidi monarchy.
Felon of This prince, fornamed the Impotent, though conti-
Henry the nually furrounded with women, began his unhappy re’gn
Impotent. jn igjo. He was totally enervated by his pleafures •,
An. 1450. ancj eV£Iy jbing in his court confpired to fet the Caffi-
lians an example of the mod abjeft flattery and moil
abandoned licentioufncfs. The queen, a daughter of
Portugal, lived as openly with her parafites and her gal¬
lants as the king did with his minions and his miffreffes.
Pleafure was the only object, and effeminacy the only
recommendation to favour : the affairs of the (late went
every day into difordor ; till the nobility, with the
archbifliop of Toledo at their head, combining againff
the weak and flagitious adminiftration of Henry, arro¬
gated to themfelves, as one of the privileges of their or¬
der, the right of trying and pafling fentence on their
fovereign, which they executed in a manner unprece-
-,7 dented in hiffory.
He w tor- All the malecontent nobility ^vere fummoned to meet
muly dtpo-at Avila: a fpacious theatre was creeled in a plain
without the walls of the town : an image, reprefenting
the king, was feated on a throne, clad in royal robes,
with a crown on its head, a feeptre in its hand, and
the iword of juffice by its fide. The accufation againft
Henry was read, and the fentence of depofition pro¬
nounced, in prefence of a numerous affembly. At the
clofe of the firft article of the charge, the archbifhop of
Toledo advanced, and tore the crown from the head of
the image; at the clofe of the fecond, the Conde de
Placentia (hatched the fword of juftice from its fide; at
the clofe of the third, the Conde de Bcnavcnle wreffed Spai».
the feeptre from its hand ; and at the clofe of the laft, —-V—^
Don Diego Lopez de 5foniga tumbled it headlong
.from the throne. At the fame inftant, Don Alphon-
fo, Henry’s brother, a boy of about twelve years of age,
was proclaimed king of Cufiile and Leon in his (lead.
This extraordinary proceeding was followed by a ci¬
vil war, which did not ceafe till feme time after the
death of the young prince, on whom the nobles had
bellowed the kingdom. The archbifhop and his party
then continued to carry on war in the name of Ifabella
the king’s filter, to whom they gave the title of [nfan-
ta ; ana Henry could not extricate himfelf out of thefe 7s
troubles, nor remain quiet upon his throne till he had obIlSecI
figned one of the molt humiliating treaties ever extort-
ed from a fovereign ; he acknowledged his filter Ifabel- (Hr I fa-
la the only lawful heirefs of his kingdom, in prejudice bella to be
to the rights of his reputeV daughter Joan, whom the 'ieire^s ^
malecontents affirmed to be the offspring of an adulter-
ous commerce between the queen and Don la Ciieva.
The grand object of the malecontent party now was the
marriage of the princefs Ifabella, upon which, it was
evident, the fecurity of the crown and the happinefs of
the people muff in a great meafure depend. The al¬
liance was fought by fever;.! princes: the king of Por¬
tugal offered her his hand ; the king of France de¬
manded her for his brother, and the king of Aragon , .79
tor his fon Ierdinand. I.'he malecontents very ^vilely n3j
preferred the Aragonian prince, and Ifabella prudent-dinand of
ly made the fame choice : articles were drawn up ; and Aragon#
they were privately married by the archbiihop of To¬
ledo.
Henry was enraged at this alliance, which he fore-
faw would utterly ruin his authority, by furnifhing his
rebellious fubjefls with the funport of a powerful neigh¬
bouring prince. He difinheriled his fitter, and eita-
bliflied the rights of his daughter. A furious civil war
defolated the kingdom. The names of Joan and Ifa¬
bella relounded from every quarter, and were every¬
where the fummons to arms. But pence was at length
brought about. Henry was reconciled to his fitter and
Ferdinand ; though it does not appear that he ever re-
nerved Ifabella’s right to the fucceflion : for he affirmed
in his latt moments, that he believed Joan to be his own
daughter. The queen (wore to the fame effect 5 and
Henry left a teftamentary deed, tranfmitting the crown
to this princefs, who was proclaimed queen of Caliile at Um'o-tof'
Placentia. But the (uperior fortune and fuperior arms the king-
of Ferdinand and Ifabella prevailed : the king of Por- doms of A- .
tugal was obliged to abandon his niece and intended r,,S0n aa<l
bride, after many ineffectual druggies, and fevcral years
of war. Joan retired into a convent ; and the death of Caftile.
Ferdinand’s father, which happened about this time, An. 1474,.
added the kingdoms of Aragon and Sicily to thofe of
Leon and Caftile. sj
Ferdinand and Ifabella -were perfons of great pm- Admini-
dence, and, as fovereigns, highly worthy of imitation : f!:ra^on
but they do not feem to have merited all the praifes ’
beftowed upon them by the Spanifli hiltorians. They bella.
did not live like man and wife, having all things in
common under the direction of the hufband ; but like
two princes in clofe alliance ; they neither loved nor
hated each other; were feldom in company together;
had each a feparate council; and were frequently jea¬
lous of one another in the admlniftration. But they
were..
1
SPA
[ 50+ ]
SPA
sPa'^- were infeparably united in their common interefts j al-
y——; wayS a(^}ng Upon the fame principles, and forwarding
the fame ends. Their firft objeft was the regulation
of their government, which the civil wars had thrown in¬
to the greateft diforder. Rapine, outrage, and murder,
were become fo common, as not only to interrupt com¬
merce, but in a great meafure to lufpend all intercourfe
between one place and another. Thefe evils the joint
fovereigns fuppreffed by their wife policy, at the fame
.8l. time that they extended the royal prerogative,
of th^Ho? About the middle of the 13th century, the cities in
Brother- ^ ^ kingdom of Aragon, and after their example thofe
hood, in Caftile, had formed themfelves into an affociation,
diftinguifhed by the name of the Holy Brotherhood.
They exacted a Certain contribution from each of the
alfociated towns %y they levied" a confiderable body of
troops, in order to proteft travellers and purfue crimi¬
nals j and they appointed judges, who opened courts
in various parts of the kingdom. Whoever was guilty
of murder, robbery, or any aft that violated the public
peace, and was feized by the troops of the Brother¬
hood, was carried before their judges 5 who, without
paying any regard to the exclulive jurifcliftion which
the lord of the place might claim, who was generally
the author or abettor of the injuitice, tried, and con¬
demned the criminals. The nobles often murmured
againft the falutary inftitution ; they complained of it
as an encroachment on one of their moft valuable pri¬
vileges, and endeavoured to get it abolifhed. But Fer¬
dinand and Ifabella, fenfible of the beneficial effefts of
the Brotherhood, not only in regard to the police of
their kingdom, but in its tendency to abridge, and by
degrees annihilate, the territorial jurifdiftion of the no¬
bility, countenanced the inifitution upon every occafion,
and fupported it with the whole force of royal autho¬
rity j by which means the prompt and impartial, admi-
niftration of juftice was reftored, and with it tranquillity
and order returned.
But at the fame time that their Catholic majefties
(for fuch was the title they now bore) were giving vi-
83 g°ur to their civil government, and fecuring their fub-
and of the .jgfts from violence and oppreffion, an intemperate zeal
Inqu. ition. ^em to eftabiJ{h an ecclefiaftical tribunal, equally
contrary to the natural rights of humanity and the mild
fpirit of the gofpel. This was the court of inquifition ;
which decides upon the honour, fortune, and even the
life, of the unhappy wretch who happens to fall under
the fufpicion of herefy, or a contempt of any thing pre-
fcribed by the church, without his knowing, being con¬
fronted with his accufers, or permitted either defence or
appeal. Six thoufand perfons were burnt by order of
this fanguinary tribunal within four years after the ap¬
pointment of Torquemada, the firft inquifitor-general j
and upwards of 100,000 felt its fury. The fame furious
and blinded zeal which led to the depopulation of Spain,
s4 led alfo to its aggrandizement,
of Granada ^le kingdom of Granada now alone remained of all
An. 1492. Mahometan poffeflions in Spain. Princes equally
zealous and ambitious were naturally difpofed to turn
their eyes to that fertile territory, and to think of ifi- Spain,
creafing their hereditary dominions, by expelling the tmmmiJ
enemies of Chriftianity, and extending its doftrines.
Every thing confpired to favour their projeft : the
Moorifti kingdom was a prey to civil wars 5 when Fer¬
dinand, having obtained the bull of Sixtus IV. autho¬
rizing a crufade, put himfelf at the head of his troops,
and entered Granada. Ife continued the war with ra¬
pid fuccefs : Ifabella attended him in feveral expedi¬
tions ; and they were both in great danger at the fiege
of Malaga j an important city, which was defended
with great courage, and taken in 1487. Baza was re¬
duced in 1489, after the lofs of 20,000 men. Gaudix
and Almeria were delivered up to them by the Moorifh
king Alzagel, who had firft dethroned his brother Al-
boacen, and afterwards been chafed from his capital by
his nephew Abdali. That prince engaged in the fer-
vice of Ferdinand and Ifabella j who, after reducing
every other place of eminence, undertook the fiege of
Granada. Abdali made a gallant defence j but all com¬
munication with the country being cut oflF, and all hopes
of relief at an end, he capitulated, after a fiege of eight
months, on condition that he fhould enjoy the revenue
of certain places in the fertile mountains of Alpuxarras $
that the inhabitants ftiould retain the undifturbed pof-
feflxon of their houfes, goods, and inheritances j the ufe
of their laws, and the free exercife of their religion (b).
Thus ended the empire of the Arabs in Spain, after it
had continued about 800 years. They introduced the
arts and fciences into Europe at a time when it was loft
in darknefs; they poffeffed many of the luxuries of life,
when they were not even known among the neighbour¬
ing nations ; and they feem to have given birth to that
romantic gallantry which fo eminently prevailed in the
ages of chivalry, and which, blending itfelf with the ve¬
neration of the northern nations for the fofter fex, ftill
particularly diftinguifhes ancient from modem manners.
But the Moors, notwithftanding thefe advantages, and
the eulogies beftowed upon them by fome writers, ap¬
pear always to have been deftitute of the effential qua¬
lities of a polilhed people, humanity, generofity, and mu¬
tual fympathy.
The overthrow of the laft Moorifti kingdom was foon
followed by the expulfion of the Saracens from Spain.
This expulfion did not entirely take place till the 17th
century. Vaft numbers of the Moors, indeed, oppreffed
by their conquerors, abandoned a country where they
could not refide with comfort and with freedom. From
the reign of Ferdinand of Caftile, to that of Philip III.
of Spain, more than 3,000,000 of thofe people quitted
Spain, and carried with them, not only a great part of
their acquired wealth, but that induftry and love of la¬
bour which are the foundation of national profperity. g „
The ftate of Spain has never been fo flouriftiing at profperous
any period of its civilization, as during the period when ftate of
it was chiefly pofieffed by the Moors. The firft Sara- Spain un-
cen invaders, and the twenty fucceflive lieutenants Moorifli de-
the caliphs of Damafcus, were attended by a numerous mmion.
train of civil and military followers, who preferred a
diftant
(b) The particulars of the conqueft of Granada are involved in much obfcurity. If we were to credit the nar¬
rative of Giles Perez, as related by Mr Swinburne, the circumftances which led to that conqueft were of a moft
romantic nature. See Swinburne’s Travels, Letter xxi.
4
SPA
Spain.
86
Jews expel¬
led from
Spain.
diftant fortune to narrow circumftances at home j the
' private and public intereft was promoted by the efta-
bliftiment of faithful colonies, and the cities of Spain
were proud to commemorate the tribe or the coun¬
try of their eaftern progenitors. Ten years after the
conqueft, a map of the province was prefented to the
caliph, {hewing the feas, the rivers, and the harbours, the
inhabitants and cities, the climate, the foil, and the mi¬
neral produftions of the earth. In the {pace of two
centuries, the gifts of nature were improved by agri¬
culture, the manufa&ures, and the commerce of an indu-
ftrious people 5 though the effe&s of their diligence have
been magnified by the idlenefs of their fancy. The firft
of the Ommiades who reigned in Spain folicited the fup-
port of the Chriftians *, and in his edi£t of peace and
protection, he contents himfelf with a modeft impofition
of 10,000 ounces of gold, 10,000 pounds of filver,
10,000 horfes, as many mules, 1000 cuirafles, with an
equal number of helmets and lances. The moft power¬
ful of his fuccefibrs derived from the fame kingdom the
annual tribute of 12,045,000 dinars or pieces of gold,
about 6,000,0001. of fterling money j a fum which, in
the 10th century, moft probably furpaffed the united
revenues of the Chriftian monarchs. His royal feat of
Cordova contained 600 mofques, 900 baths, and 200;000
houfes; he gave laws to 80 cities of the firft, to 300 of
the fecond and third order j and the fertile banks of the
Guadalquivir were adorned with 12,000 villages and
hamlets. The Arabs might exaggerate the truth ; but
they created and they defcribe the moft profperous era
of the riches, the cultivation, and the populoufnefs of
Spain (c).
The conqueft of Granada was followed by the expul-
fion, or rather the pillage and baniftrment, of the Jews,
who had engroffed all the wealth and commerce of Spain.
The inquifition exhaufted its rage againft thefe unhappy
[ 5°s ]
SPA
people, many of whom pretended to embrace Chriftia- Spafn.
nity, in order to preferve their property. About the ' v—
fame time their Catholic majefties concluded an alliance D f 87
with the emperor Maximilian, and a treaty of marriage o/Amerita
for their daughter Joan with his fon Philip, archduke of See. *
Auftria and fovereign of the Netherlands. About this
time alfo the contraCt was concluded with Chriftopher
Columbus for the difeovery of new countries ; and the
counties of Rouflillon and Cerdagne were agreed to be
reftored by Charles VIII. of France, before his expe¬
dition into Italy. The difeovery of America was foon
followed by extenfive conquefts in that quarter, as is re¬
lated under the articles Mexico, Peru, Chili, &c.
which tended to raife the Spanifli monarchy above any
other in Europe. 33
On the death of Ifabella, which happened in 1506, Acceffion of
Philip archduke of Auftria came to Caftile in order to^ar^es^*
take pofleflion of that kingdom as heir to his mother- An’'S16,
in-law j but he dying in a ftiort time after, his fon
Charles V. afterwards emperor of Germany, became
heir to the crown of Spain. His father at his death
leit the king of France governor to the young prince,
and Ferdinand at his death left Cardinal Ximenes foie
regent of Caftile, till the arrival of his grandfon. This
man, whofe charafter is no lefs lingular than illuftrious,
who united the abilities of a great ftatefman with the
abjeft devotion of a fuperftitious monk, and the magni¬
ficence of a prime minifter with the feverity of a mendi¬
cant, maintained order and tranquillity in Spain, not-
withftanding the difeontents of a turbulent and high-
fpirited nobility. When they difputed his right to the
regency, he coolly (hewed them the teftament of Ferdi¬
nand, and the ratification of that deed by Charles j but
thefe not fatisfying them, and argument proving inef-
fe£tual, he led them infenfibly towards a balcony, whence
they had a view of a large body of troops under arms,
and
(c) Abdoulrahman III. monarch of Cordova, furpafled all his predeceffors in fplendour, riches, and expence j
and his fubjefts vied with each other in profufion and magnificence. Some idea may be entertained of the opulence
and grandeur of the Moors of Cordova in the 1 oth century, by perufing the following enumeration of the prefents
made to Abdoulrahman by Abumelik his grand vizir, on his appointment to that office. We are told that the mi¬
nifter caufed to be brought before the throne, and laid at the feet of his mailer,
400 lbs. of virgin gold.
Ingots of filver to the value of 420,000 fequins.
400 lbs. of lignum aloes, one piece weighing 140 lb.
500 oz. of ambergris.
300 oz. of camphor.
30 pieces of gold tifiue, fo rich that none but the caliph .could wear it.
10 fuits of Khoraflan fables.
100 fuits of fur of a lefs valuable fort.
48 fets of gold and filk long trappings for horfes,
4000 lbs. of lilk.
30 Perfian carpets.
800 iron coats-of-mail for war horfes.
1000 (hields.
100,000 arrows.
15 led horfes of Arabia, as richly caparifoned as thofe on which the caliph was wont to ride.
100 horfes of an inferior price.
20 mules with all their accoutrements.
40 young men and 20 girls of exquifite beauty, and moft fumptuoully apparelled. This difplay of riches Was
accompanied with a moft flattering poem, compofed by the minifter in praife of his fovereign, who in return for his
homage, afligned him a penfion of 100,000 pieces of gold, about 50,0001. fterling.
VoT. YTY Par* IT O 7 J > 5
SPA [ 506 ] SPA
Spain, and a formidable train of artillery. “ Behold (faid the
1 ¥" cardinal) the powers which 1 have received from his
Catholic majeily : by thefe I govern Callile j and will
govern it, till the king, your mailer and mine, (hall
come to take poiTeffion of his kingdom.” A declara¬
tion fo bold and determined filenced all oppolition 5 and
Ximenes maintained his authority till the arrival of
89 Charles in 1517.
Difgraee The young king was received with univerfal acclama-
ot'cmHnd t'°nS ’ ^ut X‘menes found little caufe to rejoice.
Ximenes.” was ^eizei^ with a violent diforder, fuppofed to be
the effect of poifon ; and when he recovered, Charles,
prejudiced againft him by the Spanifh grandees and his
Flemilh courtiers, flighted his advice, and allowed him
every day to fink into neglect. The cardinal did not
bear this treatment with his ufual fortitude of fpirit.
He expected a more grateful return from a prince to
whom he delivered a kingdom more flourifliing than it
had been in any former age, and authority more exten-
live and better eftablifiied than the molt illultrious of his
anceltors had ever poflefled. Confcious of his own in¬
tegrity and merit, he could not therefore refrain from
giving vent, at times, to indignation and complaint.
He lamented the fate of his country, and foretold the
calamities to which it would be expofed from the info-
lence, the rapacioufnefs, and the ignorance of ftrangers.
Butin the mean time he received a letter from the king,
difmifling him from his councils, under pretence of eafing
his age of that burden which he had fo long and fo ably
fuftained. This letter proved fatal to the minifter 5 for
90 he expired in a few hours after reading it.
Maximilian While Charles was taking poffeflion of the throne of
attempts to Spain, in confequence of the death of one grandfather,
ekdlecfei^ anot^er was endeavouring to obtain for him the impe-
' rial crown. With this view Maximilian alfembled a
diet at Augfburg, where he cultivated the favour of the
ele&ors by many a£ls of beneficence, in order to engage
them to choofe that young prince as his fucceffor. But
Maximilian himfelf never having been crowned by the
pope, a ceremony deemed effential in that age, as well
as in the preceding, he was confidered only as king of
the Romans, or emperor eleft ; and no example occur¬
ring in hiltory of any perfon being chofen fuccelfor to a
king of the Romans, the Germans, always tenacious of
their forms, obftinately refufed to confer upon Charles a
dignity for which their conftitution knew no name.
But though Maximilian could not prevail upon the
German eleftors to choofe his grandfon of Spain king
of the Romans, he had difpofed their minds in favour
of that prince 5 and other circumftances, on the death
of the emperor, confpired to the exaltation of Charles.
The imperial crown had fo long continued in the Au-
ftrian line, that it began to be confidered as hereditary
in that family j and Germany, torn by religious dis¬
putes, flood in need of a powerful emperor, not only to
preferve its own internal tranquillity, but alfo to proteft
it againll the victorious arms of the Turks, who under
Selim I. threatened the liberties of Europe. This fierce
and rapid conqueror had already fubdued the Mame¬
lukes, and made himfelf mafter of Egypt and Syria.
The poiver of Charles appeared neceffary to oppofe
that of Selim. The extenfive dominions of the houfe
of Auflria, which gave him an intereft in the preferva-
tion of Germany ; the rich fovereignty of the Nether¬
lands and Tranche Compte j the entire poffeffion of the
great and warlike kingdom of Spain, together with that Spain,
of Naples and Sicily, all united to hold him up to the
fir ft dignity among Chriltian princes ) and the new
world feemed only to be called into exiftence that its
treafures might enable him to defend Chriftendom
againft the infidels. Such was the language of his par-
tilans. (t
Francis I. however, no fooner received intelligence of Francis r.
the death of Maximilian, than he declared himfelf a can-afpires to
didate for the empire ; and with no lefs confidence oftiie lame
fuccefs than Charles. Pie trufted to his fuperior years'ilsmty‘
and experience ) his great reputation in arms; and it
was farther urged in his favour, that the impetuofity of
the PYench cavalry, added to the firmnefs of the Ger¬
man infantry, would prove irrefiftible, and not only be
fufficient, under a warlike emperor, to fet limits to the
ambition of Selim, but to break entirely the Ottoman
power, and prevent it from ever becoming dangerous
again to Germany.
Both claims were plaufible. The dominions of Fran¬
cis were lefs extenfive, but more united than thofe of
Charles. His fubjefts were numerous, aClive, brave, lo¬
vers of glory, and lovers of their king. Thefe were
ftrong arguments in favour of his power, fo neceffary at
this juncture : but he had no natural intereft in the Ger¬
manic body 5 and the eleCtors, hearing fo much of mili¬
tary force on each fide, became more alarmed for their
own privileges than the common fafejy. They deter¬
mined to rejeCl both candidates, and offered the impe¬
rial crown to Frederic, furnamed the Wife, duke of
Saxony. But he, undazzled by the fplendour of an
ohjeCt courted with fo much eagernefs, by two mighty
monarchs, rejeCted it with a magnanimity no lefs lingu*
lar than great. 92
“ In times of tranquillity (faid Frederic), we wifli for Speech of
an emperor who has no power to invade our liberties}
times of danger demand one who is able to fecure our <,^X0I1y
fafety. The Turkilh armies, led by a warlike and vie-favour of
torious monarch, are now affembling : they are ready Charles,
to pour in upon Germany with a violence unknown in
former ages. New conjunctures call for new expedients.
The imperial feeptre mult be committed to fome hand
more powerful than mine or that of any other German
prince. We poffefs neither dominions, nor revenues,
nor authority, which enable us to encounter fuch a for¬
midable enemy. Recourfe muft be had, in this exigen¬
cy, to one of the rival monarchs. Each of them can
bring into the field forces fufficient for our defence. But
as the king of Spain is of German extraction, as he is a
member and prince of the empire by the territories which,
defeend to him from his grandfather, and as his domi¬
nions ftretch along that frontier which lies molt expofed
to the enemy, his claim, in my opinion, is preferable to
that of a ftranger to our language, to our blood, and to
our country.” Charles was eleCted in confequence ofHeiseledl-
this fpeech in the year 1520. e<l 'n confe-
The two candidates had hitherto conducted their ri- thisTeech.
vallhip with emulation, but without enmity. They had \
even mingled in their competition many expreffions of
friendffiip and regard. Francis in particular declared
with his ufual vivacity, that his brother Charles and he
were fairly and openly fuitors to the fame miftrefs:
“ The molt affiduous and fortunate (added he) will win
her ; and the other muft reft contented.” But the pre¬
ference was no fooner given to his rival, than Francis
difeovered
SPA
C 5°7 ]
SPA
94
A mutual
95
Both court
the friend
difcovered all the paflions natural to difappointed ambi¬
tion. He could not fupprefs his chagrin and indigna¬
tion at being baulked in his favourite purfuit, and re-
je&ed, in the face of all Europe, for a youth yet un-
„     known to fame. The fpirit of Charles refented fuch
hatred takes cont;empt. anc( from this jealoufy, as much as from op-
place be- p0fltj0n 0f interefts, arofe that emulation between thofe
Charles and two great monarchs which involved them in almoft
Francis. perpetual hoftilities, and kept their whole age in con-
ftant agitation.
Charles and Francis had many interfering claims in
Italy •, and the latter thought himfelf bound in honour
to rellore the king of Navarre to his dominions, unjuftly
feized by the crown of Spain. They immediately be¬
gan to negotiate j and as Henry VIII. of England was
^—  the third prince of the age in power and in dignity, his
flhp of Hen- frien(J{hip was eagerly courted by each of the rivals.
F.Mand^ He was the natural guardian of the liberties of Europe.
'"8 an ’ Senfible of the confequence which his fituation gave
•him, and proud of his pre-eminence, Henry knew it to
be his interel! to keep the balance even between the con¬
tending powers, and to reftrain both, by not joining en¬
tirely with either *, but he was feldom able to reduce his
ideas to praftice. Vanity and refentment were the great
fprings of all his undertakings •, and his neighbours, by
touching thefe, found an eafy way to draw him into their
meafures, and force him upon many ra(h and inconfide-
rate enterprifes.
All the impolitic Heps in Henry’s government muft
not, however, be imputed to himfelf *, many of them
were occafioned by the ambition and avarice of his
prime minifter and favourite Cardinal Wolfey. This
man, who, by his talents and accomplilhments, had rifen
from one of the lowed conditions in life to the higheft
employments both in church and date, enjoyed a greater
degree of power and dignity than any Englidi fubjedd
ever poffeffed, and governed the haughty, prefumptu-
ous, and untraddable fpirit of Henry, w’ith abfolute au¬
thority. Francis was equally wTell acquainted with the
charafter of Henry and of his minider. He had fuc-
cefsfully Battered Wolfey’s pride, by honouring him with
particular marks of his confidence, and bedowing upon
him the appellations of Father, Tutor, and Governor;
and he had obtained the reditution of Tournay, by ad¬
ding a penfion to thofe refpeftful titles. He now fo-
licited an interview with the king of England near Ca¬
lais *, in hopes of being able, by familiar converfation, to
attach him to his friendlhip and intered, while he gra¬
tified the cardinal’s vanity, by affording him an oppor-
96
An inter¬
view pro-
jefted be¬
tween
97
in Encland.
Franck and tunity of difplaying his magnificence in the pretence or
Henry. tvvo courts, and of difeovering to the two nations his in¬
fluence over their monarchs. Charles dreaded the ef-
fe&s of this projefted interview between two gallant
princes, whole hearts were no lefs fufceptible of friend-
ihip than their manners tvere of infpiring it. Finding
it impoffible, however, to prevent a vifit, in which the.
vanity of all parties was fo much concerned, he endea¬
voured to defeat its purpofe, and to pre-occupy the fa¬
vour of the Englidi monarch, and of his minider, by
an aft of complaifance dill more flattering and more un-
charles vi- common. Relying wholly upon Henry’s generofity for
fits Henry his fafety, he landed at Dover, in his way from Spain
to the Low Countries. The king of England, who
was on his way to France, charmed with fuch an in-
dance of confidence, hadened to receive his royal gueff i
and Charles, during his flrort day, had the addrefs not Spam* ^
only to give Henry favourable impreflions of his cha- v
rafter and intentions, but to detach Wolfey entirely
from the intered of Francis. The tiara had attrafted
the eye of that ambitious prelate 5 and as the emperor
knew that the papacy was the foie point of elevation,
beyond his prefent greatnefs, at which he could alpire,
he made him an offer of his interefl on the fird va-
cancy. 98 T
The day of Charles’s departure, Henry went over to
Calais with his whole court, in order to meet Francis. Fi“nce
Their interview was in an open plain between Guifnes
and Ardres 5 where the two kings and their attendants
difplayed their magnificence with fuch emulation and
profufe expence, as procured it the name of the field of
the Cloth of Gold. Here Henry erefted a fpacious
houfe of wood and canvas, framed in London, on
which, under the figure of an Englidi archer, was the
following motto, “ Jie prevails whom I favour j” al¬
luding to his own political fituation, as holding in his
hands the balance of power among the potentates of Eu¬
rope. Feats of chivalry however, parties of gallantry,
and fuch exercifes as were in that age reckoned manly or
elegant, rather than ferious bufinefs, occupied the two
courts during the time that they continued together,
which was 18 days.
After taking leave of this feene of diflipation, the king
of England paid a vifit to the emperor and Margaret of
Savoy at Gravelines, and engaged them to go along with
him to Calais j where the artful and politic Charles com¬
pleted the impreflion which he had begun to make on
Henry and his favourite, and effaced all the friendfliip to
which the frank and generous nature of Francis had gi¬
ven birth. He renewed his affurances of adifling Wol¬
fey in obtaining the papacy •, and he put him in prefent
poffeflion of the revenues belonging to the fees of Bada-
joz and Palencia in Spain. He flattered Henry’s pride,
by convincing him of his own importance, and of the
juftnefs of the motto which he had chofen j offering to
fubmit to his foie arbitration any difference that might
arife between him and Francis. 99
This important point being fecured, Charles repaired Charles in¬
to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he was folemnly invefted with
the crown and feeptre of Charlemagne, in prefence of a ^
more fplendid and numerous affembly than had appear- at Aix-la-
ed on any former inauguration. About the fame time Chapelle.
Solyman the Magnificent, one of the moft accomplilhed,
enterprifing, and viftorious of the Turkifli princes, and
a conftant and formidable rival to the emperor, afeended
the Ottoman throne.
The firft aft of Charles’s adminiffration was to ap¬
point a diet of the empire, to be held at Worms, in or¬
der to concert with the princes proper meafures for
checking the progrefs of “ thofe new and dangerous
opinions which threatened to difturb the peace of Ger¬
many, and to overturn the religion of their anceffors.”
The opinions propagated by Luther and his followers
were here meant. But all his efforts for that purpofe
were infufficient, as is related under the articles Luther
and Reformation. _ ioe
In 1521, the Spaniards, diffatisfied with the depar-War be-
ture of their fovereign, whofe eleftion to the empire ^
they forefaw would interfere with the adminiftration of ?'n
his own kingdom, and incenfed at the avarice of the Au,
Flemings, to whom the direftion of public affairs had
3 S 2 been
Spain.
ioi
Rapid con-
qiiefts of
Charles.
SPA [ 508
been committed fince the death of Cardinal Ximenes, fe-
' veral grandees, in order to fliake off this oppreffion, en¬
tered into an affociation, to which they gave the name
of the Sancla Jimcla ; and the fword was appealed to
as the means of redrefs. This feemed to Francis a fa¬
vourable juncture for reinftating the family of John
d’Albert in the kingdom of Navarre. Charles was at
a diftance from that part of his dominions, and the
troops ufually ftationed there had been called away to
quell the commotions in Spain. A French army, under
Andrew de Folx, fpeedily conquered Navarre ; but that
young and inexperienced nobleman, puffed on by mili¬
tary ardour, ventured to enter Caftile. The Spaniards,
though divided amongthcmfelves, united againff a foreign
enemy, routed his forces, took him prifoner, and recover¬
ed Navarre in a fforter time than he had fpent in fubdu-
in&k- ...
Hollilities thus begun in one quarter, between the ri¬
val monarchs, loon fpread to another. The king of
France encouraged the duke of Bouillon to make war
again!! the emperor, and to invade Luxembourg. Charles,
after humbling the duke, attempted to enter France 5
but was repelled and wcrifed before Mezieres by the fa¬
mous Chevalier Bayard, diflinguiffed among his cotem¬
poraries by the appellation of 7'/ie Knight •without fear
and without reproach ; and who united the talents of a
great general to the pundtilious honour and romantic
gallantry of the heroes of chivalry. Francis broke into
the Low Countries, where, by an excefs of caution, an
error not natural to him, he loft an opportunity of cut¬
ting off the whole imperial army \ and, what was of ftill
more confequence, he difgufted the conftable Bourbon,
by giving the command of the van to the duke of Alen-
§on.
During thefe operations in the field, an unfuccefsful
congrefs was held at Calais, under the mediation of
1
Spain.
Henry VIII. It ferved only to exafperate the parties
which it was intended to reconcile. A league was
foon after concluded, by the intrigues of Wolfey, be¬
tween the pope, Henry, and Charles, again!! France.
Leo had already entered into a feparate league with the
emperor, and the French wTere fall lofing ground in
Italy.
The infolence and exadlions of Mafeffal de Lautrec,
governor of Milan, had totally alienated the affedlions
of the Milanefe from France. They refolved to expel
the troops of that nation, and put themfelves under the
government of Francis Sforza, brother to Maximilian
their late duke. In this refolution, they were encoura¬
ged by the pope, who excommunicated Lautrec, and
took into his pay a confiderable body of Swufs. The
papal army, commanded by Profper Colonna, an expe¬
rienced general, wTas joined by fupplies from Germany
and Naples ; while Lautrec, negledted by his court, and
deferted by the Swifs in its pay, was unable to make
head again!! the enemy. The city of Milan wTas be¬
trayed by the inhabitants to the confederates •, Parma
and Placentia were united to the ecclefiaftical Hate 5 and
of their conquefts in Lombardy, only the town of Cre¬
mona, the caftle of Milan, and a few inconfiderable
forts, remained in the hands of the French.
Leo X. received the accounts of this rapid fuccefs
with fuch tranfports of joy, as are faid to have brought
on a fever, which occafioned his death. The fpirit of
the confederacy was broken, and its operations fufpend-
S P A
ed by this accident. The Swifs were recalled 5 fome
other mercenaries diffanded for want of pay ; and only
the Spaniards, and a few Germans in the emperor’s fer-
vice, remained to defend the duchy of Milan. But
Lautrec, who with the remnant of his army had taken
ftielter in the Venetian territories, deltitute both of men
and money, was unable to improve this favourable op¬
portunity as he wilhed. All his efforts were rendered
ineffedlual by the vigilance and ability of Colonna and
his affociates.
Meantime much difeord prevailed in the conclave.
Wolfey’s name, notwithftanding all the emperor’s mag¬
nificent promifes, w7as fcarcely mentioned there. Julio
de Medici, Leo’s nephew, thought himfelf lure of the
eledlion ; when, by an unexpected turn of fortune,
Cardinal Adrian of Utrecht, Charles’s preceptor, who
at that time governed Spain in the emperor’s name,
wras unanimoufly railed to the papacy, to the aftonilh-
ment of all Europe and the great difgult of the Ita¬
lians. _ _ # _ 102
Francis, roufed by the riling confequence of his rival, Francis in-
refolved to exert himlelf with frelh vigour, in order to va*!es Laiy.
wrelt from him his late conquefts in Lombardy. Lau¬
trec received a fupply of money, and a reinforcement of
10,000 Swifs. With this reinforcement he was enabled
once more to a£t offenfively, and even to advance within
a few miles of the city ot Milan ; when money again
failing him, and the Swifs growing mutinous, he was
obliged to attack the imperialifts in their camp at Bi-
cocca, where he was repulfed with great (laughter, hav¬
ing loft his braveft: officers and belt troops. Such of
the Swifs as furvived fet out immediately for their own
country ; and Lautrec, defpairing of being able to keep
the field, retired into France. Genoa, which ftill re¬
mained fubjeCt to Francis, and made it eafy to execute
any fcheme for the recovery of Milan, was foon after
taken by Colonna : the authority of the emperor ar d
his faction was everywhere eftabliftied in Italy. The
citadel of Cremona w as the foie fortrefs which remained
in the hands of the French.
The afftidlion of Francis for fuch a fucceflion of mif-
fortunes was augmented by the unexpected arrival of an
Englilh herald, who in the name of his fovereign de¬
clared war again!! France. The courage of this excel¬
lent prince, however, did not forlake him ; though his
treafury was exhaufled by expenfive pleafures, no lefs
than by hoftile enterprifes, he affembled a confiderable
army, and put his kingdom in a pofture of defence for
refitting this new enemy, without abandoning any of
the fchemes which he was forming again!! the empe¬
ror. He was lurprifed, but not alarmed, at fuch a de¬
nunciation. Jc^
Meanwhile Charles, willing to draw as much advan-Chaiks vi-
tage as pcflible from fo powerful an ally, paid a fecond fits England
vifit to the court of England in his way to Spain,a ^ec:c)n^
where his prefence wTas become neceffary. Flis fuccefs1
exceeded his meft fanguine expectations. He not only
gained the entire friendlhip of Henry, who publicly ra¬
tified the treaty of Bruges j but difarmed the refentment
of Wolfey, by affuring him of the papacy on Adrian’s
death ; an event feemingly not diftant, by reafon of his
age and infirmities. In confequence of thefe negocia-
tions an Englifti army invaded France, under the com¬
mand of the earl of Surrey ; who, at the end of the
campaign, was obliged to retire, with his forces greatly
reduced.
time.
SPA
[ S°9 3
SPA
Spain- reduced, without beint; able to make hmifelf mailer of
 1 one place within the French frontier. Charles was more
fortunate in Spain : he foon quelled the tumults which
had there arifen in his abfence.
While the Chriftian princes were thus waning eacn
other’s ftrength, Solyman the Magnificent entered Hun¬
gary, and made himfelf mafter of Belgrade, reckoned
the chief barrier of that kingdom againft the 1 urkiih
power. Encouraged by this fuccefs, he turned his
viaorious arms againft the ifland of Rhodes, at that
time the feat of the knights of St John of Jerufalem j
Rhodes ta- and though every prince in that age acknowledged
ken by So- Rhodes to be the great bulwark of Chriftendom in the
1  ^ ^ • 1 . .V..- nrrcnnft each Other.
Spain.
ig6
lyman
eaft fo violent was their animofity againft each other,
that they fuffered Solyman without difturbance to carry
on his operations againft that city and ifland. J^ille
Adam, the grandmafter, made a gallant defence ; but,
after incredible efforts of courage, patience, and military
conduct, during a fiege of fix months, he was obliged to
furrender the place, having obtained an honourable ca¬
pitulation from the fultan, who admired and retpedled
his heroic qualities (fee Rhodes and Malta). Charles
and Francis were equally alhamed of having occafioned
fuch a lofs to Chriftendom by their contefts ; and the
emperor, by way of reparation, granted to the knights
of St. John the fmall iftand of Malta, where they, fixed
their refidence, and continued long to retain their an¬
cient fpirit, though much diminifhed in power and Iplen-
d° Adrian VI. though the creature of the emperor, and
devoted to his intereft, endeavoured to affume the im¬
partiality which became the common father of Chnften-
dom, and laboured to reconcile the contending princes,
that they might unite in a league againft Solyman,
whofe conqueft of Rhodes rendered him more formida¬
ble than ever to Europe. The Italian ftates were no
lefs defirous of peace than the pope: and fo much, re¬
gard was paid &y the hoftile powers to the exhortations
of his holinefs, and to a bull which he iffued, requiring
all Chriftian princes to confent to a truce for three
years, that the imperial, the French, and the Englifh
ambaffadors at Rome, were empowered to treat, of that
matter ; but while they wafted their time in fruitleis ne-
gociations, their mafters were continuing their prepara¬
tions for war ; and other negociations foon took place.
\ powerful The confederacy againft France became more formida-
ronfkleracy ble than ever. , ,, j
The Venetians, who had hitherto adhered to the
French intereft, formed engagements with the emperor
for fecuring Francis Sforza in the poffeftion of the
duchy of Milan •, and the pope, from a perfuafion that
the ambition of the French monarch was the only ob-
ft&le to peace, acceded to- the fame alliance. The
Florentines, the dukes of Ferrara and Mantua, and all
the Italian powers, followed this example. Francis was
left without a fingle ally, to refill the efforts of a mul¬
titude of enemies, whofe arnres everywhere threatened,
and ivhofe territories encomnnffed his dominions. 1 he
emperor in perfon menaced France with an invafion on
the fide of Guienne j the. forces of England and the Ne¬
therlands hovered over Picardy, and a numerous body
of Germans was preparing to ravage Burgundv.
The dread of fo many and fuch powerful adverfaries,
it was thousdit, would have obligefl Francis to keep
wholly on the defenlive, or at leaft have prevented him
againlt
Francis.
from entertaining any thoughts of marching into Italy.
But before his enemies were able to. ftnke a blow,
Francis had affembled a great army, with which he ho¬
ped to difconcert all the emperor’s ichemes, by march- —
in<r it in perfon into Italy : and this bold mealure the Francis
more formidable becaufe unexpefled, could fcarcely ^ve 'o-
failed of the defired effea, had .t been .mmedtately car- ™obJ-
ried into execution. But the difcovery of a domeftic sed t0 re_
confpiracy, which threatened the deftrudion ol histurnbya
kingdom obliged Francis to flop Ihort at Lyons. domeftic
L Charles duke of Bourbon, lord high conftable ofconfpnacy.
France was a prince of the moft Ihining merit : ms
great talents equally fitted him for the council or the
field while his eminent fervices to the crown mtitled
him * to its firft favour. But unhappily Louifa duchels
of Angouleme, the king’s mother, had contracted a
violent averfion againft the houfe of Bourbon, and had
taught her fon, over whom (he had acquired an abiolute
afcendant, to view all the conftable’s adions with a jea¬
lous eye. After repeated affronts he retired horn court,
and began to liften to the advances of the emperor s
minifters. Meantime the duchefs of Bourbon died j and
as the conftable was no lefs amiable than accomplhhed,
the duchefs of Angouleme, ftill fufceptible of the tender
paflions, formed the fcheme of marrying him. But
Bourbon, who might have expefted every thing to
which an ambitious mind can afpire, from the dealing
fondnefs of a woman who governed, her fon and the
kingdom, incapable of imitating Louifa in her iudden
tranfition from hate to love, or of meanly counterfeit¬
ing a paflion for one who had fo long purfued him with
unprovoked malice, rejeaed the match with difdam, and
turned the propofal into ridicule. At once defpifed and
infulted by the man whom love only could have made
her ceafe to perfecute, Louifa was filled with, all the
rage of difappointed woman j (he refolved.to rum, fince
{he could not marry, Bourbon. . For this purpofe fhe
commenced an iniquitous fuit againft him j and by the
chicanery of Chancellor du Prat, the conftable was {trip¬
ped of his whole family-eftate. Driven to defpair by
fo many injuries, he entered into, a fecret correfpond-
ence with the emperor and the king oi England j and
he propofed, as foon as Francis ftiould have croffed the
Alps, to raife an infurreftion among his numerous val-
fals, and introduce foreign enemies into the heart of
Happilv Francis got intimation of this confpiracy
before he left the kingdom •, but not being fhfficientiy
convinced of the conftable’s guilt, be fuffered fo danger¬
ous a foe to efcape •, and Bourbon entering into the em¬
peror’s fervice, employed all the force of his enterprifing
genius, and his great talents for war, to the prejudice oi
his prince and his native country. ,
In confequence of the difcovery of this.plot, and the
efcape of the powerful confpirator, Francis relinqmflied
his intention of leading his army m peifon into Italy.
He was ignorant how far the infe£lion had fpread among
his fubje&s, and afraid that his abfence might encourage
them to make fome defperate attempt in favour of a man I07
fo much beloved. He did not, however abandon french
defign on the Milanefe, but fent forward, an army of^T^ters
50,000 men, under the command of Admiral Bonnivet.
Colonna, who was entrufted with the defence of that
duchy was in no condition to refill flich a force ; and
the city of Milan, on which the whole territory de-
* n
, S^in,_ Pends, mufl have fallen into the hands of the French,
had not Bonnivet, who pofleffed none of the talents of
a general, wafted his time in frivolous enterprifes, till
the inhabitants recovered from their confternation. The
imperial army was reinforced. Colonna died $ and
Lannoy, viceroy of Naples, fucceeded him in the com¬
mand: but the chief direftion of military operations
was committed to Bourbon and the marquis de Pefcara
the greateft generals of their age. Bonnivet, deftitute’
of troops to oppofe this new army, and ftill more of the
talents which could render him a match for its leaders
after various movements and encounters, was reduced’
to the neceflity of attempting a retreat into France.
108 He was followed by the imperial generals, and routed
at Biagraffa, where the famous Chevalier Bayard was
•Diagralla. billed.
The emperor and his allies were lefs fuccefsful in
their attempts upon France. They were baffled in
every quarter: and Francis, though ftripped of his
Italian dominions, might ftill have enjoyed in fafety
the glory of having defended his native kingdom againft
one half of Europe, and have bid defiance to all his ene¬
mies ; but underftanding that the king of England, dif-
T09 couraged by his former fruitlefs enterprifes, and difguft-
Francis de- ed with the emperor, "was making no preparations for
to "enter* attemPt on Picard/> his ancient ardour feized him
Italy in per-^0r t^e con(lueft of Milan, and he determined, notwith-
fi»n. Handing the advanced feafon, to march into Italy.
The French army no fooner appeared in Piedmont,
than the whole Milanefe was thrown into confternation.
The capital opened its gates. The forces of the empe¬
ror and Sforza retired to Lodi : and had Francis been
lo fortunate as to purfue them, they muft have abandon¬
ed that poft, and been totally difperfed 5 but his evil
genius led him to befiege Pavia, a town of confider-
able ftrength, well garrifoned, and defended by An¬
no tonio de Leyva, one of the braveft officers in the Spa-
Is defeated niffl fervice $ before which place he was defeated and
prifonerTt taken Prifoner on the twenty-fourth day of February
Pavia.
An. 1524. -t he captivity of Francis filled all Europe with alarm.
Aim oft the whole French army was cut off; Milan was
immediately abandoned; and in a few weeks not a
Frenchman was left in Italy. The power of the em¬
peror, and ftill more his ambition, became an object of
univerfal terror; and refolutions were everywhere taken
to let bounds to it. IVIeanwhile Francis, deeply im-
prefled with a fenfe of his misfortune, wrote to his mo¬
ther Louifa, whom he had left regent of the kingdom,
the following ffiort but expreffive letter : “ All, Madam,
in is loft but honour.” The fame courier that carried this
Hypocriti- letter, carried alfo difpatches to Charles j who received
•of Charles. tke netv5 °/ ldie %nal ar>d unexpefted fuccefs which had
crowned his arms with the moft hypocritical moderation.
He would not fuffer any public rejoicings to be made on
account of it; and faid, he only valued it, as it would
prove the occafion of reftoring peace to Chriftendom.
Louifa, however, did not truft to thofe appearances j if
fhe could not preferve what was yet left, ffie determined
at leaft that nothing fliould be loft through her negli¬
gence or weaknefs. Inftead of giving herfelf up°to
luch lamentations as were natural to a woman fo re¬
markable for maternal tendernefs, ftie difcovered all
the forefight, and exerted all the aftivity, of a confum-
iiiate politician. She took every poffible meafure for
I
to 1 SPA
putting the kingdom in a pollute of defence, while ffie Spain,
empioyed all her addrefs to appeafe the refentmentv v-—■■■>
and to gain the friendfflip of England j and a ray of
comfort from that quarter loon broke in upon the French
affairs.
Though Henry VIII. had not entered into the war
agamft I ranee from any concerted political views, he
had always retained feme imperfed idea of that balance
of power which it was neceffary to maintain between
Charles and Francis j and the prefervation of which he
boafted to be his peculiar office. By his alliance with
the emperor, he hoped to recover lome part of thofe
territories on the continent which had belonged to his
anceftors j and therefore willingly contributed to give
him the afcendency above his rival j but having never
dreamt of any event fo decifive and fatal as the vidory.'
at 1 avia, which feemed not only to have broken, but to
have annihilated the power of Francis, he now became
fenfible of his own danger, as well as that of all Europe,
from the lofs of a proper counterpoife to the power of j
Charles. Inftead of taking advantage of the diftreffed France at
condition of France, Henry therefore determined to lilted by
affift her in her prefent calamities. Some difgufts alfo Heni7VIII’
had taken place between him and Charles, and ftill more
between Charles and Wolfey. The elevation of the
cardinal of Medici to St Peter’s chair, on the death of
Adrian, under the name of Clement VII. had made the
Engliffl minifter fenfible of the infincerity of the empe¬
ror s promifes, while it extinguiffied all his hopes of the
papacy ; and he refolved on revenge. Charles, too,
had fo ill fupported the appearance of moderation which
he affumed, when firft informed of his good fortune,
that he had already changed his ufual ftyle to Henry \
and inftead of writing to him with his own hand, and
fubferibing himfelf “ your affeftionate fon and coufin,”
he diflated his letters to a fecretary, and limply fub-
feribed himfelf “ Charles.” Influenced by all thefe
motives, together with the glory of raifing a fallen ene¬
my, Henry liftened to the flattering fubmiffions of Loui¬
fa ; entered into a defenfive alliance with her as regent
of France, and engaged to ufe his beft offices in order
to procure the deliverance of her fon from a ftate of
captivity.
Meanwhile Francis was rigorouffy confined j and fe- Francis fe-
vere conditions being propofed to him as the price 0fverel7ufed
his liberty, he drew his dagger, and, pointing it at his hy hls con*
breaft, cried, “ ’Twere better that a king Ihould diequeror*
thus !” His hand was withheld : and flattering him¬
felf, when he grew cool, that fuch propofitions could
not come dire&ly from Charles, he defired that he
might be removed to Spain, where the emperor then
refided. His requeft was complied with ; but he lan-
guiffied long before he obtained a fight of his conque¬
ror. At laft he wras favoured with a vifit; and the em¬
peror dreading a general combination againft; him, or
that Francis, as he threatened, might, in the obftinacy
of his heart, refign his crown to the dauphin, agreed lo
abate fomewhat of his former demands. A treaty was
accordingly concluded at Madrid j in confequence of
which Francis obtained his liberty. The chief article
in this treaty was, that Burgundy Ihould be reftored to
Charles as the rightful inheritahee of his anceflors, and 114
that Francis’s two eldeft fons Ihould be immediately de-Is at laft
liyered up as hoftages for the performance of the eon-ieleafed-
ditions ftipulated. The exchange of the captive mo¬
narch
”5
Refufes to
execute the
conditions
of his re-
leafe.
n6
Rome ta¬
ken by the
imperiali fts
TI7
and moft
cruelly-
plundered.
SPA [51
narcli for his children was made on the borders between
France and Spain. The moment that Francis entered
his own dominions, he mounted a Tutkifh horfe, and
putting it to its fpeed, waved his hand, and cried aloud
feveral times, “ I am yet a king ! I am yet a king.”
Francis never meant to execute the treaty of Ma¬
drid : he had even left a proteft in the hands of nota¬
ries before he figned it, that his confent flrould be con-
fidered as an involuntary deed, and be deemed null and
void. Accordingly, as foon as he arrived in France,
he affembled the dates of Burgundy, who protefted
againft the article relative to their province 5 and Fran¬
cis coldly replied to the imperial ambaffadors, who urged
the immediate execution of the treaty, that he would
religioufly perform the articles relative to himfelf, but in
thofe affe&ing the French monarchy, he muff be direct¬
ed by the fenfe of the nation. He made the higheft ac¬
knowledgements to the king of England for his friendly
interpolition, and offered to be entirely guided by his
counfels. Charles and his minifters faw that they were
over-reached in thofe very arts of negotiation in which
they fo much excelled, while the Italian ftates obferved
with pleafure, that Francis was refolved not to execute
a treaty which they conlidered as dangerous to the li¬
berties of Europe. Clement abfolved him from the oath
which he had taken at Madrid-, and the kings of France
and England, the pope, the Swifs, the Venetians, the
Florentines, and the duke of Milan, entered into an al¬
liance, to which they gave the name of the Holy League,
becaufe his Holinefs was at the head of it, in order to
oblige the emperor to deliver up Francis’s two fons on
the payment of a reafonable ranfom, and to re-eftablifh
Sforza in the quiet poffeflion of the Milanefe.
In confequence of this league, the confederate army
took the field, and Italy once more became the feene
of war. But Francis, who it was thought would have
infufed fpirit and vigour into the whole body, had gone
through fuch a feene of diftrefs, that he was become
diffident of himfelf, diftruftful of his fortune, and de-
firous of tranquillity. He flattered himfelf, that the
dread alone of fuch a confederacy would induce Charles
to liften to what was equitable, and therefore negleCIed
to fend due reinforcements to his allies in Italy. Mean¬
time the duke of Bourbon, wdro commanded the Impe-
rialifis, had made himfelf mafter of the whole Milanefe,
of which the emperor had promifed him the xnveftiture j
and his troops beginning to mutiny for want of pay,
he led them to Rome, and promifed to enrich them
’with the fpoils of that city. He was as good as his
word ; for though he himfelf was flam in planting a
fealing ladder againit the walls, his foldiers, rather en¬
raged than difeouraged by his death, mounted to the
affault with the utmoff ardour, animated by the great-
nefs of the prize, and, entering the city fword in hand,
plundered it for feveral days.
Never did Rome in any age fuffer fo many calami¬
ties, not even from the Barbarians, by whom the was
often fubdued, the Huns, Vandals, or Goths, as now
from the fuhjefts of a Chriftian and Catholic monarch.
Whatever was refpeftable in modedy, or facred in reli¬
gion, feemed only the more to provoke the rage of the
foldierv. Virgins differed violation in the arms of their
parents, and upon thofe altars to which they had fled
for fafely. Venerable prelates, after enduring every in¬
dignity and every torture, were thrown into dungeons,
i ] SPA
and menaced with the moft cruel death, in order to Spain,
make them reveal their fecret treafures. Clement him-1 ^
felf, who had negledted to make his efcape in time, was
taken prifoner, and found that the facrednefs of his cha-
rabler could neither procure him liberty nor refpebl. ,,5
He was confined till he fliould pay an enormous ranfom The pope
im poled by the victorious army, and furrender to the confine<i-
emperor _all the places of ftrength belonging to the
church. II9
Charles received the news of this extraordinary event shameful
with equal furprile and pleafure j but in order to con-hypocrify of
ceal his joy from his Spanifti fubjeCts, who were filledCharle*.
with horror at the infult offered to the fovereign pon¬
tiff’, and to leffen the indignation of the reft of Europe,
he exprefied the moft profound forrow for the luccels
of his arms. He put himfelf and his court into mourn¬
ing •, flopped the rejoicings for the birth of his fon Phi¬
lip, and ordered prayers to be put up in all the churches'
of Spain for the recovery of the pope’s liberty, which
he could immediately have procured by a letter to his
generals.
The concern expreffed by Henry and Francis for the
calamity of their ally was more fincere. Alarmed at
the progrefs of the imperial arms, they had, even before
the taking of Rome, enter into a clofer alliance, and
agreed to invade the Low Countries with a powerful
army ; but no fooner did they hear of the pope’s cap¬
tivity, than they changed, by a new treaty, the feene of
the projected war from the Netherlands to Italy, and re¬
folved to take the moft vigorous meafures for reftoring
him to liberty. Henry, however, contributed only mo- t20
ney. A French army entered Italy, under the com- A French
mand of Marflial Lautrec ; Clement obtained his free- e”ter*'
dom j and war was for a time carried on by the confe-
derates with fuccefs ; but the death of Lautrec, and the ruined„
revolt of Andrew Doria, a Genoefe admiral in the fer-
vice of France, entirely changed the face of affaifs.
The French army was utterly ruined ; and Francis, dif¬
eouraged and almoft exhaufted by fo many unfuecefsful
enterprifes, began to think of peace, and of obtaining
the releafe of his fons by conceflions, not by the terror
of his arms.
At the fame time Charles, notwithftanding the ad¬
vantages he had gained, had many realbns to with for
an accommodation. Sultan Solyman having overrun
Hungary, was ready to break in upon the Aultrian ter¬
ritories with the whole force of the Fail y and the pro¬
grefs of the Reformation in Germany threatened the
tranquillity of the empire. In confequeuce of this fi-
tuation of affairs, though pride made both parties con¬
ceal or diffemble their real fentiments, two ladies were
permitted to reftore peace to Europe. Margaret of nr
Auftria, Charles’s aunt, and Louifa, Francis’s mother, Peace con*
met in 1529 at Cambray, and fettled the terms of ac*Cambrayt.
commodation between the French king and the empe¬
ror. Francis agreed to pay two millions of crowns as
the ranfom of his two fons, to refign the fovereignty of
Flanders and Artois, and to forego all his Italian claims-,
and Charles ceafed to demand the reiiitution of Bur¬
gundy.
All the fteps of this negociation had been communi¬
cated to the king of England ; and Henry'was, on that
occafion, fo generous to his friend and ally Francis, that
he fent him an acquittal of near fix hundred thoufand
crowns, in order to enable him to fulfil his agreement
with
Spain.
122
Charles
goes into
Germany.
123
He under¬
takes an
expedition
againft the
Hate of
Barbarv.
An. 1541.
SPA [51
with Charles. But Francis’s Italian confederates were
’ lei's fatisfied with the treaty of Cambray. They were
almoft wholly abandoned to the will of the emperor j
and feemed to have no other means of fecurity left but
his equity and moderation. Of thefe, from his pail con-
duff, they had not formed the moll advantageous idea.
But Charles’s prefent circumftances, more elpecially in
regard to the Turks, obliged him to behave with a ge-
nerofity inconfiftent with his charaffer. The Floren¬
tines alone, whom he reduced under the dominion of
the family of Medici, had reafon to complain of his fe-
verity. Sforza obtained the inveifiture of Milan and
his pardon : and every other power experienced the le¬
nity of the conqueror.
After having received the imperial crown from the
hands of the pope at Bologna, Charles proceeded on
his journey to Germany, where his prefence was become
highly neceflary ; for although the condufl and valour
of his brother Ferdinand, on whom he had conferred
the hereditary dominions of the houfe of Auftria, and
who had been defied king of Huagary, had obliged
Solyman to retire with infamy and lofs, his return was
to be feared, and the diforders of religion were daily
increaling ; an account of which, and of the emperor’s
tranfaffions with the Proteftants, is given under the ar¬
ticle Reformation.
Charles having exerted himfelf as much as he could
againft the reformers, undertook his firft expedition
againft the piratical ftates of Africa. Barbary, or that
part of the African continent lying along the coaft of
the Mediterranean fea, was then nearly in the fame con¬
dition which it is at prefent. Morocco, Algiers, and
Tunis, were its principal ftatesand the two laft were
nefts of pirates. BarbaroiTa, a famous corfair, had fuc-
ceeded his brother in the kingdom of Algiers, which
he had formerly affifled him to ufurp. He regulated
with much prudence the interior police of his kingdom,
carried on his piracies with great vigour, and extended
his conquefls on the continent of Africa ; but perceiv¬
ing that the natives fubmitted to his government with
impatience, and fearing that his continual depredations
would one day draw upon him a general combination of
the Chriftian powers, he put his dominions under the
proteffion of the grand feignior. Solyman, flattered by
fuch an aff of fubmiflion, and charmed with the bold-
nefs of the man, offered him the command of the Turk-
ifli fleet. Proud of this diltinflion, Barbaroffa repaired
to Conftantinople, and made ufe of his influence with
the fultan to extend his own dominion. Partly by
force, partly by treachery, he ufurped the kingdom of
Tunis 5 and being now poffeffed of greater power, he
carried on his depredations againft the Chriftian ftates
with more deftrnftive violence th:.n ever.
Daily complaints of the piracies and ravages com¬
mitted by the galleys of Barbaroffa w^ere brought to
the emperor by his fubjefts, both in Spain and Italy ;
and all Chriftendom feemed to look up to him, as its
greateft and moft fortunate prince, for relief from this
new and odious fpecies of oppreflion. At the fame
time Muley-Hafcen, the exiled king of Tunis, finding
none of the African princes able or willing to fupport
him in recovering his throne, applied to Charles for af-
fiftance againft the ufurper. Equally defirous of deli¬
vering his dominions from the dangerous neighbourhood
of Barbaroffa, of appearing as the protestor of an un-
2 ] SPA
fortunate prince, and of acquiring the glory annexed in Spain-
that age to every expedition againft the Mahometans,' 1 v—
the emperor readily concluded a treaty with Muley Haf-
cen, and fet fail for Tunis with a formidable armament.
The Goletta, a fea-port towrn, fortified with 300 pieces
of cannon, wras taken, together with all Barbaroffa’s
fleet : he was defeated in a pitched battle, and 10,000
Chriftian flaves, having knocked off their fetters, and Turns ta-
made themfelves mailers of the citadel, Tunis was pre- ken> ani1.
paring to furrender. But while Charles was deliberating
on the conditions, his troops fearing that they would jj, mafla_
be deprived of the booty which they had expedled, cred.
broke fuddenly into the town, and pillaged and maf-
facred without diftindlion. Thirty thoufand perfons
periftied by the fword, and 10,000 were made pri-
foners. The feeptre wras reftored to Muley Halcen, on
condition that he fhould acknowledge himlelf a vaffal of
the crown of Spain, put into the emperor’s hands all
the fortified fea-ports in the kingdom of Tunis, and
pay annually 12,000 crowns for the fubfiftence of the
Spanilh garrifon in the Goletta. Thefe points being
fettled, and 20,000 Chriftian flaves freed from bondage
either by arms or by treaty, Charles returned to Eu¬
rope, where his prefence wras become neceflary ; wdrile
Barbaroffa, who had retired to Bona, recovered new
ftrength, and again became the tyrant of the ocean. 115
The king of France took advantage of the emperor’sDancis at-
abfence to revive his pretenfions in Italy. The treaty
of Cambray had repreffed but not extinguilhed the vjve ’
flames of difeord. Francis in particular, who waited pretentions
only for a favourable opportunity of recovering the ter- to Italy,
ritories and reputation which he had loft, continued to
negotiate againft his rival with different courts. But
all his negotiations were difconcerted by unforefeen ac¬
cidents. The death of Clement VII. (whom he had
gained by marrying his fon the duke of Orleans, after¬
wards Henry II. to Catharine of Medici, the niece of
that pontiff), deprived him of all the fupport which he
hoped to receive from the court of Rome. The king
of England, occupied wdth domeftic cares and projefts,
declined engaging in the affairs of the continent •, and
the Proteftant princes, affociated by the league of Smal-
kalde, to whom Francis had alfo applied, and who
feemed difpofed at firft to liften to him, filled with in¬
dignation and refentment at the cruelty with which
fome of their reformed brethren had been treated in
France, refufed to have any connedlion with the enemy
of their religion.
Francis was neither cruel nor bigotted : he was too
indolent to concern himfelf about religious difputes ;
but his principles becoming fufpe£led, at a time when
the emperor was gaining immortal glory by his expedi¬
tion againft the infidels, he found it neceffary to vindi¬
cate himfelf by fome extraordinary demonftration of re- I2<-
verence for the eftablifhed faith. The indifereet zeal ol h;s barba-
fome Proteftant converts furnilhed him with the occa- rity to the
fion. They had affixed to the gates of the Louvre and Proteftants.
other public places papers containing indecent reflec¬
tions on the rites of the Romilh church. Six of the
perfons concerned in this raflr action were feized ; and
the king, pretending to be ftruck with horror at their
blafphemies, appointed a folemn proceflion, in order to
avert the wrath of heaven. The holy facrament was
carried through the city of Paris in great pomp : Fran¬
cis walked uncovered before it, bearing a torch in .his
hand ;
127
Caulcs an
army
march to-
12S
Geneva
Savoy.
* See Ge¬
neva.
SPA [51
Spain, hand ; the princes of the blood fupported the canopy
—-v over it ; the nobles walked behind. In prefence of this
numerous affembly, the king declared, that if one of his
hands were infefled with herefy, he would cut it off
with the other j “ and I w'ould facrifice (added he)
even my own children, if found guilty of that crime.”
As an awful proof of his fincerity, the fix unhappy per-
fons who had been feized were publicly burnt, before
the proceflion was finitbed, and in the moll cruel man¬
ner. They were fixed upon a machine which defeend-
ed into the flames, and retired alternately, until they
expired.—No wonder that the Proteffant princes wTere
incenfed at fuch barbarity !
Francis, though unlupported by any ally,, com¬
manded his army to advance towards the frontiers of
nia.w. Italy, under pretence of chaftifing the duke of Milan
wards Italy. f0j. a breach of the law of nations, in putting to death
bis ambaffador. The operations of war, however, foon
took a new dire&ion. Inftead of marching direftly to
the Milanefe, Francis commenced hoftiliues again!! the
duke of Savoy, with whom he had caufe to be diffatis-
fied, and on whom he had fome claims ; and before the
end of the campaign, this feeble prince larv himfelf
flripped of all his dominions, except the province of
Geneva Piedmont. To complete his misfortunes, the city of
throws off Geneva, the fovereignty of which he claimed, and where
the yoke of the reformed opinions had already got footing, threw7 off
the duke of yQj-e . ancj ;ts revolt drew along with it the lofs of
the adjacent territory. Geneva was then an imperial
city, and till lately remained entirely free *.
In this extremity the duke of Savoy faw no refource
but in the emperor’s proteflion } and as his misfortunes
were chiefly occafioned by his attachment to the impe¬
rial interefl, be had a title to immediate afliftance. But
Charles, who was juft returned from his African expe¬
dition, was not able to lend him the neceffary fupport.
His treafury was entirely drained, and he was obliged
to diihand his army till he could raife new fupplies.
Mean time the death of Sforza duke of Milan entirely
changed the nature of the w7ar, and afforded the empe¬
ror full leifure to prepare for aftion. 1 he French mo¬
narch’s pretext for taking up arms w7as at once cut oft'-,
but as the duke died without iffue, all Francis’s rights
to the duchy of Milan, which he had yielded only to
Sforza and his defendants, returned to him in full force.
He inftantly renewed his claim to it; and if he had or-
dered his army immediately to advance, he might have
Charles made himfelf mafler of it. But he unfortunately wafted
takes pof- his time in fruitlefs negotiations, while his more politic
fHri°n of rjvaj too], p0fl*efhon of the duchy as a vacant fief of the
1 an" empire ; and though Charles feemed ftill to admit the
equity of Francis’s claim, he delayed granting the in-
veftiture under various pretences, and was fecretly taking
every poffible meafure to prevent him from regaining
footing in Italy.
During the time gained in this manner, Charles had
recruited his finances, and of courfe his armies $ and
finding himfelf in a condition for w7ar, lie at laft threw
off the ma!k under which he had fo long concealed his
defigns from the court of France. Entering Rome with
great pomp, he pronounced before the pope and car¬
dinals, affembled in full confiftory, a violent inve&ive
again!! Francis, by way of reply to his propofitibns con-
Weak°efs cerning the inveftiture of Milan. Yet Francis, by an
of Francis unaccountable fatality, continued to negotiate, as if it
VOL. XIX. Part II.
3.1 ... S P A.
had been ftill poflible to terminate their differences in Spain,
an amicable manner 5 and Charles, finding him fo eager '* v—-'
to run into the fnare, favoured the deception, and, by
feeming to liften to bis propofals, gained yet more time
for the execution of his ambitious projects. 131
If misfortunes had rendered Francis too diffident, fuc-Charles at-
cefs had made Charles too fanguine. He prefumed on
nothing lefs than the fubverfion of the French monar-prencj1
chy 5 nay, he confidered it as a certain event. Flaving monaichy,
chafed the forces of his rival out of Piedmont and Savoy,
he pufhed forward at the head of 50,000 men, contrary
to the advice of his moft experienced minifters and gene¬
rals, to invade the fouthern provinces o! I ranee ; while
two other armies were ordered to enter it, the one on
the fide of Picardy, the other on the fide of Champagne,
lie thought it impoftible that Francis could refill fo
many unexpefled attacks on fuch different quarters} but
he found himfelf miftaken. 132
The French monarch fixed on the moft effe£lual kut is di-
plan for defeating the invafion of a power!ul enemy ;
and he prudently perfevered in following it, though fj^ns-
contrary to his owm natural temper and to the genius
of his people. He determined to remain altogether
upon the defenfive, and to deprive the enemy of lubfift-
ence by laying wrafte the country before them, ine
execution of this plan was committed to the marefchal
Monlmorency its author, a man happily fitted for fuch
a truft by the inflexible feverity of his difpofilion. He
made choice of a Ilrong camp, under the w alls of Avig¬
non, at the confluence of the Rhone and Durance, where
he affembled a confiderable army 5 while the king, with
another body of troops, encamped at Valence, higher
up the Rhone. Marfeilles and Arles w7ere the only
towns he thought it neceffary to defend ; and each of
thefe he furnithed wuth a numerous garrifon of his heft
troops. The inhabitants of the other towns were com¬
pelled to abandon their habitations : the fortifications
of fuch places as might have afforded (belter to the ene¬
my were thrown down 3 corn, furage, and provifions of
every kind, were carried oft' or deftroyed 3 the mills and
ovens were ruined, and the w7ells filled up or rendered
ufelefs.
This devaftation extended from the Alps to Mar¬
feilles, and from the fea to the confines of Dauphiny 3
fo that the emperor, rvhen he arrived w7ith the van of
his army on the confines of Provence, inftead of that
rich and populous country which he expefted to enter,
beheld nothing but one vaft and defert folitude. He
did not, however, defpair of fuccefs, though he faw
that he would have many difficulties to encounter 3 and
as an encouragement to his officers, he made them libe¬
ral promifes of lands and honours in France. But all
the land which any of them obtained was a grave, and
their mafter loft much honour by this ra!h and pre-
fumptuous enterprife. After unfuccefsfully invefting
Marfeilles and Arles, after attempting in vain to draw
Montmorency from his camp at Avignon, and not
daring to attack it, Charles having fpent two inglorious
months in Provence, and loft one half of his troops by
difeafe or by famine, was under the neceflity of ordering
a retreat 3 and though he was fome time in motion be¬
fore the enemy fufpefted his intention, it was conduc¬
ed with fo much precipitation and diforder, as to de-
ferve the name of a flight, fince the light troops of
France turned it into a perfeC rout. The invafion of
3 T Picardy
Violent
animoiity
between
him and
Francis.
'34
Charles
futnmoned
to appear
at Paris.
SPA [5
Picardy was not more fuccefsfal : the imperial forces
were obliged to retire without effcdling any conqueft of
importance.
Charles had no fooner conduced the {haltered re¬
mains of his army to the frontiers of Milan, than he fet
out for Genoa } and unwilling to expofe himfelf to the
fcorn of the Italians after fuch a reverfe of fortune, lie
embarked directly for Spain.
Meanwhile Francis gave himfelf up to that vain re-
fentment which had formerly difgraced the profperity of
his rival. They had frequently, in the courfe of their
quarrels, given each other the lie, and mutual challenges
had been lent ; which, though productive of no ferious
confequences between the parties, had a powerful ten¬
dency to encourage the pernicious praftice of duelling.
Charles, in his invective pronounced at Rome, had pub¬
licly accufed Francis of perfidy and breach of faith j
Francis now exceeded Charles in the indecency of his
accufations. The dauphin dying fuddenly, his death
was imputed to poifon : Montecuculi his cup-bearer was
put to the rack ; and that unhappy nobleman, in the
agonies of torture, accufed the emperor’s generals Gon-
v.aga and de Leyva, of inftigating him to the deteftable
•ad. The emperor himfelf was fufpefted ; nay, this ex¬
torted confeflion, and fome obfeure hints, wTere confi-
dered as inconteftable proofs of his guilt; though it
was evident to all mankind, that neither Charles nor his
generals could have any inducement to perpetrate fuch
a crime, as Francis wTas ftill in the vigour of life him¬
felf, and had two fens befides the dauphin, grown up
to a good age.
But the incenfed monarch’s refentment did not flop
here. Francis was not fatisfied with endeavouring to
blacken the charafter of his rival by an ambiguous tef-
timony which led to the moft injurious fufpicions, and
upon which the moft cruel confti u&ions had been put ;
he was willing to add rebellion to murder. For this
purpofe he went to the parliament of Paris ; where be¬
ing feated with the ufual folemnities, the advocate-ge¬
neral appeared, and accufed Charles of Auftria (fo he
affedled to call the emperor) of having violated the trea¬
ty of Cambray, by which he was freed from the ho¬
mage due to the crown of France for the counties of
Artois and Flanders ; adding, that this treaty being
now void, he was ftill to be confidered as a vaffal of
France, and confequently had been guilty of rebellion
in taking arms againft his fovereign. The charge was
fuftained, and Charles was fummoned to appear before
the parliament of Paris at a day fixed. The term ex¬
pired ; and no perfon appearing in the emperor’s name,
the parliament gave judgement, that Charles of Auftria
had forfeited, by rebellion and contumacy, the counties
of Flanders and Artois, and declared thefe fiefs reunited
to the crown of France.
Francis, foon after this vain difplay of his animofity,
marched into the Low Countries, as if he had intended
to execute the fentence pronounced by his parliament;
but a fufpenfion of arms took place, through the inter-
pofition of the queens of France and Hungary, before
any thing of confequence was effedled : and this cefia-
tion of hoftilities w>as followed by a truce, concluded at
Nice, through the mediation of the reigning pontiff
Paul III. of the family of Farnefe, a man of a venerable
character and pacific difpofition.
Each of thefe rival princes had ftrong reafons to in-
Hi SPA
cline them to peace. The finances of both were exhauft- Spain,
ed ; and the emperor, the more powerful of the two, 11 *
was deeply imprefftd with the dread of the Turkifti t„ „
arms, which Francis had drawn upon him by a league Francis
with Solyman. In confequence of this league, Barba-leagues
rolla with a great fleet appeared on the coalt of Naples;'^11*1 t^e
filled that kingdom with confternation ; landed without
refiftance near Taranto ; obliged Caftro, a place of
fome ftrength, to furrender; plundered the adjacent
country ; and was taking meafures for fecuring and ex¬
tending his conquefts, when the unexpetted arrival of
Dona, the famous Genoefe admiral, together with the
pope’s galleys and a fquadron of the Venetian fleet,
made it prudent for him to retire. The fultan’s forces
alfo invaded Hungary, where Mahmet the Turkifh ge¬
neral, after gaining leveral inferior advantages, defeated
the Germans in a great battle at Effek on the Drave.
Flappily for Charles and Europe it was not in Francis’s
power at this junfture either to join the Turks or af-
iemble an army ftrong enough to penetrate into the
Milanefe. The emperor, however, was fenfible that he
could not long refift the efforts of two fuch powerful
confederates, nor expett that the fame fortunate cir-
cumftances would concur a fecond time in his favour ;
he therefore thought it neceffary, both for his fafety
and reputation, to give his confent to a truce : and A trti(.e
Francis chofe rather to run the rifle of difobliging his concluded*
newr ally the fultan, than to draw on his head the indig¬
nation, and perhaps the arms, of all Chriftendcm, by
obftinately obftrudting the re-eftablifhment of tranquil¬
lity, and contributing to the aggrandizement of the In¬
fidels.
Thefe confiderations inclined the contending monarchs
to liften to the arguments of the holy father; but he
found it impoffible to bring about a final accommodation
between them, each inflexibly perfilting in afferting his
own claims. Nor could he prevail on them to fee one
another, though both came to the place of rendezvous :
fo great was the remains of diftruft and rancour, or fuch 1*7
the difficulty of adjufting the ceremonial ! Yet, impro-Interview
bable as it may feem, a few days after figning the truce,between
the emperor, in his paffage to Barcelona, being driven ^an“s an^
on the coaft of Provence, Francis invited him to come'" n
aftiore ; frankly vifited him on board his galley, and
was received and entertained with the warmeft demon-
ftrations of efteem and affieftion. Charles, with an equal
degree of confidence, paid the king next day a vifit at
Aigues-mortes ; where thefe two hoftile rivals and vin¬
dictive enemies, who had accufed each other of every
kind of bafenefs, converfing together with all the cor¬
diality of brothers, feemed to vie with each other in ex-
preffions of refpeft and friendfiiip.
Befides the glory of having reftored tranquillity to Advantage
Europe, the pope gained a point of much confequence £alr,ed by
to his family. He obtained for his grandfon, Margaret
of Auftria, the emperor’s natural daughter, formerly
wife of Alexander de Medici, whom Charles had raifedtion.
to the fupreme power in Florence. Laurencin de Medici,
the kinfman and intimate companion of Alexander, had
affaffinated him by one of the blacked: treafons recorded
in hiftory. Under pretence of having fecured him an
affignation with a lady of the higheft rank and great
beauty, he drew him into a fecret apartment of his houfe,
and there ftabbed him as he lay carelefsly on a couch,
expefting the embrace of the lovely fair, whom he had
often
*39
Charles
iiiftreffed.
140
The Spa¬
niards re
money.
SPA r Si
often folicited in vain. Laurencin, however, did not
reap the fruits of his crime 5 for though fome of his
countrymen extolled him as a third Brutus, and endea*
voured to feize this occafion for recovering their liberties,
the government of Florence paflfed into the hands of
Cofmo II. another kinfman of Alexander. Cofmo was
defirous of marrying the widow of his predeceffor j but
the emperor chofe rather to oblige the pope, by bellow¬
ing his daughter upon Oftavio Farnefe, fon of the duke
of Parma.
Charles had foon farther caufe to be fenfible of his
obligations to the holy father for bringing about the
treaty of Nice. His troops everywhere mutinied for
want of pay, and the ability of his generals only could
have prevented a total revolt. He hid depended, as his
chief refource for difeharging the arrears due to his fol-
diers, upon the fubfidies which he expedled from his
Caftilian fubjefts. For this purpofe he affembled the
Cortes of Catlile at Toledo ; and having reprefented to
them the great expence of his military operations, he
propofed to levy fuch lupplies as the prefent exigency
of affairs demanded, by a general excife on commodities}
but the Spaniards, who already felt themfelves opjneffed
warns re- ^y a load of taxes unknown to their ancellors, and who
fufe to afllfthad often complained that their country was drained of
him with its wealth and inhabitants, in order to profecute quarrels
in which they had no intereft, determined not to add
voluntarily to their own burdens. The nobles, in par¬
ticular, inveighed with great vehemence againft the
impolition propofed, as an encroachment on the valuable
and diftinguilhlng, privilege of their order, that of being
exempted from the payment of any tax. Alter em¬
ploying arguments and promifes in vain, Charles dif-
iniffed the affembly with indignation; and from that pe¬
riod neither the nobles nor the prelates have been called
to the Cortes, on pretence that fuch as pay no part of
the public taxes ffiould not claim a vote in laying them
on. Thefe affemblies have fince confided merely of the
procurators or reprelentatives of 18 cities, twro from each;
in all 36 members, who are abfolutely at the devotion
of the crown.
The citizens of Ghent, ftill more bold, broke out not
rebel. l°ng after open rebellion againft the emperor’s go¬
vernment, on account of a tax which they judged con¬
trary to their ancient privileges, and a decifion of the
council of Mechlin in favour of the imperial authority.
Enraged at an unjuft impofition, and rendered defperate
on feeing their rights betrayed by that very court which
was bound to proteft them, they flew to arms, feized
feveral of the emperor’s officers, and drove fuch of the
nobility as rdided among them out of the city. Sen-
fible, however, of their inability to fupport what their
zeal had prompted them to undertake, and defirous of
fecuring a proteftor againft the formidable forces with
which they might expefl foon to be attacked, they of¬
fered to acknowledge the king of h ranee as their love-
reign, to put him into immediate pofleffion of their city,
and to affift him in recovering thole provinces in the
Netherlands which had anciently belonged to bis crown.
True policy direfled Francis to comply with this propo-
fal. The counties of Flanders and Artois were more
v aluable than the duchy of Milan, for which he had fo
long contended ; and their fituation in regard to France
made it more eafy to conquer or to defend them. But
Francis over-rated the Milanefe. lie had lived in friend-
I4I
Inhabitants
of Ghent
5 ] > SPA
(hip with the emperor ever lince their interview at Ai- ^Pa'R‘ ,
gues-mortes, and Charles had promifed him the invefti-
ture of that duchy. Forgetting, therefore, all his paftExtreme
injuries, and the deceitful promifes by which he had been credulity
fo often duped, the credulous, generous Francis, not only of Francis,
rejected the propofttions of the citizens of Ghent, but
communicated to the emperor his whole negociation with
the malecontents.
Judging of Charles’s heart by his own, Francis hoped
by this feemingly diftnterefted proceeding to obtain at
once the inveftiture of Milan $ and the emperor, well
acquainted with the weaknefs of his rival, flattered him
in this apprehenfion, for his own felfifh purpofes. His 143
prefence being neceffary in the Netherlands, he demand-lie allows
ed a paffage through France. It was immediately grant-
ed him ; and Charles, to whom every moment was Prs- through bis
cious, fet out, notwithftanding the remonftrances' ol his dymimonr.
council and the fears of his Spanilh fubjefts, with a
fmall but fplendid train of 100 perfons; He was met
on the frontiers of France by the dauphin and the duke
of Orleans, who offered to go into Spain, and remain
there as hoftages, till he fhould reach his own domi¬
nions j but Charles replied, that the king’s honour was
fufficient for his fafety, and profecuted his journey with¬
out any other fecurity. The king entertained him with
the utmoft magnificence at Paris, and the two young
princes did not take leave of him till he entered the
Low Countries \ yet he ftill found means to evade his
promife, and Francis continued to believe him fincere. 144
The citizens of Ghent, alarmed at the approach °fSeverity o?
the emperor, who was joined by three armies, fent am-
bafladors to implore his mercy, and offered to throw Ghent,
open their gates. Charles only condefcended to reply,
“ That he would appear among them as a fovereign
and a judge, with the feeptre and the fword.” He ac¬
cordingly entered the place of his nativity on the anni-
verfary of his birth ; and inftead of that lenity which
might have been expected, exhibited an awful example
of his feverity. Twenty-fix of the principal citizens
were put to death : a greater number was baniffied :
the city was declared to have forfeited its privileges } a
new fyftem of laws and political adminiftration was pre-
feribed; and a large fine was impofed on the inhabitants,
in order to defray the expence of erefting a citadel,
together with an annual tax for the fupport of a garrifon.
They were not only defpoiled of their ancient immunities,
but made to pay, like conquered people, for the means
of perpetuating their own flavery. 145
Having thus re-eftabliftied his authority in the Low His bate
Countries, and being now under no neceffity of conri- treatment',
nuing that feene of falfehood and diffimulation with0
which he had amufed the French monarch, Charles be¬
gan gradually to throw afide the veil under which he
had concealed his intentions with refpedft to the Mila¬
nefe, and at laft peremptorily refufed to give up a terri¬
tory of fuch value, or voluntarily to make fuch a liberal
addition to the (Length of an enemy by diminiffiing his
own power. He even denied that he had ever made
any promife which could bind him to an aftion fo fooi-
ifti, and fo contrary to his own intereft.
This tranfaftion expofed the king of France to as
much fcorn as it did the emperor to cenfure. The cre¬
dulous fimplicity of Francis feemed to merit n© other
return, after experiencing lb often the duplicity and ar¬
tifices- of his rival. He remonftrated, however, and ex-
3 T 2 claimed
8 P A [5
t sPa!n- claimed as if this had been the firft circumftance in
v which the emperor had deceived him. The ini'ult offer¬
ed to his underftanding afFefted him even more fentibly
than the injury done to his intereff $ and he diicovered
ffich refentment as made it obvious that lie would feize
on the firft opportunity of revenge, and that a new war
145 would boon delolate the European continent.
Helsobli- Meanwhile Charles -was obliged to turn his attention
ged to towards the affairs of Germany. The Protellants ha-
"effions°n" in VaItl demandeci a general council, preffed him
t"o the Pro- earneftly. t0 appoint a conference between a {elect num-
teitants. divines of each party, in order to examine the
points in difpute. For this purpole a diet was affem-
bled at Ratifbon : and fuch a conference, notwithffand-
ing the oppofition of the pope, was held with great fo-
lemnity in the prefence of tire emperor. But the di¬
vines chofen to manage the controverfy, though men of
learning and moderation, were only able to fettle a few
Ipeculative opinions, all points relative to wodhip and
juiifdiclion ferving to inflame the minds of the difpu-
tants. Charles, therefore, finding his endeavours to
bring about an accommodation ineffectual, and being
impatient to clofe the diet, prevailed on a majority of
the members to approve of the following ediCt of recefs;
viz. that the articles concerning which the divines had
agreed, fliould be held as points decided *, that thofe
about which they had differed, fhould be referred to the
determination of a general council, or if that could not
be obtained, to a national fynod : and (hould it prove
impracticable alfo to affemble a fynod of Germany, that
a general diet of the empire fhould be called within 18
months, in order to give final judgement on the w hole
controverfy ; that, in the mean time, no innovations
fhould be attempted, nor any endeavours employed to
gain profelytes.
This diet gave great offence to the pope. The bare
mention of allowing a diet, compofed chiefly of laymen,
to pafs judgement in regard to articles of faith, appeared
to him no lefs criminal and profane than the w'ovlf of
ihofe herefies which the emperor feemed fo zealous to
fupprefs. The Proteftants alfo were diffatisfied with it,
as it confiderably abridged the liberty which they at
that time enjoyed. They murmured loudly againfl: it j
and Charles, unwilling to leave any feeds of difcontent
in the empire, granted them a private declaration, ex¬
empting them from whatever they thought injurious or
oppreflive in the recefs, and afcertaining to them the full
pofleffion of all their former privileges.
The fituation of the emperor’s affairs at this jundlure
made thefe extraordinary conceffions neceffary. Fie
lore flaw a rupture with France to be unavoidable, and
lie was alarmed at the rapid progrefs of the Turks in
Hungary. A great revolution had happened in that
kingdom. John Zapol Scaepus, by the afliftance of
Solyman, had wrefied from the king of the Romans a
confiderable part of the country. John died, and left
an infant fon. Ferdinand attempted to take advantage
of the minority, in order to repoffefs himfelf of the
waole kingdom ; but his ambition wTas difappointed by
the aCfivity and addrefs of George Martinuzzi, bilhop
of Waradin, who (hared the regency wfith the queen.
Senfible that he was unable to oppofe the king of the
Romans in the field, Martinuzzi fatisfied himfelf with
holding out the fortified towns, all of which he provided
with every thing neceffary for defence} and at the fame
6 ] SPA
time he font ambaffadors to Solyman, befeecliing him to Spain.
extend towards the (on that imperial protection which ' v 1
had lo generoufly maintained the father on his throne,
ierdinand uled his utmofi endeavours to thwart this
negotiation, and even meanly offered to hold the Hun¬
garian crowm on the fame ignominious condition by
which John had held it, that of paying tribute to the
Porte. But the fultan faw fuch advantages from e{-
poufing the intereft of the young king, that he inffant-
ly marched into Hungary 5 and the Germans, having
formed the liege of Buda, were defeated with great
daughter, before that city. Solyman, however, inffead
of becoming the proteCior of the infant fovereign whom
he had relieved, made ufe of this fuccefs to extend his
own dominions : he lent the queen and her fon into
Tranfilvania, which province he allotted them, and add¬
ed Hungary to the Ottoman empire.
Happily for the Proteffants, Charles received intelli¬
gence of this revolution foon after the diet at Ratifbon j
and by the conceffions which he made them, he obtain¬
ed fuch liberal lupplies, both of men and money, as left
him under little anxiety about the fecurity of Germany.
He.therefore hailened to join his fleet and army in Ita-Undern kcs
ly, in order to carry into execution a great and favourite an unfuc-
enterprife which he had concerted againft Algiers: ctGul ex-
though it wmuld certainly have been more confident i)eci!t,on
with his dignity to have conducted the whole force Al“
the empire againft Solyman, the common enemy of°
Chriitendom, who was ready to enter his Auitrian do¬
minions. But many reafons induced Charles to prefer
the African expedition : he wanted ftrength, or at leaft
money, to combat the Turks in fo diftant a country as
Hungary 5 and the glory which he had formerly ac¬
quired in Barbary led him to hope for the like fuccefs,
while the cries of his Spaniffi fubje&s rouied him to
take vengeance on their ravagers. But the unfortunate
event .of this expedition has already been related under
the article Algiers, N° 14—20.
The lofs .which, the emperor fuffered in this calami- Wa/be-
tous expedition encouraged the king of France lo begin tween
hoftilities, on which he had been for feme lime refolved Francis and
and an adfion dilhonourable to civil focicty furni(hed^ar^es*
him with too good a pretext for taking arms. The
marquis del Guafto, governor of the 'Milanefe, having
got intelligence of the motions and deftination of two
ambaffadors, Rincon and Fergofo, rvhom Francis had
difpatched, the one to the Ottoman Porte, the other to
the republic of Venice $ knowing how much his mafier
wiihed to difeover thp intentions of the French mo¬
narch, and of what confequence it was to retard I he ex¬
ecution of his meafures, he employed fome foldiers be¬
longing to the garrifon of Pavia to lie in wait for thefe
ambaffadors as they failed dowm the Po, wdio murdered
them and moft of their attendants, and feized their pa¬
pers. Francis immediately demanded reparation for
this barbarous outrage ; and as Charles endeavoured to
put him off with an evafive anfwer, he appealed to all
the courts of Europe, fetting forth the heinoufnefs of
the injury, the iniquity of the emperor in difrtgarding
his juft requeft, and the neceffity of vengeance. But
Charles, who was a more profound negotiator, defeated
in a great meafure the effefts of thefe reprefentations :
he fecured the fidelity of the Proteftant princes in Ger¬
many, by granting them new ccnceffions; and he en¬
gaged the king of England to efpoufe his caufe, under
pretence
149
Peace con¬
cluded ' t
Crefpy.
Charles
obliged to
conclude a
difadvanta
gcous peace
with the
Turks and
Piotcftar.ts.
SOU [51
pretence of defending Europe a gain ft the Infidels $
while Francis was only able to iorm an alliance with
the kings of Denmark and Sweden (who for the firit
time interefted themfelves in the quarrels of the more
potent monarchs of the fouth), and to renew his treaty
with Solyman, which drew on him the indignation of
Chnltcndom.
But the a&ivity of Francis fupplied all the defefts of
his negotiation. Five armies were foon ready to take
the field, under different generals, and with different
deftinations. Nor was Charles wanting in his prepara¬
tions. He and Henry a fecond time made an ideal di-
vifion of the kingdom of France. But as the hoftilities
which followed terminated in nothing deciffve, andwTere
diffinguiihed by no remarkable event, except the battle
of Cerifoles (gained by Count d’Enguien over the im-
perialifts, and in which 10,000 of the emperor’s belt
troops fell), at laft Francis and Charles, mutually tired
of ha railing each other, concluded at Crefpy a treaty
of peace, in which the king of England was not men¬
tioned 5 and from being implacable enemies, became
once more, to appearance, cordial friends, and even al¬
lies by the ties of blood.
The chief articles of this treaty were, that all the
conquefts which either party had made fince the truce of
Nice ftrould be reftored •, that the emperor fhould give
in marriage to the duke of Orleans, either his own eld-
elt daughter, with the Low Countries, or the fecond
daughter of his brother Ferdinand, with the invefti-
ture of the Milanefe ; that Francis ihould renounce all
pretentions to the kingdom of iNaples, as w’ell as to the
Ibvereignty of Flanders and Artois, and Charles give
up his°claim to the duchy of Burgundy ; and that
both (hould unite in making war againft the Turks.
The emperor was chieffy induced to grant condi¬
tions fo advantageous to I ranee, by a defire of hum¬
bling the Proteffant princes in Germany. With the
papal jurifduffion, he forefaw they would endeavour to
throw off the imperial authority ; and he determined
to make his zeal for the former a pretence for enfor¬
cing and extending the latter. However, the death of
the duke of Orleans before the confummation of his
marriage, difentangled the emperor from the mold trou-
blefome ftipulation in the treaty of Crefpy ■, _ and the
French monarch, being ffill engaged in hoftilities with
England, was unable to obtain any reparation for the
lofs which he fuffered by this unforefeen event. Thefe
hoftilities, like thofe between Charles and Francis, ter¬
minated in nothing decifive. Equally tired of a ftruggle
attended with no glory or advantage to either, the con¬
tending princes concluded, at Campe, near Ardies, a
treaty of peace 5 in which it wTas ftipulated, that France
ihould pay the arrears due by former treaties to Eng¬
land. But thefe arrears did not exceed one-third of
the fums expended by Plenty on his military opera¬
tions ; and Francis being in no condition to difeharge
them, Boulogne (a chargeable pledge) was leit in the
hands of the Engliffi as a fecurity for the debt.
In confequence of the emperor’s reiolution to humble
the Proteffant princes, he concluded a difhonourable
peace with the Porte, ftipulating that his brother Fer¬
dinand ffiould pay tribute for that part of Hungary
which he ftill poffeffed ; while the fultan enjoyed the
imperial and undifturbed poffeffian of all the reff. At
the fame time he entered into a league with Pope
7 ] SPA
Paul III. for the extirpation of herefy j but in reality Spain,
with a view to opprefs the liberties of Germany. Here, —"-w—-*
however, his ambition met with a fevere check 5 tor
though lie was fuccelsful at firft, he was obliged in
1552 to conclude a peace with the Proteilants on their
own terras 5 as has been related under the article Re¬
formation, N° 26—32. j.t
By the peace concluded on this occafion the emperor Attempts
loft Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which had formed the to recover
barrier of the empire on that quarter; and thereforefi,meot
foon after put himfelf at the head of an army, in order
to recover thefe three bithoprics. In order to conceal
the deftination of his army, he gave out, that he in¬
tended to lead it into Hungary, to fecond Mauiice in
his operations againft the Infidels; and as that pretext
failed him, wdien he began to advance towards the
Rhine, he propagated a report that he was marching
firft to chaftite Albert of Brandenburg, who had re-
fufed to be included in the treaty of Patiau, and whole
cruel exadlions in that part of Germany called loudly
for redrefs. r
The French, however, were not deceived by thefe arts, p
Henry immediately gueffed the true objedl of Charles’s to raite tin
armament, and refolved to defend his conquefts with vi- dege 01
gour. The defence of Metz, againft which it was fore-Met2*
leen the whole weight of the war would be turned, was
committed to Francis of Lorraine, duke of Guile, who
poffeffed in an eminent degree all the qualities that ren¬
der men great in military command. He repaired with,
joy to the dangerous ftation ; and many ot the French
nobility, and even princes of the blood, eager to diftin-
guifh themfelves under fuch a leader, entered Metz as
volunteers. The city was of great extent, ill fortified,
and the fuburbs large. For all thefe deteifts the duke
endeavoured to provide a remedy. He repaired the old
fortifications wfith all poftible expedition, labouring with
his own hands ; the officers imitated his example ; and
the foldiers, thus encouraged, cheerfully fubmitted to
the molt fevere toils; he eredied new works, and he le¬
velled the fuburbs with the ground. At the fame time
he filled the magazines with provifions and military
ftores, compelled all ulelefs perfons to leave the piactq
and laid w'afie the neighbouring country ; yet fuch were
his popular talents, as wTell as his arts of acquiring an
afeendant over the minds of men, that the citizens not
only refrained from murmuring, but feconded him with'
no lefs ardour than the foldiers in all his operations—
in the ruin of their eftates, and in the havoc of their
public and private buildings.
Meanwhile the emperor continued his march towards
Lorraine, at the head of 60,ooo men. On his approach
Albert of Brandenburg, whole army did not exceed
20,000 withdrew into that principality, as if he in¬
tended to join the French king ; and Charles, notwilh-
ftanding the advanced feafon, it being towards the end
of October, laid fiege to Metz, contrary to the advices,
of his moft experienced oflicers.
The attention of both the befiegers and the befieged
was turned for fome time towards the motions of Al¬
bert, who ftill hovered in the neighbourhood, undeter--
mined which ftde to take, though refolved to fell his
fervice. Charles at laft; came up to his price, and he
joined the imperial army. The emperor now flattered
himfelf that nothing could refill his force ; but he found
himfelf deceived. After a fiege of aim oft 60 days, du~
- ring
. x53
Miferable
*54
His further
misfor¬
tunes.
SPA [5
Spain, ring which he had attempted all that was thought pof-
lible for art or valour to effedt, and had loft upwards of
30,000 men by the inclemency of the weather, difeafes,
or the fword of the enemy, he was obliged to abandon
the enterprife.
When the French fallied out to attack the enemy’s
condition of rear, the imperial camp was filled with the fick and
his army, wounded, with the dead and the dying. All the roads
by which the army retired were fxrewed with the fame
miferable objects j who, having made an effort beyond
their ftrength to cfcape, and not being able to proceed,
were left to perifh without afliftance. Happily that,
and all the kind oftices which their friends had not the
power to perform, they received from their enemies.
The duke of Guife ordered them all to be taken care of,
and fupplied with every’ neceffary ; he appointed phyfi-
cians to attend, and direft what treatment was proper
for the fick and wounded, and what refrefhments for tbe
feeble; and fuch as recovered he fent home, under an
efcort of foldiers, and with money to bear their charges.
By thefe a£ts of humanity, lefs common in that age, the
duke of Guife completed that heroic character which he
had iuftly acquired by his brave and fuccefsful defence
of Metz.
The emperor’s misfortunes were not confined to
Germany. During his refidence at Villach, he had
been obliged to borrow 200,000 crowns of Cofmo
de Medici ; and fo low was his credit, that he was
obliged to put Cofrno in poffeflxon of the principality
of Piombino as a fecurity for that inconfiderable fum j
by which means he loft the footing he had hitherto
maintained in Tufcany. Much about the fame time
he loft Sienna. The citizens, who had long enjoyed
a republican government, rofe againft the Spanifh gar-
rifon, •which they had admitted as a check upon the
tyranny of the nobility, but which they found was
meant to enflave them j forgetting their domeftic ani-
mofities, they recalled the exiled nobles ; they demo-
lilhed the citadel, and put themfelves under the protec¬
tion of France.
To thefe unfortunate events one ftill more fatal had
•almolt fucceeded. The fevere adminiftration of the
viceroy of Naples had filled that kingdom with mur¬
muring and diffatisfaftion. The prince of Salerno, the
head of the malecontents, fled to the court of France.
The French monarch, after the example of his father,
applied to the grand fignior j and Solyman, at that
time highly incenfed againft the houfe of Auftria on
account of the proceedings in Hungary, fent a power¬
ful fleet into the Mediterranean, under the command
of the corfair Dragut, an officer trained up under
Barbaroffa, and fcarcely inferior to his mailer in cou¬
rage, talents, or in good fortune. Dragut appeared
on the coaft of Calabria at the time appointed; but
not being joined by the French fleet according to con¬
cert, he returned to Conftantinople, after plundering
and burning feveral places, and filling Naples with con-
ilernation.
Highly mortified by fo many difafters, Charles re¬
tired into the Low Countries, breathing vengeance
Low Conn- agaJnft France : and here the war was carried on with
confiderable vigour. Impatient to efface the ftain which
his military reputation had received before Metz, Charles
laid fiege to Terouane ; and the fortifications being in
difrepair, that important place was carried by affault.
*55
Is fuccefs¬
ful in the
Spain.
1 he But not fo
j8 ] SPA
Hefdin alio was invefted, and carried in the fame man¬
ner. The king of France was too late in ailembling
his forces to afford relief to either of thefe places j and
the emperor afterwards cautioufly avoided an engage¬
ment.
The imperial arms were lefs fuccefsful in Italy,
viceroy of Naples failed in an attempt to recover Sienna jin other
and the French not only eftabliffied themfelves morePia:es-
firmly in Tufcany, but conquered part of the illand of
Coriica, Nor did the affairs of the houfe of Auftria
go on better in Hungary during the courfe of this year*
Ilabella and her fon appeared once more in Tranfylva-
nia, at a time when the people were ready for revolt, in
order to revenge the death of Martinuzzi, whofe lols
they had feverely felt. Some noblemen of eminence
declared in favour of the young king j and the bafhaw
of Belgrade, by Solyman’s order, efpoufing his caufe,
in oppofition to Ferdinand, Caftaldo, the Auftrian gene¬
ral, was obliged to abandon Tranfylvania to Ifabella and
the Turks.
In order to counterbalance thefe and other Ioffes, the Man uks
emperor, in 1554, concerted a marriage between his between
fon Philip and Maty of England, in hopes of adding fliilip ot
that kingdom to his other dominions. Meanwhile a'1<*
the war between Henry and Charles was carried on £n[qaml
with various fuccefs in the Low Countries, and in Italy An, 1554..
much to the difadvantage of France. The French, un¬
der the command of Strozzi, were defeated in the bat¬
tle of Merciano j Sienna was reduced by Medicine, the
Florentine general, after a fiege of ten months j and
the gallant Siennefe were fubjefted to the SpanUh yoke.
Much about the fame time a plot was formed by the
Francifcans, but happily difeovered before it could be
carried into execution, to betray Metz to the Imperia-
lifts. The father guardian, and twenty other monks,
received fentence of death on account of this confpiracy;
but the guardian, before the time appointed for his ex¬
ecution, was murdered by his incenfed accomplices,
whom he had feduced j and fix of the youngeft were
pardoned.
While war thus raged in Italy and the Low Coun¬
tries, Germany enjoyed fuch profound tranquillity, as
afforded the diet full leifure to confirm and perfeft the
plan of religious pacification agreed upon at Paffau,
and referred to the confideration of the next meeting of
the Germanic body. During the negociation of this
treaty, an event happened which aftonifhed all Europe,
and confounded the reafonings of the wifeft politicians.
The emperor Charles V. though no more than 56, an Charles re¬
age when obje£!s of ambition operate with full force on%rs. h’s
the mind, and are generally purfued with the greateft
ardour, had for fome time formed the refolution of re- philjp.
figning his hereditary dominions to his fon Philip. He An. 155<$.
now determined to put it in execution. Various have
been the opinions of hiftorians concerning a refolution
fo Angular and unexpected ; but the moft probable feem
to be, the difappointments which Charles had met with
in his ambitious hopes, and the daily decline of his
health. He had early in life been attacked with the
gout; and the fits were now become fo frequent and
fevere, that not only the vigour of his conllitution was
broken, but the faculties of his mind were fenfibly im¬
paired. He therefore judged it more decent to con¬
ceal his infirmities in fome folitude, than to expofe them
any longer to the public eye ; and as he was unwilling
to
^ S p A ^ 5i
Spain. to forfeit tne fame, or lofe the acquifitions of his better
—years, by attempting to guide the reins of government
when he was no longer able to hold them with ilea-
dinefs, he determined to feek in the tranquillity of
retirement, that happinefs which he had in vain pur-
fued amid ft the tumults of war and the intrigues of
Hate.
in confequence of this refolution, Charles, who had
already ceded to his fon Philip the kingdom of Naples
and the duchy of Milan, affembled the dates of the
I-.OW Countries at Bruflfels •, and feating himfelf for the
laid time in the chair of {date, he explained to his fub-
iedds the reafons of Ins refignatlon, and folemnly de¬
volved his authority upon Philip. Pie recounted with
dignity, but without oftentation, all the great things
which he had undertaken and performed lince the. com¬
mencement of his adminiftration. “ I have dedicated
(obferved he), from the 17th year of my age, all my
thoughts and attention to public objedds, relerving no
portion of my time for the indulgence of eafe, and very
little for the enjoyment of private pleafure. Puther in
a pacific or holdile manner, I have vilited Germany nine
times, Spain fix times, France four times, Italy feven
times, the Low7 Countries ten times, England twice,
Africa as often •, and while my health permitted me to
difcharge the duty of a fovereign, and the vigour of my
confditution was equal in any degree to the arduous of¬
fice of governing fuch extenfive dominions, I never fliun-
ned labour, nor repined under fatigue •, but now7, when
my health is broken, and my vigour exhaufted by the
rage of an incurable dildemper, my growing infirmities
admonifh me to retire ; nor am I fo fond of reigning,
as to retain the fceptre in an impotent hand, which is
no longer able to protedd my iubjecds. Infdead of a
fovereign wrorn out w7ith difeafes (continued he), and
fcarce half alive, I give you one in the prime of life,
already accuftomed to govern, and who adds to the vi¬
gour of youtli all the attention and fagacity of maturer
years.” Then turning towards Philip, who fell on his
knees, and killed his father’s hand, “ It is in your
power (faid Charles), by a wife and virtuous admini-
fdration, to jufdify the extraordinary proof which I give
this day of my paternal affedhon, and to demonftrate
that you are worthy of the extraordinary confidence
which I repofe in you. Preferve (added he) an in¬
violable regard for religion ; maintain the Catholic faith
in its purity 5 let the laws of your country be facred in
your eyes } encroach not on the rights of your people ;
and if the time Ihould ever come when you lhall wifh
to enjoy the tranquillity of private life, may you have
a fon to whom you can refign your fceptre with as
much fatisfadfion as I give up mine to you.” A few
weeks after, he refigned to Philip the fovereignty of
Spain and America •, referving nothing to himfelf out
of all thefe vaft poffefiions but an annual penfion of
100,000 crowns.
Charles was now impatient to embark for Spain, where
he had fixed on a place of retreat j but by the advice of
his phyficians, he put off his voyage for feme months, on
account of the feverity of the feafon *, and, by yielding
to their judgment, he had the fatisfadb’on before he left
the Low Countries of taking a confiderable ftep toivards
a peace with France. This he ardently longed for ;
not only on his Ton’s account, whofc adminiftration he
9 ] SPA
wifhed to commence in quietnefs, but that he might have Spain.
the glory, when quitting the world, of reftoring to Eu- v ^^
rope that tranquillity which his ambition had banilhed
out of it almoft from the time that he affumed the reins
of government.
The great bar to fuch a pacification, on the part of
France, was the treaty which Henry had concluded
with the Pope ; and the emperor’s claims were too I59
numerous to hope for adjufting them fuddenly. A A truce of
truce of five years w7as therefore propofed by Charles j
during which term, without difeuffing their refpe&ive ^ UC‘
pretenfions, each Ihould retain what was in his poffef- France,
fion ■, and Henry, through the perfuafion of the con-
ftable Montmorency, who reprefented the imprudence
of facrificing the true interetts of his kingdom to the
ra(h engagements that he had come under with Paul,
authorifed his ambaffadors to lign at Vaucelles a treaty,
which would infure to him for fo confidevable a period the
important conqueft which he had made on the German
frontier, together with the greater part of the duke of
Savoy’s dominions.
The Pope, when informed of this tranfa&ion, w'as no
lefs filled with terror and aftonifhment than rage and in¬
dignation. But he took equal care to conceal his fear
and his anger. He affedted to approve highly of the
truce } and he offered his mediation, as the common fa¬
ther of Chriftendom, in order to bring about a defini¬
tive peace. Under this pretext, he appointed Cardinal
Rebibo his nuncio to the court of Bruffels, and his ne¬
phew Cardinal Caraffa to that of Paris. The public in-
ftrudtions of both were the fame ; but Caraffa, belides
thefe, received a private commiflion, to fpare neither in¬
treaties, promifes, nor bribes, in order to induce the
French monarch to renounce the truce and renew his
engagements with the holy fee. He flattered Henry
writh the conqueft of Naples •, he gained by his addrefs
the Guifes, the queen, and even the famous Diana of
Poifliers, duchefs of Valentinois, the king’s miftrefs j
and they eafily fwayed the king himfelf, who already
leaned to that fide towards which they wiflied to incline
him. All Montmorency’s prudent remonftrances w7ere
difregarded •, the nuncio (by powers from Rotre) abfol-
ved Henry from his oath of truce *, and that xveak prince
figned a new treaty with the Pope j which rekindled
with frefh violence the flames of war, both in Italy and
the Low Countries. I(j0
No fooner was Paul made acquainted writh the fuc- Quarrel be-
cefs of this negotiation than he proceeded to the moft'wixt the
indecent extremities againff Philip. He ordered thePpL
Spanifh ambaffador to be imprifoned $ he excommuni-^
cated the Golonnas, becaufe of their attachment to the
imperial houfe ; and he confidered Philip as guilty of
high treafon, and to have forfeited his right to the
kingdom of Naples, which he w7as fuppofed to hold of
the holy fee, for afterward affording them a retreat in
his dominions.
Alarmed at a quarrel with the Pope, whom he had
been taught to regard with the moft fuperftitious vene¬
ration, as the vicegerent of Chrift and the common fa¬
ther of Chriftendom, Philip tried every gentle method
before he made ufe of force. He even confulted fome
Spanilh divines on the lawfulnefs of taking arms againfl:
a perfon fj facred. They decided in his favour •, and
Paul continuing inexorable, the duke of Alva, to whom
SPA [ 520 ] SPA
Spain. the negotiations as well as the war had been committed,
entered the ecclefiaftical date at the head of 10,000 ve¬
terans, and carried terror to the gates of Rome.
The haughty pontiff, though ftill inflexible and un¬
daunted himfelf, was forced to give way to the fears
of the cardinals, and a truce wTas concluded for 40 days.
Mean time the duke of Guife arriving with a fupply of
20,000 French troops, Paul became more arrogant than
ever, and banifhed all thoughts from his mind but thofe
of war and revenge. The duke of Guife, however, who
had precipitated his country into this war, chiefly from
a deflre of gaining a field where he might difplay his
own talents, was able to perform nothing in Italy wor¬
thy of his former fame. Fie was obliged to abandon
the fiege of Civetella •, he could not bring the duke of
Alva to a general engagement •, his army periflied by
difeafes •, and the Pope neglefted to furnifh the necef-
fary reinforcements. He begged to be recalled } and
France flood in need of his abilities.
Philip, though willing to have avoided a rupture,
was no fooner informed that Henry had violated the
truce of Vaucelles, than he determined to a£l with fuch
vigour, as flrould convince Europe that his father had
not erred in reflgning to him the reins of government.
He immediately affembled in the Low Countries a body
of 50,000 men, and obtained a fupply of 10,000 from
England, which he had engaged in his quarrel ; and as
he was not ambitious of military fame, be gave the
command of bis army to Emanuel Philibert duke of
Savoy, one of the greatefl generals of that warlike age.
The duke of Savoy kept the enemy for fome time in
fufpenfe with regard to his deftination 5 at laft be feem-
ed to threaten Champagne; towards which the French
drew all their troops 5 then turning fuddenly to the
161 vight, he advanced by rapid marches into Picardy, and
The French laid fiege to St Quintin. It was deemed in thofe times
entirely de- a town of conflderable ftrength ; bv.t the fortifications
Teated at ]la(j been much neglefted, and the garrifon did not
Aiw'11-11"’ amount to a fifth part of the number requifite for its
defence: it muff therefore have furrendered in a few
days, if the admiral de Coligny had not taken the gal¬
lant refolution of throwing himfelf into it with fuch a
body of men as could be colledled on a fudden. 1 his
he effected in fpite of the enemy, breaking through
their main body. The place, however, w-as clofely in-
vefled ; and the conftable Montmorency, anxious to
extricate his nephew out of that perilous fituation, in
which his zeal for the public had engaged him, as well
as to fave a town of fuch importance, rafhly advanced
to its relief with forces one half inferior to thofe of the
enemy. His army was cut in pieces, and he himfelf
made prifoner.
The cautious temper of Philip on this occafion faved
France from devaflatlon, if not ruin. The duke of Sa¬
voy propofed to overlook all inferior objects, and march
fpeedily to Paris, which, in its prefent conflernation, he
conld not have failed to make himfelf mailer of; but
Philip, afraid of the confequences of fuch a hold enter-
prife, defired him to continue the fiege of St Quintin,
in order to fecure a fafe retreat in cafe of any difaflrous
event. The town, long and gallantly defended by Co-
ligny, was at lad taken by ftorm 5 but not till IVance
was in a ffate of defence.
Philip was now fenfible that he had loft an opportu¬
nity which could never be recalled, of diftreffxng his
2
enemy, and contented himfelf with reducing Plorn and Spain.
Catelet j which petty towns, together with St Quintin,—y—
were the iole fruits of one of the moft decifive viclories
gained in the 16th century. The Catholic king, how¬
ever, continued in high exultation on account of his
fuccefs; and as all his paflions were tinged with fuper-
flilion, he vowed to build a church, a monaffery, and a
palace, in honour of St Laurence, on the day facred to
whofe memory the battle of St Quintin had been fought.
He accordingly laid the foundation of an edifice, in
which all thefe were included, and which he continued
to forward at vait expence, for 22 years. The fame
principle which diflated the vow directed the building.
It was fo formed as to referable a gridiron—on which
culinary inftrument, according to the legendary tale,
St Lawrence had fuffered martyrdom. Such is the ori¬
gin of the famous Efcurial near Madrid, the royal refi-
dence of the kings of Spain.
The firft account of that fatal blow which France
had received at St Quintin, wTas carried to Rome by
the courier whom Henry had fent to recal the duke of
Guife. Paul remonftrated warmly againft the depar¬
ture of the French army j but Guife’s orders were per¬
emptory. The arrogant pontiff therefore found it ne-
ceffary to accommodate his conduct to the exigency of
his affairs, and to employ the mediation of the Vene¬
tians, and of Cofmo de Medici, in order to obtain peace.
The firft overtures of this nature were eagerly lillened
to by the Catholic king, who ftill doubted the juftice
of his caufe, and confidered it as his greateft misfortune i(-2
to be obliged to contend with the Pope. Paul agreed peaC(. con.
to renounce his league with France 5 and Philip ftipu- eluded,
lated on his part, that the duke of Alva ftiould repair
in perfon to Rome, and after alking pardon of the holy
father in his own name and in that of his mailer, for
having invaded the patrimony of the church, fliould re¬
ceive abfolution from that crime. Thus Paul, through
the fuperftitious timidity of Philip, finifhed an unpro-
pitious war not only without any detriment to the apofto-
lic fee, but faw his conqueror humbled at his feet: and
fo exceffive was the veneration of the Spaniards in that
age for the papal character, that the duke of Alva, the
proudeft man perhaps of his time, and accuftomed from
his infancy to converfe with princes, acknowledged,
that when he approached Paul, he was fo much over¬
awed, that his voice failed, and his prefence of mind for-
fook him. T(j,
But though this war, which at its commencement Ccnkquen-
threatened mighty revolutions, was terminated without ces of the
occafioning any alteration in thofe ftates which w:ere its m lta_
immediate objefl, it produced effedls of confiderable ^
confequence in other parts of Italy. In order to de¬
tach Oftavio Farnefe, duke of Parma, from the French
intereft, Philip reftored to him the city of Placentia
and its territory, which had been feized by Charles V.
and he granted to Cofmo de Medici the inveftiture of
Sienna, as an equivalent for the fums due to him. By
thefe treaties, the balance of powrer among the Italian
ftates was poifed with more equality, and rendered lefs
variable than it had been fince it received the firft vio¬
lent (hock from the invafion of Charles VIII. and Italy
henceforth ceafed to be the theatre on which the mo-
narchs of Spain, France, and Germany, contended for
fame and dominion. Their hoftilities, excited by new
obje&s, ftained other regions of Europe with blood,
SPA [52
Spain, and made other dates feel, in their Kifn, the mifeiies of
u-“-v——war.
^4 Xhe duke of Guife, who left Rome the fame day that
unfuccSli his adverfary the duke of Alva made his humiliating
in the Low fubmiflion to the Pope, was received in France as the
Countries, guardian angel of the kingdom. He was appointed
lieutenant-general in chief, with a jurifdiftion almoft
unlimited •, and, eager to jullify the extraordinary con¬
fidence which the king had repofed in him, as well as
to perform fomething fuitable to the high expectations
of his countrymen, he undertook in winter the fiege of
Calais. Having taken that place, he next invefted Ihi-
onville in the duchy of Luxembourg, one of the Itrong-
eft towns on the frontiers of the Netherlands $ and for¬
ced it to capitulate after a fiege of three weeks. But
the advantages on this quarter were more than balanced
by an event which happened in another part of the Low
Countries. The marefchal de Termes governor of Ca¬
lais, who had penetrated into Flanders and taken Dun¬
kirk, was totally routed near Gravelines, and taken pri-
foner by Count Egmont. This difafter obliged the duke
of Guife to relinquilh all his other fchemes, and haften
towards the frontiers of Picardy, that he might there
•ppofe the progrefs of the enemy.
The eyes of all France were now turned towards the
duke of Guife, as the only general on whofe arms vic¬
tory always attended, and in whofe conduft as well as
good fortune they could confide in every danger. His
llrength was nearly equal to the duke of Savoy’s, each
commanding about 40,000 men. They encamped at
the diftance of a few leagues from one another j and the
French and Spanilh monarchs having joined their re-
fpeftive armies, it was expeCled that, after the viciflitudes
of war, a decifive battle would at laft determine which
of the rivals (hould take the afcendency for the future in
the affairs of Europe. But both monarchs, as if by
agreement, flood on the defenfive 5 neither of them dif-
covering any inclination, though each had it in his
power, to reft the decifion of a point of fuch importance
l6t. on the iffue of a fingle battle.
Peace con- During this {fate of inaftion, peace began to be men-
cluded be- tioned in each camp, and both Henry and Philip dif-
tween Hen- covere(J an eqUal difpofition to liften to any overture
1 y and 1 hi- , oftnkli/L if 'PI-ip nrivntf> inrlinations
%
167
166
Death of
Charles V.
that tended to*re-eftablifh it. The private inclinations
of both kings concurred with their political interefts
and the wiflies of their people. Philip languifhed to
return to Spain, the place of his nativity, and peace
only could enable him, either with decency or fafety, to
quit the Low Countries. Henry was now defirous of
being freed from the avocations of wrar, that he might
have leifure to turn the whole force of his government
towards fuppreffing the opinions of the reformers, which
were fpreading with fuch rapidity in Paris and the other
great towns, that they began to grow formidable to the
eftablifhed church. Court-intrigues confpired with thefe
public and avowed motives to haften the negociation,
and the abbey of Cercamp was fixed on as the place of
congrefs.
While Philip and Henry rvere making thefe advan¬
ces towards a treaty which reftored tranquillity to Eu¬
rope, Charles V. whofe ambition had fo long difturbed
it, but who had been for fome time dead to the world,
ended his days in the monaftery of St Juftus in Eftrema-
dura, which he had chofen as the place of his retreat, as
is particularly related under the article Charles V.
Vol. XIX. Part II.
1 ] SPA
After the death of Charles, the kingdom of Spain Spain,
foon loft great part of its confequence. Though Charles w“—v'”
had ufed all his intereft to get his fon Philip defied
emperor of Germany, he had been totally difappointed j
and thus the grandeur of Philip II. never equalled that
of his father. His dominions were alfo confiderably
abridged by his tyrannical behaviour in the Netherlands.
In confequence of this, the United Provinces revolted ;
and aftet a long and bloody war obtained their liberty *. Revolt of
In this quarrel Elizabeth of England took part againft
Philip, w7hich brought on a wrar with Spain. The great *see unit,
Ioffes he fuftained in thefe wars exhaufted the kingdom ed Pro-
bothof men and money, notwithftanding the great fums im- ‘linces.
ported from America. Indeed the difeovery of that coun¬
try has much impoverifhed, inftead of enriching Spain j
for thus the inhabitants have been rendered lazy and averle
to every kind of manufaflure or traffic, which only can
be a durable fource of riches and ftrength to any nation.Expulfion
The ruin of the kingdom in this refpefl, however, was°fthe ^
completed by Philip III. who, at the inftigation of the in- con.
quifition, and by the advice of his prime minifter the duke feqUences
of Lerma, expelled from the kingdom all the Morefcoesto Spain,
or Moors, defendants of the ancient conquerors of Spain.
Thirty days only were allowed them to prepare for
their departure, and it was death to remain beyond
that time. The reafon for this barbarous decree was,
that thefe people were ftill Mahometans in their hearts,
though they conformed externally to the rites of Chri-
ftianity, and thus might corrupt the true faith. The
Morefcoes, however, chofe themfelves a king, and at¬
tempted to oppofe the royal mandate } but, being al¬
moft entirely unprovided with arms, they were foon
obliged to fubmit, and were all banifhed the kingdom.
By this violent and impolitic meafure, Spain loft almoft a
million of induftrious inhabitants 5 and as the kingdom
was already depopulated by bloody wars,, by repeated
emigrations to America, and enervated by luxury, it now
fank into a ftate of languor from which it has never re¬
covered. ify
The reign of Philip IV. the fucceffor of Philip III. Philip IV.
commenced in 1621. He had not been long feated on An. 1611*
the throne before the expiration of the 12 years truce
which Philip III. had concluded with the United Pro¬
vinces, again involved Spain in the calamities of war.
The renewed conteft was carried on with vigour by both
the contending powers, till in the year 1648 the Spanifh
monarch was compelled to fign the treaty of Munfter,
by which the United Provinces were declared free and
independent. From this period the power of the Spa-0
nifh monarchy began to decline, as it had already been United
feverely fhaken by the lofs of Portugal. Provinces.
This event took place in 1640, when the Portuguefe r7*
finally threw off the Spanifh yoke, and that country
mained an independent kingdom, till the power of Bo- An>
naparte compelled its lawful monarch to abandon his Eu¬
ropean territories. Philip IV. alfo profecuted an unfuc-
cefsful war with France. This war was terminated in
1659, and Philip died about fix years after. 173
The new monarch, Charles II. was only four years Chanes IL
old when he fucceeded to the throne. He was of a A-n’ l66>
feeble conftitution, and a weak' capacity. The war
which had been occafioned by the revolt of Portugal^
continued till the year 1668, when a peace was con¬
cluded, and the independence of that kingdom was ac¬
knowledged. Hoftilities had been renewed with France,
3 U but
Spain.
Accefflon
of the
Houfe of
Bourbon.
An. 1700.
174
Brnlinand
VI.
An. 1746.
~ *’5
diaries III,
An
SPA [5
but greatly to the difadvantage of the Spaniards, who
loft iotne of the richeft and beft fortified towns which
they ftill pofleffed in Flanders. The peace of Nime-
guen between France and Spain was figned in the year
1678. Charles II. died in 1700, and with him ended
the male line of the houfe of Auftria 5 a dynafty to
which Spain owes lefs than to any other race of its mo-
narchs.
Hiftorians have been fond of reprefenting the domi¬
nion of the Auftrian princes in Spain as produ&ive of
the greateft glory and advantage to that kingdom. The
reign of Charles V. may indeed be faid to have been a
glorious reign; but little of its glory belonged to Spain,
and the emperor certainly negledled her interefts in ad¬
vancing thofe of his more favoured territories. The pic¬
ture given by the Spanifh hiftoiians of the ftate of Spain
at the acceflion and during the reign of Philip II. fully
evinces how little that kingdom had profited by the
change in the line of its fucceflion. Agriculture was
negle&ed j commerce was fettered by enormous duties,
and the people were held in the chains ot ignorance and
fuperftition.
Charles II. -was fucceeded by Philip V. duke of An¬
jou, and grandfon to Louis XIV. of France, who had
been nominated heir to the Spanilh throne by the late
monarch. The tranfa&ions of the war which was foon
declared againft France and Spain, by England, Hol¬
land, and the empire, aflifted by Savoy, Portugal, and
Pruffia, have been already related under the article Bri¬
tain, from N° 345 to N° 371. The treaty of Utrecht,
which terminated the differences between the principal
contending powers, was figned in 1713, and in 1715 a
permanent peace was concluded between Spain and Por¬
tugal. Hoftilities, however, ftill continued with Savoy
and Sardinia, and in 1715 the ifiand of Sardinia was
taken by a Spanifh fleet,rand the year following another
fleet belonging to the fame nation invaded Sicily, but
was defeated by the Brilifh admiral Byng. By a new
treaty in 1720, Sardinia was given to the duke of
Savoy, and Sicily to the emperor ; and by the treaty of
Seville, concluded in 1729, the duchies of Tufcany,
Parma, and Placentia, were ceded to Spain. In 1731,
the Spanifh king invaded Naples, took poflTefllon of that
kingdom, and conferred it on his fon Don Carlos, in
confequence of which %var was declared between Spain
and the empire in 1733. At the end of that year the
palace of Madrid was confirmed by fire, and all the ar¬
chives relating to the Indies perifhed in the flames.
In 1739, hoftilities were renewed between Spain and
Britain, (fee Britain, N° 403) ; but the only fuccef-
fes acquired by the latter power were the capture of
Porto Bello by Admiral Vernon, and that of the Ma¬
nilla galeon by Commodore Anfon. After a long and
turbulent reign, Philip V. died in 1746.
berdinand VI. a mild, prudent, and beneficent prince,
reformed abufes in the adminiftration of juftice, and ma¬
nagement of the finances. He revived commerce, eftab-
lilhed manufaclures, and promoted the profpevity of his
kingdom. In April A. D. 1755, Quito in South A-
merica was deftroyed by an earthquake.
Charles III. fucceeded Ferdinand in 1759. The fa¬
mous family compa£t was concluded at VerfsilJes, A. D.
1761, among the four kings of the houfe of Bourbon. The
Fnglifh, alarmed by the naval preparations of Spain, de¬
clared war in 1762 (fee Britain, N° 450), and took
22 ] SPA
Havannah in the ifland of Cuba, and Manilla in the Spain.
Eaft Indies. Notwithftanding this fuccefs, peace was1""v— J
haltily concluded at Fountambleau, in November, by '
which the Havannah was reftored. In 1767 the Jefuits
weie expelled from Spain. An unfuccelsful expedition
was concerted againft Algiers, A. D. 1775, the parti¬
culars of which are related in M. Swinburne’s Travels,
letter v. In the war between Great Britain and her
American colonies, Spain, Ipy the intrigues of the French
court, was prevailed on to take up arms in fupport of
the latter. At the conclufion of that calamitous war,
Great Britain in a treaty with Spain, ceded to this
power, Eaft and Weft Florida, and the ifland of Mi¬
norca. Charles died in 1788, and was fucceeded by his
fecond fon Charles Anthony prince of Afturias, the
eldeft having been declared incapable of inheriting the
crown. ^ ^
Charles IV. had not long been feated on the throne Charles IV.
before the portentous revolution in France involved Eu- An. 17SS.
rope in a general feene of political and military conteft.
-The king of Spain joined the general confederacy againlt
the new republic, and in confequence was numbered
among the objedls of its refentment, by a declaration of _
war in 1793. 'I he military operations of Spain, how-Engages in
ever, were extremely languid } and after two campaigns, the come-
in which flie might be faid to carry on rather a deten- (,eiatlon
five than offenfive war, againft the republican aimitSp^'^.
(fee I range, N° 411), fhe was compelled to conclude aii.'1^93.
a treaty of peace, which was figned at Bafil on the
22d July 1795* ^7 *-^ts treaty the French republic
reftored to the king of Spain all the conquefts which ihe
had made from him fince the commencement of hoftili¬
ties, and received in exchange all right and property in
the Spanifh part of St Domingo.
I his treaty was foon followed by a rupture with War be-
Great Britain. On 5th Odober 1796, the court oftwtei!sPa’i'
Spain publifhed a manifefto againft this country, to a^BrK(aifl‘
which the court of London made a fpirited reply 3 and 'U l^' "
about the fame time was publithcd a treaty of otienfive
and defenfive alliance, which had been concluded about
two months before, betw een the king of Spain and the
Irench republic. In the w ar which followed between
Spain and Great Britain, his Catholic majefty could
boart of but little honour or fuccefs; and the French re¬
public gained little from its new ally, but the contribu¬
tions of money, which fhe from time to time compelled
him to advance. On the 14th of February 1797, a An. i7<?7.
Spar.ifti fleet of 27 fail of the line was defeated by Sir
John Jervis off Cape St Vincent (tee France, N° 482)3
and four of the Spanifh line of battle (hips were left in
the hands of the vidors. From this time till the tem¬
porary termination of hoftilities by the peace of Amiens
in 1802, there is nothing remarkable in the tianfadions
of Spain.
On the renewal of the war in 1803, Spain was again An. 1803.
compelled, by the overbearing power of France, to take
an adive part againft Great Britain, and fitted out a
formidable fleet, which was united to a confiderable
naval force of the new-made emperor of the French.
The Spanifh declaration of w-ar againft Britain is dated
at Madrid on the 12th of December 1804 3 and on the
2ift of Odober 1805, the combined fleets of France An. 1805.
and Spain were nearly annihilated by Lord Nelfon’s de-
cifive vidory off Cape Trafalgar.
After this terrible blow to the naval power ©f Spain,
nothing
SPA [5
Spaiti. nothing of importance took place till 1808, when the de-
ligns of Bonaparte againtl the independence of Spain,
Revolution which had been long lufpected, were openly avowed, in
in7a0vour°ofconfequence of a domeitic difpule, probably fomented
the prince by the emilfaries of France, which took place between
ot'Aiiuiias. Charles IV. and the prince of Afturias. During the
Aa. 1S0S. wjnter 0£ xgoy-S the public mind in Spain had been
greatly agitated. Some accufed the prince of the Peace,
Don Manuel Godoy, (who had long held the helm of ftate,
and was the richeft and molt powerful fubjeft in the
kingdom), of having concerted with the queen to de-
ftroy the prince of Aiturias. Others accufed the prince
of Atlurias of being at the head of a party to dethrone
his father. Solemn councils and long proceedings, fol¬
lowed up by exiles and violent a£ts, far from calming
opinions, ferved to agitate them ftill more.
~ In March 1808, feveral difturbances happened at
Aranjuez. Thefe difturbances were excited by a report
that the royal family were about to quit Spain and emi¬
grate ta America. In confequence of this report, the
populace of the neighbouring villages repaired in crowds
to Aranjuez, where they found the attendants of the
court packing up the baggage of the royal houfehold ;
and underllood that relays of horfes were flationed on
the road to Seville, and that every thing was prepared
• for the departure of the royal fugitives, who were to
take flopping at that port. It was fufpefled that Don
Manuel Godoy, or, as he has commonly been called,
the prince of the Peace, was the chief inftigator of
this unpopular meafure ; and the fury of the people was
direfted chiefly againlt that nobleman, whofe palace they
attacked on the 18th of March. He, however, found
means to efcape for the prefent, but was afterwards ar-
refted in a garret of his own houfe. In the mean time
the king iftued two decrees with a view to allay the po¬
pular ferment 5 but as this frill continued, he on the
19th took the extraordinary refolution of abdicating the
throne in favour of the prince of Afturias. This refo¬
lution was made known by a royal decree, in which
Charles declared that, as his natural infirmities no longer
permitted him to fupport the weight of government,
and the re-eftabliflrment of his health required a change
of climate, he had after the moft mature deliberation
refolved to abdicate his crown in favour of his heir the
prince of Afturias; and this refolution he declared to be
t8o the refult of his own free will.
Ferdinand The new' fovereign was accordingly proclaimed by
VII. the title of Ferdinand VII. and iflued an edift confifca-
ting the effe&s of Don Manuel Godoy, and announcing
the appointment of the duke of Infantado, a nobleman
defervedly popular for his talents and virtues, to the
prefidency of Caftile and the command of the royal
guards.
Thefe difturbances have commonly been attributed to
the machinations of the French emperor, who had gain¬
ed a complete afcendency over the weak Charles ; and
had rendered the prince of the Peace entirely fubfer-
vient to the views which he had formed on the inde¬
pendence and the liberties of Spain. How far this fup-
pofition is corredt, it is irnpoftible for us at this time to
determine; but it is rendered probable by the adlive
me? fa res taken about this time by Napoleon to awe by
a French force the Spanifti nation. Murat the grand
duke of Berg wras at this time on his march towards the
capital with a body of French troops ; and his march
,3 ] . s p A
was haftcned by the information which he had received Spain:
of the tumults at Aranjuez. This general caufed it to v '
be intimated to Ferdinand, that the emperor of the
French was on his journey to Spain, and adviied him to
meet his mailer on the road. In the mean time he was
tampering with the lelf-depofed monarch, whom he ai-
fured of the afliftance of Bonaparte in reinftating him on
the throne. Charles accordingly addreiled a letter to
Bonaparte, in which he contradidts the aflertion of his
decree of the 19th; and declares that his abdication
was a meafure of compulfion ; and throws himfelf on the
protedlion of that great monarch, his friend and ally,
from whom alone he and his fubjedls can hope to derive
tranquillity and happinefs. lSr
It appears to have been the defign of Murat to draw Defignsof
out of Spain the whole of the royal family, and in this Qn
defign he completely fucceeded. Ferdinand fet out to depei!(jencc
meet Bonaparte, accompanied by the French general Sa-of Spain,
vary, and had advanced as far as Vittoria, where he was
left by Savary, and where he found himfelf furrounded
by French troops. He was compelled to remain at Vit¬
toria, until Savary, who had proceeded to Bayonne,
. where Bonaparte then was, {hould return and intimate
to him the pleafure of his matter. When the general
returned, he brought with him a letter from Napoleon
to Ferdinand. In this letter, which is addreffed to Fer¬
dinand as prince of Afturias, and not as king of Spain,
Bonaparte affured the prince, that the foie objeft of his
journey into Spain was to make fuch reforms in that
kingdom as would be agreeable to the public feelings.
Without pretending to judge refpedling the late revo¬
lution, he cautions Ferdinand againft the danger to be
apprehended from fovereigns permitting their fubje&s
to take juftice into their own hands. After infinuating
his own power over the royal family of Spain, and ad¬
verting to the tumults that had taken place, in which
fome of his troops had fallen, he makes ufe of the fol¬
lowing expreflion, “ a few of my foldiers may be mur¬
dered ; but the fubjugation of Spain ihall be the confe¬
quence of it.”
Ferdinand confounded at the condufl of the French
emperor, and alarmed for his own perfonal fafety, was
compelled to proceed on his journey. When he arrived
at Bayonne he was received by the prince of Neufchatel
and Duroc, and was conduced to a place by no means
fuited to his rank or his charafier as ally of Bonaparte.
He horvever dined with the emperor; but after he had
retired, General Savary brought a melfage from his maf-
ter, intimating his determination that the prefent royal
family of Spain fhould give up to him all right and ti¬
tle to the crown of that kingdom, and that they {hould
be fucceeded by a branch of his own family. Aftonifh-
ed at this intimation, Ferdinand fent his prime minitler
Cevallos, to canvafs the matter with M. Champagny,
the confidential fecretary of Napoleon. The conference
was held in an apartment adjoining the cabinet of the
emperor, and, as it appeared, within his hearing : for
when Cevallos was arguing with great warmth and
ftrength of reafoning on the injuftice and even impolicy
of the propofed meafures, both he and Champagny were
ordered into the emperor’s prefence ; and the former was
reviled in the groffeft terms, branded with the appella¬
tion of a traitor, accufed of having maintained that the
recognition of Bonaparte was not neceffary to the vali¬
dity of his matter’s title to the throne of Spain, and of
3 U 2 having
SPA [ 524 ] SPA
Spain, having affirmed that if the French dared to attack the in-
v"~~ dependence of the Spanifh monarchy, three hundred thou-
fand men would rife to defend it and repel the invaders.
Alter Napoleon had thus indulged the violence of his
temper, he entered in a harih and arrogant ftyle on a
difeuffion of the points in difpute between his lecretary
and Cevallos 5 and finding that he could neither convince
nor filence the Spanifir miniiler, he abruptly concluded
with the following peremptory declaration : “ I have a
lyftem of policy of my own j you ought to adopt more
liberal ideas, to be lefs fufceptible on the point of hon¬
our, and not facrifice the profperity of Spain to the in-
terefl of the Houfe of Bourbon.” From this time the
delliny of the Spaniffi royal family was fixed. Ferdi¬
nand the monarch of the people’s choice was already a
captive, and not many days elapfed before the reft of the
royal family was in the fame fituation. On the firft of
May, Ferdinand had made a conditional renunciation of
his crown in favour of his father, and on the fifth of the
fame month Bonaparte had a long converfation with
Charles the fourth and his queen. Ferdinand was cal¬
led in by his father, to hear, in the prefence of him and
the. queen, the difgufting and humiliating expreffions
which were uttered by the French emperor, expreffions
of fuch a nature, that Cevallos fays he dares not record
them. All the parties were feated except Ferdinand j he
was ordered by his father to make an abfolute renuncia¬
tion of the crown, on pain of being treated as an ufurper
and a confpirator againft the right of his parents. With
this requifition Ferdinand complied, and thus completed
the abdication of his family 5 for it appeared that on the
preceding day Charles had executed the deed of refig-
nation, which transferred to the emperor of the French
Ids title to the crown of Spain, on confideration of receiv¬
ing during his lire an annuity of eighty millions of reals,
of a dowry to his queen of two millions of reals, and to
the infantes of Spain the annual fum of four hundred
thoufand livres.
Thus had Bonaparte effeded the transference ©f the
Spanifli nation from the Bourbon dynafty to his own fa-
mily, fo far at leaf! as that transference could be effec¬
ted by the formal renunciation in his favour of the royal
mmily, and by a ftrong but fufpicicus recommendation
trom them to the Spanifh nation to receive their new
fovereign, whoever he fliould be, with fubmiffion and
obedience. Filled as the annals of mankind are with
examples of treachery, perfidy, and violence, it would
be difficult to point out a deed which in every part of
its performance, in its own nature, or in the charafter of
the means by which it was eftedled, bears fuch ftrong
marks of unjuft and lawlefs tyranny.
It was foon underftood that Napoleon defigned the
f rown of Spain for his brother Jofeph, who had fome
time before been placed on the throne of Naples. In an
addrefs to the Spanifli nation, which Bonaparte publifli-
ed immediately after the abdication of Charles and Fer¬
dinand, he informed them that he did not mean to reign
over them in perfbn, but that he would give them a fo-
vereign every way refembling himfelf. In the begi»-
ning of June Jofeph Bonaparte arrived in the neighbour¬
hood of Bayonne, where he wTas received by a deputa¬
tion of the grandees of Spain and from the council of
Caftile, and prefented with a congratulatory addrefs, writ¬
ten in the moft fulfome ftyle Qf adulation, on his acceffion
to the Spanifk throne.
But though the nomination of Jofeph Bonaparte was Spain,
eafily eftedled, it was not io eafy to place him on the ' ^ J
throne in oppofilion to the almoft unanimous will of the() Ir2,,
Spaniffi nation. Ferdinand the feventh was the darling a ^neCal
ot the people j and his acceffion to the crown had been infurrtdlion
hailed by them, both as placing them under the dominion of Spa-
of a beloved monarch, and as releafing them from thcniari^s’
tyranny of Godoy, who was an objedl of almoft univer-
fal deteftation. I hey had hitherto fubmitted with pa¬
tience to the influence and power of France, hopelefs of
refcuHig themfelves while Charles pofieffed the throne,
and while the prince of the Peace direded his councils j
but the acceffion of Ferdinand, and the confequent dif-
grace of the favourite, had led them to hope that they
fhould now find a fovereign willing to direct and affilt
their efforts to regain their independence. Under thefe
expectations, a great part of the nation had come for¬
ward to offer their affiffance in fupporting the claims of
the new monarch. The province of Catalonia, the moft
induftrious and the molt warlike of the Spanifli nation,
particularly diitinguifhed itfelf by the promptitude and
extent of its offers. Soon after Ferdinand had afeended
the throne, the captain-gene'ral of Catalonia, relying on
the well known refources and difpolitions of the inhabi¬
tants, had come forward with an offer of a military force
of above a hundred thoufand men ; and other provinces
would have followed this example, but Ferdinand had
difeouraged thefe military preparations, and appeared
willing to fubmit quietly to French bondage.
The fpirit which had animated the Spaniards thus
boldly to fupport their favourite fovereign, was not of a
nature to be chilled and repreffed by his timidity or
example. The hatred which they had conceived againft:
the French daily found frefh fources of nouriffiment.
They faw Ferdinand, who had rejeCled their proffered
fervices left he ffiould expofe himfelf to the fufpicion or
difpleafure of Bonaparte, enticed by deceit, or compelled
by violence, to relinquifh his kingdom and commit him¬
felf to the power of his enemy. They anticipated the
eonlequences, and prepared to refill them with vigour
and unanimity. The renunciation of the royal family
in favour of Bonaparte was no fooner known in Spain,
than the northern provinces burfl: into open infurreCHon.
Afturias and Gallicia fet the glorious example; and it
was foon followed by almoft every part of Spain, not
immediately occupied or overawed by the armies of
France.
One of the firft fteps taken by the leaders of the in-
furredlion was, to affemble the juntas or general affem-
blies of the provinces. When thefe were organized,
they iffued proclamations, calling on the Spaniards la
rife in defence of their fovereign, and in the affertion of
their own independence. Beiides thefe proclamations,
from the provincial juntas, addreffes were publiffied in
almoft every province by the leaders of the popular
caufe j in particular, the province of Aragon was ad-
dreffed by Palafox, a name celebrated in the annals of
the Spaniffi revolution, in a bold and fpirited manifefto.
The junta of Seville, which affembled on the 27th of
May, formed itfelf into a fupreme junta of government,
caufed Ferdinand to be proclaimed king of Spain, took
poffeffion of the military ftores, and iffued an order for
all males from 16 to 45, who had not children, to en¬
roll themfelves in the national armies.
It was natural that, when entering on fo determined
an
>'pa’n.
1S5
Peace anu
Rllimce
with Bri¬
tain.
184
Statement
of the
French and
Spanifli
forcesu.
1$$
SuccelTes
of the Spa
nidi pa-
Kiots.
SPA [ 525 ]
an oppofition to the meafures or Bonaparte, the Spa- ed, tvas_compelled
niards (hould turn their eyes towards that nation, by
whom alone the ambitious views of that potentate had
been luccefsfully combated. A peace and alliance with
Britain was evidently not only a meafure of policy, but
would afford them the mod effectual affiftance in the
formidable druggie in which they were about to engage.
Accordingly, deputies were difpatched to Great Britain
from feveral of the provinces, to folicit the aid and
friendihip of that country, and to concert meafures with
the Britith minidry for executing the plans which had
been contrived for freeing the kingdom from the French
yoke. The junta of Sevdle iflued a declaration of war
with France, and declared the Spanidr nation on terms
of peace and amity with Britain. J he Spanifli de¬
puties were empowered to folicit fopphes of arms, am¬
munition, clothing and money j but it was thought that
a fupply of Britilh troops would be unneceflaiy, the
Spanifh patriots confidering themfelves as fully equal to
the defence of their country. The caufe of the Spaniih
patriots was eagerly embraced by the court of London,
and by the Britidi nation at large, and the mod asdive
meafures were quickly taken to fend them effectual aid.
While thefe preparations were making on the part of
the Spaniards, the French forces were colle&ing in
great numbers, both on the frontiers, and in the neigh¬
bourhood of the capital. Above 25,000 men, under
the command of Bedieres and Laffoles, threatened the
provinces of Adurias and Bifcay, or occupieci the plains
of Caftile. Ten thoufand men were fhut up in the
citadel of Barcelona j and to relieve them, a itrong
body of French troops had marched from the fron¬
tiers, and laid fiege to Zaragoza. A confideiable body
under General Moncey attacked the city of Valencia 5
while the grand duke of Berg, after having detached
General Dupont at the head of 20,000 men, to quiet
the infurrettion of the fouthern provinces, held Madrid
with about 15,000 troops. Junot, with about 25,000
men, had entered Portugal, and taken poUedion of the
capital. The whole French force at this time in Spain
cannot be computed at lefs than 100,000 men. J hefe
were oppofed by a very numerous, but undifeiplined
force, commanded by generals of acknowledged bra¬
very, but differing widely from each other in expeiience
and military prudence. General Palafox commanded
in Aragon ; General Caftanos in the fouthern provin¬
ces ; and General Blake in the north.
The firft exertions of the Spaniih patriots were emi¬
nently fuccefsful, though they have been greatly exag¬
gerated in the newfpapers publifhed under authority of
the juntas. JLhe harbour of Cadiz, winch contained a
numerous and well-appointed Heet, was under the com¬
mand of the marquis de Solano, a man notorioufly at¬
tached to the French intereil j and here lay a French
fleet, confiding of five fliips of the line and a frigate.
One of the firft efforts of the patriots was, to obtain pof-
feffion both of Cadiz and the French fleet, and in this
they completely fucceeded. Solano was arrefted and
put to death, and Don Morla was appointed^ in his
room. In the beginning of June the French fleet was
fummoned to furrender, and on the admiral’s refufal,
was furioufly attacked by the batteries on fhore, and
obliged to capitulate. The force detached by Murat,
under Dupont, was attacked near Baylen, on the
22d July, by Major-general Reding, fecond in com¬
mand. under Caftanos, and after having been defeat-
S P A
to furrender at diferetion. The Spain.
French force befleging Zaragoza, was repeatedly attack- y
ed by General Palafox, and fuffered conflderable Ioffes,
while that city held out with the molt heroic bravery.
Perhaps there are few inftances in the annals of modern
warfare, in which fuch perfevering and fuccefsful
courage has been difplayed, as by the defenders of Zara¬
goza. All the means of attack which were in pofleflion
of the French, directed by the fkill with which their
long experience and fuccefs had fupplied them, were
made ufe of. The inhabitants were obliged continually
to be upon their guard, and to be prepared to refill the
molt unexpected and fecret, as well as the moft open
and violent a {faults. The city was frequently bombard¬
ed in the middle of the night, at the fame time that the
gates were attempted to be forced, under cover of the
fhells. More than once the French got_ into foroe
parts of the town ; but they were received with fo much
coolnels and bravery, that they were never able to pre-
ferve what they had with fo much difficulty and lofs ac¬
quired. The women vied with their hufhands, fons,
and brothers, in the difplay of patriotifm and contempt
of danger: regardlefs of the fire of the enemy, they
ruflied into the very middle of the battle, adminifter-
ing fupport and refrefhment to the exhaufted and wound¬
ed, and animating, by their exhortations and example,
all ranks to fuch a difplay of firmnefs and bravery as
long fecured this important city. When it is re-
colleCted, that the attacks of the French were numerous
and varied, that they were conftantly repeated with
frefh, and generally with increafing forces, and that the
foie defence of the city refted with its fpirited inhabi¬
tants and the army of Palafox ; fome idea may be formed
of the difficulties they muft have undergone and fur-
mounted, and of the glory to which they are lb juftly
entitled. The patriots had gained poifeflion of moft ot
the fea ports in the bay of Bifcay, and headed by the
bifhop of St Andero, repulfed the French in feveral aN
tacks. The French force under General Moncey was
alfo repulfed before Valencia, and the patriots were'
equally fuccefsful in feveral other quarters; fo that by
the end of July there did not remain above 40,000
French forces within the Spanifh territory. _ jgg
In the meantime preparations were making at Madrid Arrival and
for the reception of the new fovereign Jofeph j and Murat, flight of
under pretence of ill health, quitted the capital, to give A^
way to the brother of his mafter. Jofeph Bonaparte1'
arrived at Madrid in the latter end of July, with a
guard of 10,000 men*, but foon after his arrival the-
news of the defeat and capitulation of Dupont reached
Madrid, and threw the new court into the utmoft coo-
flernation. They underftood that the viftorious army
of Caftanos was on its march towards the capital; and if
he did not fpeedily retire from fo dangerous a pofxtion,
King Jofeph dreaded either falling into the hands of the-
conqueror of Dupont, or of being intercepted in his re¬
treat by the army of General Blake. In this fltuation
he found himfelf under the neceflity of quitting the ca¬
pital which he had fo lately entered, and before the end
of the month he had reached Burgos in hi a precipitate
flight towards the frontiers. Thus, within the fpace
of two months, did the people of Spain behold their
country almoft entirely freed from the prefence of the
French j and this glorious and happy iffue had been
brought about by their own intrepidity. At a timer
when their fltuation was the moft difpiriting and for-
lom 54
SPA [ 526 ] SPA
sPa'in- lorn; when their king had been compelled to forfake
than, and to make over his right to the throne to a
foreign potentate; ■' when they beheld fcarcely any
troops furrounding them on all Tides, but thofe of that
potentate, they rdfe in arms, and oppofed thcmfelves,
unflcilled as they were in war, and totally unprepared
for it, to a man before whom the mightiett empires in
Europe had fallen.
Reverfes. The fucceffes of the Spanifli arms, though brilliant
and important, were but tranfient. The leaders of the
infurreftion appear to have been but ill calculated to
oppofe the fyftem of taftics which had been fo often
practifed with fuccefs by the conqueror of Marengo, of
Jena, and of Aufterlitz. Though the conquefts of Au-
ftria and Pruffia had been effected by the fame fyflem
vrhich the French were now purfuing in Spain, the mi¬
litary men of this kingdom were incapable of analyzing
them, or of adopting effe&ual meafures of oppofition or
defence. In a feries of about 30 bulletins, publidied
from the French army of Spain, comprehending from
the beginning of November 1808 to the middle of
January 1809, we rea<^ nothing but the rapid move¬
ments and fuccelfes of the French, and the defeat and
annihilation of the belt appointed armies of the infur-
gents. In Gallicia, General Blake, after having with-
llood the duke of Dantzick (Marflial Ney), in feveral
encounters, was at length defeated, and his army difper-
fed. A divifion of the army of Eftremadura, under
Count Belvider, which had marched from Madrid to
fupport the city of Burgos, was attacked and defeated
by a divifion of the French army under the dukes of
Iftria and Dalmatia j while the army of General Caftanos
was in a great meafure difperfed, after a fevere conflict
on the heights ofTudela. According to the French
account, the army of Caftanos confifted of 45,000 men.
It was oppofed by the duke of Montebello, and entirely
defeated, with the lofs of nearly 4000 killed, and 5000
taken prifoners.
In the meantime Bonaparte had entered Spain, and
taken the command of the French army. He advanced
by rapid marches towards Madrid, and at the end of
November his advanced guard reached the important
pafs of Somofierra. This pafs was defended by a body
of 13,000 Spaniards, with fixteen pieces of cannon.
They were attacked by the French under the duke of
Belluno, and after making a confiderable ftand, were
entirely defeated. On the 2d of December Bonaparte
arrived in the neighbourhood of Madrid, and on the
lS8 5th he was mafter of that capital.
Bntifli ex- While the Spanifti patriots were thus purfuing their
peditionsin plan of oppofttion to French tyranny with various fuc-
iupport of cefs> t]-je Bntifh cabinet were fitting out formidable ex-
patriots.m 1 t0 the coafts of Spain and Portugal. The re-
fult of the expedition under Sir Harry Burrard and Sir
Arthur Wellefley, the battle of Vimiera, the convention
of Cintra, and the confequent evacuation of Portugal
by the French, in the month of Auguft 1808, have
been already noticed under Portugal, N° 49 and 50.
After thefe tranfaflions, the greater part of the Britifti
army under the command of Lieutenant-general Sir
John Moore, proceeded on their march to the frontiers
of Spain. The progrefs and operations of this army
will be detailed mentioned. About the middle of the
fame month, a body of 13,000 Britifti troops, under
the command of Sir David Baird, arrived at Corunna,
2
and proceeded tnrough the interior of the country, in- Spain,
tending to join Sir John Moore in the neighbourhood 0f
Madrid. A brigade of 10,000 men under General
Hope, reached that capital, and eftabliftred themfelves
at the Efcurial j but on the approach of Bonaparte,
were under the neceflity of retiring. rj9
Experience has ftiown that in their military cam- March of
paigns on the continent, Britifti forces have to contend ^'r ^0^ri
with numerous difficulties, furmountable only by the ut-
molt prudence and vigilance on the part of the com- 0
manding officers, and by a confiderable degree of fkill
and forefight on that of the proje&ors of iuch under¬
takings. Never perhaps were thefe difficulties more fe-
verely felt than in the march of Sir John Moore from
Portugal to the centre of the Spanifti territory. It w^s
found that in whatever dire&ion he might profecute his *
march, he would encounter either bad roads or fcan-
ty fupplies of provifions. In particular, the difficulty
of tranfporting the artillery over the Portuguefe moun¬
tains was extreme ; and the Portuguefe at Lifbon were
either egregioufly ignorant of the ftate of the roads
which led through their own country to the Spanifh
frontiers, or were unwilling to communicate the infor¬
mation which they really pofieffed. Under thefe cir-
cumftances it was found neceffary to divide the Britifti
army j and it was determined to fend forward one divi¬
fion confifting of 6odo men under the command of
Lieutenant-General Hope, which was dire&ed to march
by Elvas, to enter Spain by Badajos, and to proceed
along the Madrid road by way of Efpinar. Another
divifion, confifting of two brigades under General Paget,,
was detached by way of Elvas and Alcantara, where it
was to pafs the Tagus. Two brigades under General
Beresford moved through Portugal by way of Coimbra '
and Almeyda towards Salamanca, while three brigades
undar General Frafer marphed towards the frontiers of
Spain by Abrantes and Almeyda.
Burgos had been recommended by the Spanifii govern¬
ment as the point of union for the Britifti troops, and Ma¬
drid and Valladolid were appointed for magazines. The
Britifti had been led to expeft that they would find be¬
tween 60,000 and 70,000 Spaniards affembled under Ge¬
neral Blake and the marquis de la Romana in the provin¬
ces of Afturias and Gallicia, and that a mush greater
number was ready to co-operate with them under the
command of Caftanos on the front and left of the prin¬
cipal French pofition. The Spaniards had been repre-
fented as unanimous in their enthufiafm for the caufe of
liberty, and as ready to treat the Britiffi troops as the
faviours of their country. How far this information
was correft, will be feen prefently.
In marching through the Portuguefe territory, the
troops firft encountered difficulties which thev were not
prepared to expe£h The contra&or at Lilbon, who
had agreed to fupply the divifions with rations on the
march, failed in his contradf, and exceffive inconve¬
nience was experienced from the want of money. The
divifions under Generals Frafer and Beresford were obli¬
ged to halt, and it was fome time before they could
again fet forward. The proceedings of the central jun¬
ta, on which all the movements both of the Britifti and
Spaniih armies chiefly depended, were languid, tardy,
and irrefolute ; and before the Btitiffi troops could af-
femble in any force in Spain, the principal armies of
the patriots had been defeated and difperfed in almoft
every
SPA [ 527 ] SPA
Spain, every quarter. On the 8 th of November .Sir John
" v—Moore reached Almeyda. The -weather was at this
time extremely unfavourable, and the troops were ex-
pofed to almoft inceffant rain. They entered Spain on
the 1 nh of November, and on the 13th Sir John ar¬
rived with his advanced guard at Salamanca, where he
halted, intending to affembfe there all the troops which
were on their march through Portugal. While he re¬
mained at Salamanca, he was informed that a confider-
able French force had advanced and taken pofiefiion of
Valladolid, at the diftance of only twenty leagues, by
which one of the places that had been intended for ma¬
gazines was loft. At this time Sir John had with him
only three brigades of infantry without artillery, and it
would be at leaft ten days before the whole of the divi-
fions could come up. He was thus expofed to almoft
an immediate attack by the French without any effec¬
tual fupport from the boafted patriotifm of the Spa¬
niards,
The fituation of affairs in Spain had now become ex¬
tremely critical*; and every account lent to Sir John
Moore by men of found judgement, was filled with con¬
vincing proofs that the Spanifh government had con¬
cealed from their ally the very defperate ftate of their
affairs. General Hope, by a long and tirefome march,
had reached the neighbourhood of Madrid, whence he
wrote a letter to Sir John, ftating that every branch
was affefted by the disjointed and inefficient conttruc-
tion of the government. On the 28th of November
Sir John was advertifed of the late defeat and difperfion
of Caftanos, and of the little probability there was of
his being able to march forward, fo as to effefl any thing
of advantage. He therefore determined to fall back,
though this determination was evidently in oppofition to
the willies and advice of his officers. Freffi difpatches,
however, from the feat of government, diminifhing the
ioffes which had been fuftained by the patriots, and ex¬
aggerating the ardour with which the people were ac¬
tuated, induced him to delay his retreat, efpecially as
he had now a complete, though fmall corps, with caval¬
ry and artillery, and could, by a movement to the left,
eafily effecl a junftion with Sir David Baird, while the
divifion under General Hope had, by rapid marches, ar¬
rived in the neighbourhood of Salamanca.
In addition to the mifreprefentations by which the
• commanders of the Eritiffi forces, and the Britiffi envoy
at Aranjuez, had been deceived, they had now to con¬
tend with two defigning men, who, it foon appeared,
were in the French intereff. Thefe were Don Morla, the
late governor of Cadiz, and a M. Charmilly. By the
machinations of thefe men, Mr Frere was led to advife,
and Sir John Moore ftrongly incited to undertake, bring¬
ing the whole of the Britilh force to the neighbourhood
of Madrid, where they would foon have been complete¬
ly within the power of the enemy. Though by thefe
arts Sir John was effe&ually milled, he did not fuffer
himfelf to be drawn into fo dangerous a fnare. He, how¬
ever, advanced beyond Salamanca, and fent forward the
referve and General Beresford’s brigade towards Toro
on the Douro, where they were to unite with the cavalry
under Lord Paget, who had advanced thither from Af-
torga. On December 12th, Lord Paget, with the
principal part of the cavalry, marched from Toro to
Tordefillas, while the brigade under General Stewart
moved from Arivolo. In the vicinity of Tordcfillas,
near the village of Rueda, the Britifn forces were firft Spain,
oppofed by the French, a fmall party of whom were at-
tacked and defeated.
While Sir John Moore was at Toro, he received in¬
telligence that the duke of Dalmatia was at Saldana
with a confiderable body of French troops, that Junot,
duke of Abrantes, was marching with another towards
Burgos, and that a third under the duke of Trevifo was
deftined for Zaragoza. He was very deffrous that the
firft of thefe generals Ihould advance to meet him, and
with this view he had come forward to Toro, which he
reached on the 16th of December. He had hoped for
effcclual affiftance from the corps commanded by the
marquis de la Romana, but he foon found that this ge¬
neral could render him no fupport. He had now re-
folved to threaten the communication between France
and Madrid ; and, if a favourable opportunity offered,
to attack the duke of Dalmatia’s corps, or any of the
covering divifions that Ihould prefent themfelves. He
forefaw that this would neceffa'rily draw upon him a
large French force, and of courfe would prove an im¬
portant diverfion in favour of the Spaniards; who would
by this means have the opportunity of collecling in the
fouth, and reftoring their affairs. The army was now
near the French pofition. The cavalry under Lord
Paget were pufhed fo forward, that their patrols reached
as far as "Valladolid, and had frequent fuccefsful fkir-
miffies with the enemy. Colonel Otway met a detach¬
ment of French cavalry, charged them, and made the
whole prifoners.
On the 18th of December, Sir John’s head-quarters
were at Caftro Nuevo, and Sir David Baird’s at Bene-
vente, on the road to join him. On the 20th Sir John
reached Majorga, where he was joined by Sir David
Baird. The united Britilh army now amounted to ra¬
ther fewer than 26,000 men, of whom about 2000 were
cavalry. The weather was extremely cold, and the
ground covered with deep fnow. Still the exertions of
the troops were indefatigable, and the cavalry in parti- '
cular attacked and defeated a confiderable body" of
French horfe. On the 21ft the army reached Sahagun,
where Sir John eftablilhcd his head-quarters, and deter¬
mined to halt for fome time, to refrefli his troops, after
the fatigues which they had undergone.
Sir John had now arrived within a very ffiort diftance
from Saldana, where the duke of Dalmatia was polled,
with the flower of the French army ; and preparations
were made for an attack, wffiich was waited for with all
the ardour and impatience which diftinguiffi Britiffi
troops. In the mean time, however, repeated couriers
arrived at head-quarters, the bearers of unpleafant in¬
telligence. Certain information was received, that a
ftrong French reinforcement had arrived at Carrion, a.
little to the right of Sahagun, that the French corps,
which was marching to the fouth, had halted at Tala-
vera, and that the enemy were advancing from Madrid
in confiderable force. Sir John now faw that his mo¬
tions had been watched by Bonaparte, and that all the
arts of this experienced general had been preparing to
entrap him. To advance was madnefs; to retreat, al¬
moft; in the face of an enemy, was a meafure of the ut-
moft danger, but it was the only alternative. 190
On the 24th of December Sir John began filently His retreat,
and fecretly to prepare for bis retreat, and to provide,
as far as poffible, for the defence of thofe parts of the
country
SPA [5
country which were ftill held by the patriots. With
this latter view, he direfted SirDavid Baird to take
the route towards Valencia de Don Juan, while the rett
of the army was to proceed by Caitro Gonzalo. By
this divifion the magazines and ftores which had been
depofited at Benevente and Zamora, were alfo effec¬
tually fecured.
According to the arrangement made, General Fra-
fer, followed by General Hope, marched with their di-
Hfions on the 24th December to Valderos and Ma«
jorga, and Sir David Baird proceeded with his to Va¬
lencia. Xo conceal this movement, Bord Paget was
ordered to pufli on ftrong patrols of cavalry clofe to
the advanced polls of the enemy. Xhe rcferve, with
two light corps, did not retire from Sahagun till the
morning of the 25th, following General Hope. Lord
Paget was ordered to remain with the cavalry until
evening, and then follow the relerve. Xhefe laid were
accompanied by Sir John. The retreat commenced in
this deliberate manner. On the 26th of December, Sir
David Baird reached the Eflar, and paffed the ferry
with lefs difficulty than was expected. He took poll,
according to his orders, at Valencia, and wrote to the
marquis of Romana, urging him to blow up the bridge
of Manfilla. The other divifions of infantry proceeded
unmolelfed to Caflro Gonzalo. On the 24th the ad¬
vanced guard of Bonaparte’s army marched from Tor-
defillas, 120 miles from Madrid, aud ftrong detach¬
ments of cavalry had been pufhed forward to Villalpan-
do and Majorga, On the 26th, Lord Paget fell in
with one of thofe detatchments at the latter place. His
jordfliip immediately ordered Colonel Leigh, with Uvo
fquadrons of the 10th huffars, to attack this corps,
which had halted on the fummit of a fleep hill. One
of Colonel Leigh’s fquadrons was kept in referve } the
other rode brifkly up the hill; on approaching the top,
where the ground was rugged, the colonel judicioufly
reined-in to refrefh the horfes, though expofed to a fe-
vere fire from the enemy. When he had nearly gained
the fummit, and the horfes had recovered their breath,
lie charged boldly and overthrew the enemy } many of
whom were killed and wmunded, and above 100 fur-
rendered prifoners. Nothing could exceed the coolnefs
and gallantry difplayed by the Britifh cavalry on this
©ccafion. The 18th dragoons had fignalized them-
Jelves in feveral former fkirmifhes; they were fuccefs-
tul in fix different attacks. Captain Jones, when at
Palencia, had even ventured to charge 100 French dra¬
goons with only 30 Britifh $ 14 of the enemy were kill¬
ed, and fix taken prifoners. The cavalry, the horfe-ar-
tillery, and a light corps, remained on the night of the
26th, at Caftro Gonzalo ; and the divifions under Ge¬
nerals Hope and Frafer marched to Benevente. On
the 27th, the rear guard croffed the Eflar, and follow¬
ed the fame route, after completely blowing up the
bridge.
We fhall not attempt any farther detail of this dan¬
gerous and calamitous retreat, in which our army fuf-
fered extremely, from the fatigues of conftant marching,
irom the badnefs of the weather, and even from the bru¬
tality of the Spaniards, in whofe caufe they had em-
oaiked. Before, they reached Aftorga, it was found
neceffary to divide the army. A body of 3000 men,
under Brigadier-general Crawford, was detached on
tne road to Orenfe towards Vigo, while the main
I
2S ] S P A
body, under the command of Sir John Moore, marched Spain,
by Allorga and Lugo, on the road to Corunna. They ~v——^
left Aflorga on the 30th of December, and on ihe 1 ith An. igcp.
of January came in light of Corunna. The army had
now reached the lea port from which they were to em-
baik, but adverie winds had detained the tranfports, or
the whole of the troops would have been fpetdily and
fafely on board. Only a few ihips lay in the harbour,
and in thefe fome fick men and a few flragglers, under
pretence or ficknefs, had immediately embarked. rpr
During the whole march from Sahagun to Corunna, ClofdyfoL
the Bntifh army was clofely followed by the French. l°wc^ by
under Bonaparte and the duke of Dalmatia j and thethe Flenc}l*
trvo armies were often fo near each other, that the
french patrols fell in, during the night, with the ca¬
valry piquets of the Britifh. The duke of Dalmatia
had joined Bonaparte at Aftorga, and had increafed his
force to nearly 70,000 men, while the whole force of
the Britifh did not exceed 26,000. When Sir John’s
army reached Lugo, it was found that three divifions of
the French were arranged in front, and it was thought
advifable, on the 8th of January, to offer the enemy
battle. This offer, however, the French thought pro¬
per to decline, and the duke of Dalmatia ftirred not
from his poft. When the army reached Corunna, the
French were far in the rear, and it was hoped that the
tranlports might arrive before the enemy could come up.
1 he retreat of the Bntifh, confidering the circum-
ifances under which it was cffeaed, was a brilliant and
fuccefsful achievement. Two hundred and fifty miles
of country had been traverfed in 11 days, during the.
worft feafon of the year, through bad roads, over moun¬
tains, defiles, and rivers, and in almoft daily contaH
with an enemy nearly three times their numbers.
Though often engaged, the rear guard of the Britifh
had never been beaten, nor even thrown into confufion.
Many Ioffes had indeed been fuftained, in baggage, ar¬
tillery, and horfes, and many ftragglers had fallen into
the hands of the enemy ; but neither Napoleon nor the
duke of Dalmatia could boaft of a fingle military trophy
taken from the retreating army. The greateft danger
was ftiil to be incurred } the pofition of Corunna was
found to be extremely unfavourable ; the tranfports had
not arrived, and the enemy began to appear upon the
heights. The fituation of the army was by moft of the
officers thought fo defperate, that they advifed the ge¬
neral to propofe terms to the duke of Dalmatia, that
they might be fuffered to embark unmolefted 5 but this
advice Sir John, without hefitation, rejefted.
On the 12th of January, the French were feen mov¬
ing in confiderable force on the oppofite fide of the river
Mero. They took up a pofition near the village of
Perillo, on the left flank of the Britifh, and occupied
the houfes along the river. In the mean time Sir John
■was inceffantly occupied in preparing for the defence of
his poft, and in making every arrangement for the em¬
barkation of the troops. Io2
On the 13th, Sir David Baird marched out of Co- Pofition of
runna with his divifion, and took poft on a rifingthe army*
ground, where he determined to remain all night. A
divifion under General Hope was fent to occupy a hill
on the left, which commanded the road to Betanzos,
forming a femicircle with Sir David Baird’s divifion on
the right. General Frazer’s divifion was drawn up near
the road to Vigo, about half a mile from Corunna, and
communicated
SPA [ 529 ] SPA
Spain, communicated with that under Sir David Baird, by
1—-r—means of the rifle corps attached to the latter, which
formed a chain acrofs the valley. The referve under
Major-general Paget occupied a village on the Betan-
zos road, about half a mile from the rear of General
Hope. The higher grounds on the rear and flanks of
the Britifh were poffeffed by the French, a lituation
which gave the latter a confiderable advantage.
In the evening the tranfports from Vigo hove in
light} but the enemy was now fo near, and had, during
this day, Ihown fo much difpofltion to moleft the Bri-
tifli, that a general aftion was become inevitable. On
the 15th, the enemy had advanced to a height where,
the day before, a magazine, containing nearly 4000
barrels of gun powder, had been blown up, and which
was immediately oppofite to the pofition of the Britilh.
On this day fome Ikirmiflies took place.
Battle^of C>n the 16th, every thing was prepared for a general
Corunna. a£tion. Molt of the artillery had been embarked, as it
was found that, from the nature of the ground, much ar¬
tillery could not be employed with advantage. During
the 13th and 14th, the fick, the difmounted cavalry and
horfes, were alfo nearly all embarked. On the morning
of the 16th, the French on the hills were apparently
quiet, and it was hoped that the embarkation might be
effe&ed in the courfe of that night 5 but about noon the
enemy, who had in the morning received reinforce¬
ments, and had placed fome guns in front of the right
and left of his line, was obferved to be getting under
arms, to be moving troops towards his left flank, and
forming various columns of attack at that extremity of
the ftrong and commanding pofltion which he had taken
on the 15th, in front of the Britifli line. This indica¬
tion of his intention was immediately fucceeded by a ra¬
pid and determined attack on the divifion under Sir
David Baird, which formed the right wing, and was
the weakeft part of the line. The firft effort of die ene¬
my was met by Sir John IVIoore and Sir David Baird
at the head of the 42d regiment, and the brigade under
Lord William Bentinck. The village on the right be¬
came an object of obllinate conteft. While leading on his
diviflon to fupport this pofition, Sir David had his arm
(battered with a grape (hot.
Not long after, while Sir John Moore was riding
from poll to port, everywhere encouraging his troops,
and pointing out the molt advantageous opportunities
for attack or defence, his confpicuous fituation had ex-
pofed him to the fire of the enemy. A cannon-ball
(truck his left (boulder, and beat bim to the ground.
He raifed himfelf, and fat up with an unaltered coun¬
tenance, looking intently at the Highlanders, who were
warmly engaged. Captain Hardinge threw himfelf
from his horfe, and took him by the hand 5 then, ob-
ferving his anxiety, he told him the 4^d were advan¬
cing, upon which his countenance immediately bright¬
ened. His friend Colonel Graham now difmounted to
aflifl him ; and, from the compofure of his features, en¬
tertained hopes that he was not even wounded : but ob-
ferving the horrid laceration and effufion of blood, he
rode off for furgeons. The general was carried from
the field on a blanket, by a fergeant of the 42d, and
fome foldiers. On the way he ordered Captain Har¬
dinge to report his wound to General Hope, who af-
fumcd the command. Many of the foldiers knew that
their two chiefs were carried off : yet they conti-
Vol. XIX. Part II.
nued to fight with undiminifhed courage ; and, by the Spairt.
mofl determined bravery, not only repelled every at-l——V”
tempt of the enemy to gain ground, but actually forced
him to retire, though he had brought up frefh troops in
fupport of thofe originally engaged.
The enemy finding himfelf foiled, in every attempt to
force the right of the pofition, endeavoured by numbers
to turn it. A judicious and well-timed movement,
which was made by Major-general Paget, with the re¬
ferve, which corps had moved out of its cantonments to
fupport the right of the army, by a vigorous attack, de¬
feated this intention. The major-general having puftied
forward the 95th (rifle corps) and id battalion 52d re¬
giment, drove the enemy before him ; and, in his ra¬
pid and judicious advance, threatened the left of the
enemy’s pofition. This circumftance, with the pofition
of Lieutenant-general Frafer’s diviflon (calculated to
give ftill farther fecurity to the right of the line) indu¬
ced the enemy to relax his efforts in that quarter. They
were, however, more forcibly direfted towards the cen¬
tre, where they were again fuccefsfully refifted by the
brigade under Major-general Manningham, forming the
left of Sir David Baird’s divifion, and a part of that un¬
der Major-general Leith, forming the right of the divi¬
fion under General Hope. Upon the left the enemy at
firft contented himfelf with an attack upon our picquets,
which, however, in general, maintained their ground.
Finding, however, his efforts unavailing on the right
and centre, he feemed determined to render the attack
on the left more ferious, and had fucceeded in obtaining
poffeflion of the village through which the great road to
Madrid paffes, and which was fituated in front of that
part of the line. From this point, however, he was
foon expelled with confiderable lofs, by a gallant attack
of fome companies of the 2d battalion of the 14th regi¬
ment, under Lieutenant-colonel Nicholls. Before five
in the evening, the Britith had not only fuccefsfully re¬
pelled every attack made upon the pofition, but had
gained ground in almoft all points, and occupied a more
forward line than at the commencement of the aftton,
whilfl the enemy confined his operations to a cannonade,
and the fire of his light troops, with a view to draw off
his other corps. At fix the firing ceafed. The differ¬
ent brigades were reaffembled on the ground which they
occupied in the morning, and the picquets and advanced
ports refiuned their original ftations.
Notwithftanding the decided and marked fuperiority
which at this moment the gallantry of the troops had
given them over an enemy, who, from his numbers and
the commanding advantages of his pofition, no doubt
expefted an eafy vi&ory, General Hope did not, on re¬
viewing all circumftances, conceive that he (hould be
warranted in departing from what he knew was the pre¬
vious and fixed determination of the late commander of
the forces, to withdraw the army on the evening of the
16th, for the purpofe of embarkation, the previous ar¬
rangements for which had already been made by his or¬
der, and were in fa£t far advanced at the commence¬
ment of the aftion. The troops quitted their pofition
about 10 at night, with a degree of order that did them
credit. The artillery that remained unembarked, hav¬
ing been withdrawn, the troops followed in the order
prefcribed, and marched to their refpeflive points of
embarkation in the town and neighbourhood of Co¬
runna. The picquets remained at their polls till five in
3 X the
4
SPA [ 5
Spain, the morning of the 17th, when they were alfo with-
» 1 drawn with limilar order, and without the movement
having been difcovered by the enemy.
By the unremitted exertion of the captains of the
royal navy, who had been entrufted with the fervice of
embarking the army, and in confequence of the arrange¬
ments made by the agents for tranfpovts, the whole of
the forces were embarked with an expedition which has
been feldom equalled. The brigades under Major-ge¬
nerals Hill and Beresford were deftined to remain till
daylight, in order to watch the movements of the ene¬
my. The brigade under General Beresford, which was
- alternately to form the rear-guard, occupied the land
in front of Corunna, while that under General Hill was
ftationed on the promontory in the rear of the town by
way of referve.
The enemy puihed his light troops towards the town,
foon after eight o’clock in the morning of the 17th, and
fhortly after occupied the heights of St Lucia, which
commanded the harbour. But notwithftanding this cir-
cumdance, and the manifold defers of the place, there
being no apprehenfion that the rear-guard could be for¬
ced, and the difpofition of the Spaniards appearing to
be good, the embarkation of Major-general Hill’s bri¬
gade was commenced and completed by three in the af¬
ternoon. After having fully explained, to the fatisfac-
tion oi the Spanifh governor, the nature of the move¬
ment, and having made every previous arrangement,
General Beresford withdrew his corps from the land in
front of the town foon after dark, and was, with all the
wounded that had not previoufly been removed, fafely
embarked before one o’clock of the morning of the 18th.
In this aftion the Britifh troops had come off with
glory, and there can be no doubt, from the repulfe of
the French forces, and their fubfequent inaftivity, that
the honour of the vi&ory belonged to the Britilh. I he
vidlory had indeed coft them dear. They had loft one
of their beft generals; and probably nearly 1000 men
had been killed or wounded during the aftion. It had
been achieved at the termination of a long and harafling
fervice. The fuperior numbers, and advantageous po-
fition of the enemy, not lefs than the a6!ual fituation of
the Britifh army, did not admit of any advantage being
leaped from fuccefs. The luftre of the Britifh arms
had, however, been maintained under the moft difad-
vantageous circumftances. The army which had enter¬
ed Spain amidft the faireft profpefts, had no fooner
completed its junffion, than owing to the multiplied dif-
afters that difperfed the native armies around it, it
was left to its own refources. The advance of the Britifh
troops from the Douro afforded the beft hope, that the
ibuth of Spain might be relieved ; but this generous ef¬
fort to fave an unfortunate people, alfo afforded the
enemy the opportunity of direfling every effort of his
numerous troops, and concentrating all his principal re¬
sources for the deftruflion of the only regular force in
the north of Spain. Thefe circumftances had produced
the neceffity of rapid and harafling marches, which had
diminifhed the numbers, exhaufted the ftrength, and im¬
paired the equipment of the army. Notwithftanding
all thefe difadvantages, and thofe more immediately at¬
tached to a defenfive pofition, which the imperious ne-
ceflity of covering the harbour of Corunna, for a time,
had rendered indifpenfible to affume, the native and un-
50 1 SPA
daunted valour of Britifh troops was never move con- Spain,
fpicuous. y——'
At daybreak on the 18th, the Englifh convoy was
under fail, and on the 19th it had entirely left the Spa-
nifh coafts.
Notwithftanding the ill fuccefs which had thus at-Secoiufex¬
tended the expedition under Sir John Moore, the fpirit pedition
of patriotifm which appeared ftill to afluate the f'outhern u,lder sir
provinces of Spain, and the hope that the common caufe
might there be f'upported to greater advantage, induced C 4
the Britifli miniftry to fend another military force to the
weftern peninfula of Europe, to co-operate with the pa¬
triots who ftill continued in arms. Accordingly, a bo¬
dy of about 15,000 forces, under the command of Sir
Arthur Wellefley, whole bravery and good conduft in
the battle of Vimiera, had recommended him, in a par¬
ticular manner, both to the miniftry and the nation,
was difpatched towards the coaft of Portugal, where
Marfhal Beresford ftill maintained a Brithh force;
while General Hill, with about 5000 infantry, and 400
cavalry, failed from Ireland with the fame deftination.
General Hill arrived at Lifhon on the 4th of April, and
foon after Sir Arthur landed with the main body. On
the 7th of April the army moved forward towards the
Douro, and croffed that river during the night of the
nth, a little above Oporto. Here they fell in with a
French detachment from the army of the duke of Dal¬
matia, which they routed and put to flight, after a
fhort but well-contefted aflion.
After this aftion the duke of Dalmatia found it ne-
ceffary to retreat. He palled through the defiles of Sa-
lamonde, and thus gained confiderably on the Britifh
army, though he was obliged to leave behind him part
of his artillery. On the 19th of May he was at Alla-
ritz, and on the 20th he continued his retreat acrofs
the Minho, which he paffed at Orenfe, thus leaving
Portugal once more in poffeflion of the Britifh forces.
Sir Arthur Wellcflcy, after having remained for
fome time in the Portuguefe territory, to refrefh his
men after the fatigues which they had undergone, ad¬
vanced into Spain, and effefled a junftion with General
Cuefta, who then commanded a confiderable part of
the remains of the patriotic army. In the latter end of
July, the allied army had advanced to Talavera dc la
Reyna, in the neighbourhood of which they were en¬
countered by a formidable French force, confiding of a
corps commanded by Marfhal Viftor, another under
General Sebaftiani, the guards of Jofeph Bonaparte,
amounting to 8000 men, and the garrifon of Madrid.
This large force was commanded by Jofeph Bonaparte
in peifon, aflifted by Marftials Jouvdan and Viftor, and
General Sebaftiani.
On the 27th of July, an attack was made by the Battle of
French army on that of the allies, who had taken up Talavera.
their pofition at Talavera. The attack was vigorous,
but was repelled with great fpirit and fuccefs, though
not without confiderable lofs on the part of the
Britifh.
The defeat of this attempt was followed about noon
of the 28th by a general attack of the enemy’s whole
force, on the whole of that part of the pofition which
was occupied by the Britifh army. The general attack
began by the march of feveral columns of infantry into
the valley, with a view to attack the height occupied
by
v
Spain.
SPA [ 53
by Major-general Hill. Thefe columns were immedi-
' ately charged by the ift German light dragoons, and
23d dragoons, under the command of General Anfon,
and fupported by General Fane’s brigade of heavy ar¬
tillery ; and although the 23d dragoons fuffered confi-
derable lofs, the charge had the effea of preventing
the execution of that part of the enemy’s plan. At the
fame time an attack was direfted upon Brigadier-gene¬
ral Alexander Campbell’s pofition in the centre of the
combined armies, and oh the right of the Britiih. _ This
attack was mod fuccefsfully repulfed by Brigadier-ge¬
neral Campbell, fupported by the king’s regiment of
Spanilh cavalry, and two battalions of Spanilh infan¬
try j and the allies were left in poflefTion of the enemy s
cannon.
An attack was alfo made at the fame time on Lieute¬
nant-general Sherbrooke’s divifion, which was on the
left and centre of the firft line of the Britilh army.
This attack was mod gallantly repulfed by a charge
with bayonets,, by the whole divifion j but the bngaue
of guards which were on the right, having advanced too
far, were exoofed on their lert dank to the fire of the
enemy’s battery, and of their retiring columns j and the
divifion was obliged to retire towards the original pofi¬
tion, under cover of the fecond line of General Cotton s
brigade of cavalry, rvhich had moved from the centre,
and the id battalion 48th regiment. This regiment
was removed from its original pofition on the^ heights,
as foon as the advance of the guards was perceived, and
formed in the plain * it advanced upon the enemy, and
covered the formation of Lieutenant-general Sherbrooke’s
divifion. Shortly after the repulfe of this general attack,
in which apparently all the enemy’s troops were em¬
ployed, he commenced his retreat acrofs the Alberche,
which was conduced in the mod regular manner, and
effefled during the night, leaving in the hands of the
Britifii 20 pieces of cannon, ammunition, tumbrils, and
fome prifoners.
Though the French were defeated in this engage¬
ment, and, according to Sir Arthur Wellefiey s account,
mud have lod at lead 10,000 men, the lofs of the Bri-
tifh was very great. By the official returns it is dated
to exceed 3000, namely, in killed, 34 officers, 28 fer-
geants, 2 drummers, and 735 rank and file ; in wound¬
ed 195 officers, 165 fergeants, 16 drummers, and 3537
rank and file’; and in miffing 9 officers, 15 fergeants, 9
drummers, and 620 rank and file. The aaion, though
brilliant, does not appear to have been attended with
much advantage to the allies, as, from the reinforce¬
ments which the French army was daily receiving, Sir
Arthur Wellefley (now Lord Wellington) was foon
compelled to fall back towards the frontiers of Portu¬
gal, leaving behind him much of his baggage, and the
whole of his fick and wounded. It mull be recorded to
the honour of the French commander, into whofe hands
thefe unfortunate men had fallen, that, in confequence
of a reprefentation in their favour by Lord Wellington,
he treated them with the utmoft humanity, and afford¬
ed them every accommodation which the nature of their
fituation admitted.
Since the battle ofTalavera, nothing of importance
has tranfpired refpe&ing the ftate of affairs in Spain. It
appears that the patriots ftill continue to make a ftand
againft their invaders •, but it cannot be expefted that
their oppofition {hall be ultimately attended with fuc-
i ] SPA
cefs. The refources of the French are fo numerous and , ?P^n- ,
extenfive, and the force which he is able to draw to- v
wards the Spanilh peninfula, has been fo much increafed
in confequence of the peace lately concluded between
France and Auftria, that the liberties of Spain muff,
we fear, fall a facrifice, and that kingdom muff contri¬
bute to fwell the already exorbitant power of the houfe
of Bonaparte. ^
We (hall conclude the hiltorical part of this article
with a fummary recapitulation of the principal revolu- view of
tions which have taken place in Spain. Spamih
From the year 240 B. C. to the year 206 B. C.
Spain wTas in fome degree under the dominion of the
Carthaginians. From the year 206 B. C. to the com¬
mencement of the fifth century of the Chriftian era,
it continued almoft entirely in poffeffion of the Romans.
The Goths reigned in Spain from the year 411 to 711 j
the Moors from the year 711 till 71^» Part 0 t^ie
Arturias*, till 820 in Catalonia; till 750 in Sobrarba ;
till 923 in Leon ; till 1073 *n different parts of the two
Caltiles; till 1118 in Aragon; till 1236 in Cordova
and Jaen; till 1248 in Seville; till 1264 in the king¬
dom of Valencia; till 1265 in that of Murcia; and even
fo late as 1492 in Granada. During the wars againft
the Moors, the Goths reigned in the Afturias, Gallicia,
and, finally, in the kingdom of Leon till 1038.
The houfe of Navarre, defcended from the French
houfe of Bigorre, which had previoufly reigned in Ca-
ftile for 10 years, united with it the crowm of Leon till
the year 11 26. This was fucceeded by the family of
Bourbon, defcended from the royal family of France,
which reigned over thefe countries till 1555’ -^ie
houfe of Charlemagne, a French family defcended from
that prince, ruled over Catalonia from the year 802 till
1132. The French family of Bigorre firft reigned in
Sobrarba, and afterwards in Aragon, from the year
750 to 1162; at that period the French family of Bar¬
celona fucceeded to the government, and united to the
crown of Aragon that of Catalonia, and afterwards the
kingdom of Valencia, over which it reigned till tire
year 1430. Thefe parts of Spain then came into the
poffeffion of the princes of the French branch of Na¬
varre, which reigned in Caftile, and continued in their
defendants to 1515 ; at which time the different ftates
of the Spanifti monarchy were united under the govern ¬
ment of Joanna the Foolifti, who reigned over them till
her death, which happened in 1555* ^ Auftrian fa¬
mily then poffeffed the throne till 1700, fince which
time it has been occupied by a branch of the houfe of
Bourbon, till the late revolution, by placing the Spa-
niffi monarchs in the power of the French, has given rife
to a new dynafty of princes in the perfon of Jofeph Bo¬
naparte. . .
The earlieft Spaniffi antiquities which can be with Antiquities.
certainty afcertained, belong to the Roman period ; and
of thefe the examples are extremely numerous.. They
abound in the provinces of Catalonia, Valencia, and
thofe which border on the Pyrenees. We cannot here
enumerate, much lefs defcribe, all the remains of Roman
antiquity mentioned by Swinburne, Townfend, De La-
borde, and other travellers in Spain. 1 he moft remark¬
able are, the aqueduft at Segovia, in Old Caftille,
confiding of 159 arches, extending about 74c yards,
and being at leaft 94 feet high, where it croffes the
valley r the amphitheatre of the ancient Sciguntiwi^ near
' ’ 3X2 the
SPA
r 532 ]
SPA
, ^Pain- the modern Morviedro in Valencia, which was hewn
out of the folid rock, and appears to have been capable
of containing 10,000 fpeftators ; a fuperb Roman arch,
fupported by Corinthian pillars, and having a very lofty
gateway, not far from Tarragona 5 a monument near
the fame place, fuppofed to be the tomb of the father
and uncle of Scipio Africanus; and a confiderable am¬
phitheatre on an eminence near Seville. It is fuppofed
that the ancient city of Italica, built by Scipio Africa¬
nus for the reception of his wounded foldiers, flood near
this fpot j but we are affured by Mr Swinburne, that no
traces of it now remain.
Of the Gothic edifices, no certain remains are to be
found ; but the Moorifh antiquities are numerous and
fplendid. Of thefe, the moft remarkable are the palace
of the Alhambra in the city of Granada, and the mofque
of Cordova. Of the former we have already given an
account under Alhambra. The mofque, now the cathe¬
dral of Cordova, was begun by Abdoulrahman I. caliph
of Cordova, and is computed to contain not fewer than
800 columns. The architeffure of its doors, windows,
and arches, efpecially thofe of the chapel of the Koran,
at leaft equals that of the Alhambra in grandeur of de-
fign, and beauty of execution, and exceeds that palace
in variety of decoration. This fuperb edifice has been
minutely defcribed by Mr Swinburne, in his travels into
Spain, Letter 35. Not far from Cordova flood the
magnificent city of Zehra, built by Abdoulrahman III.
and which is faid to have employed 25 years in building,
and to have coft more than 2,500,000 1. of our prefent
fterling money. In this city was a palace containing
3173 columns, of African, Spanifh, Italian, and Afia-
tic marbles. This fplendid palace, and the city in which
it flood, were entirely deftroyed during the wars by
which Spain was defolated in the middle ages.
Population It has been computed, that under the dominion of the
of Spain. Romans, Spain contained a population of nearly
50,000,000 of people ; but this calculation is, by De
Laborde, diminifhed to 20,000,000.
At the clofe of the 14th century, the population is
ftated by moft Spanifh writers as follow's.
In the ftates of Caftile 11,000,000
States of Aragon, 7,700,000
Kingdom of Granada, 3,000,000
21,700,000
On what De Laborde deems better authority, he re¬
duces this number to 16,000,000.
In the reign of Ferdinand and Ifabella, at the end of
the 15th century, the total population of Spain has ge¬
nerally been eftimated at 20,000,000, but this too is
reduced by Laborde to 14,000,000 or 15,000,000.
The population was reduced
in 1688 to
1700
1715
In 1768 it had rifen to
1788
According to the table of the provinces, collected
chiefly from De Laborde, it amounted, at the end of
the 18th century, to 10,308,505 ; by the lafl cenfus,
taken in the years 1797 and 1798, the ftatements of
which have not been publifhed, but were lately locked
up in the office belonging to the minifter of finance, it
appears that the population, at the end of the 18 th cen¬
tury, exceeded 12,000,000.
From thefe ftatements we obferve, that the population
of Spain had gradually diminifhed from its conqueft by
the Romans, to the reign of Philip V. in the beginning
of the 18th century 5 but that during the laft hundred
years it has rapidly increafed.
Various caufes have been affigned for the remarkable
depopulation that had taken place in the Spanifh domi¬
nions. Perhaps the following by Dr Playfair are fuf-
ficiently plaufible. “ The peftilential fevers and epide¬
mical difeafes, which carried off one-third of the inhabi¬
tants in the year 1347, and have produced great morta¬
lity during the tw'o laft centuries ; almoft inceffant
ftruggles for dominion, from 714 till the conqueft of
Granada, and union of the two crowns of Caftile and
Aragon 5 the expulfion of about 400,000 Jews by Fer¬
dinand and Ifabella, and of 900,000 Moors, A. D.
1610 j the difcovery of South America in 1493, which
has gradually drained the country of its inhabitants and
its induftry 5 the calamities of war, during twfo centu¬
ries, from the acceflion of the emperor Charles V. j the
form of government, and national prejudices, which dif-
courage foreigners from fettling in the kingdom, and
are inimical to manufactures, commerce, and agricul¬
ture ; the debauchery that prevails among all ranks j
the great number of convents 5 the celibacy of the cler¬
gy ; religious oppreffion, and numerous feftivals, which
leffen the number of working days, and fo abridge the
labour of the people.”
Of the number above ftated, the clergy are reckoned at
leaft 147,722 : viz. of fecular clergy, 60,240 ; of monks
49,270 ; of nuns and friars, 22,337, and of fubaltern mi-
nifters of the church 15,875. The numbers of the
clergy have indeed diminiffied by more than 27,000, du¬
ring the laft 30 years of the 18th century, as in the
year 1768 they amounted to 176,057.
According to a calculation in the year 1776, the cities,»
towns, villages, and hamlets, amounted to 84459 CD) itowns vil-
and public edifices and temples to 30,496. lages, &cv
It appears that there exift in Spain 2,628,557 indi¬
viduals of both fexes, who do not contribute, or at leaft
are not fuppofed to contribute, to the population. From
this view, and the progrefs we have already ftated, it
will be eafy to difcover, by comparative calculations
with the detailed ftatements of population in other coun¬
tries, the proportionate number of births, deaths, mar¬
riages, &c. which annually take place in Spain.
The Spaniffi government, which was of a limited na-Go^em^
ture, during the dynafties of the kings of Caftile and meat.
Aragon, afterwards became an abfolute monarchy. At
that
10,000,000
8,000,000
6,000,000
9,307,800
10,143,97;
Spain.
(A) In the y«ar 1788, the number of villages was eftimated at 19,219 j and that of parifties at 20,08a.,
SPA
[ 533 ]
SPA
Spain-
aoi
Revenues.
eoz
Military
ftrength.
that period the royal prerogative was confined both by
' the exprefs tenor of the laws and the forms of their ad-
miniftration. The peculiar privileges of the two dates
of Caftile and Aragon continued to exiit long after their
reunion but the royal authority was conftantly taking
umbrage at their exercife. The princes of the Auftrian
family did not openly attack them, but had recourfe to
the more effeftual method of fecretly undermining them 5
and thus they were fo far diminilhed, that at the clofe of
the 17th century they amounted to little more than
mere forms. The attachment of Aragon to the caufe of
the archduke Charles, induced the firft fovereign of the
royal family of France to abolilh them entirely, Phi¬
lip V. having fubdued Aragon, fupprelled the itates-ge-
neral, the laid meeting having been held at Zaragoza in
the year 1720, on which occafion Queen Ifabella of
Savoy prefided in the abfence of her hufband, who was
at that time in Italy. Since that period no further
power is left the Corte-z of Cartile and Aragon, but the
privilege of nominating deputies to the ftates-general of
the kingdom, whenever they are fummoned by the mo¬
narch.
The whole authority, previous to the late revolution,
centred in the king and his minifters } the national af¬
fairs were conduced by the different councils, appointed
by the crown, which deliberated and formed their plans
in the: capital. Some of thefe poflefied both legiflative
and executive power, and exercifed the double function
of advifing the king and adminiftering juftice. The
council of Caftile, in this diftribution of power, was
paramount j its decrees being decifive in the courts, but
its judgements were under the controul of the king.
The refolutions were tranfmitted to the monarch by a
certain number of members, under the title of the Cham-
her of Cq/Iile, whofe influence was prodigioufly great.
This council was fo denominated, becaufe the members
chofen by the king formerly co-operated with minifters
in expediting the affairs of ftate in the royal chamber,
and for this purpofe they attended the court wherever it
was held.
Befides the council of Caftile, there was the royal
and fupreme council of the Indies, inverted with the
fame powers, and exercifing fimilar functions with re-
fpeft to the American colonies, as the council of Caftile
with refpeft to the European territory.
It is not eafy to afcertain the amount of the revenues
under the late government. They arofe from a tax on
imports and exports \ from the chief objedts of internal
confumption ; from the monopolies of the crown ; from
landed eftates; from tythes of church and abbey lands y
from the fale of indulgences ; and from the trade with
the American colonies. Their total amount has been
varioufly ftated. M. Jordan has computed it to exceed
7,ooo,oool. flerling ; by M. De Laborde, the revenues
for the European continent alone, are calculated to ex¬
ceed 8,ooo,oool. fterling.
It would be abfurd to attempt any eftimate of the
military ftrength of Spain in its prefent ftate of difor-
ganization and confuflon. During the latter part of the
SpairT.
—v—.
203
18ih century, tha land forces in time of peace feldom
exceeded 50,000 ill-difciplined troops j but in time of1,
war, the army was capable of being augmented to a for¬
midable force. In the year 1798 the Handing forces
of the Spaniih monarchy amounted to 100,000 effedtive
men.
Till of late the Spanifh navy was highly refpedlable,
both as to ftrength and difcipline. In the year 1778
the Spaniih fleet confifted of 148 veffels of all defcrip-
tions ; and of thefe more than 60 were ihips of the line.
In 1788, the number of fhips of the line amounted to
68, and that of large frigates to 47. In the prefent
long conteft among the powers of Europe, the navy of
Spain has been greatly diminiihed } and the only fleet
of any importance now exifting is that in the harbour
of Cadiz.
There are in Spain feveral orders of knighthood, or Orderdof
as they are called, military orders. The principal is knighthood,'
that of the Golden Fleece, inftitutedin the year 1430, by
Duke Philip the Good. The order of St Jago di Com-
poftella was inftituted by Ferdinand II. in the year
1175, and its badge is a red uniform crofs in twelve de¬
partments. The order of Calatrava, inftituted by San-
cho III. of Caftile, has for its badge a red crofs in five-
departments. The order of Alcantara was inftituted by-
Ferdinand II. •, and its badge is a lily placed crofsways.
The order of Montefa, inftituted in the year 1317, by
lames III. king of Aragon, is compofed of 19 com-
manderies.
The money of Spain is either real ©r imaginary, the Coins,
former ferving for the purpofe of exchange, the latter for
keeping accounts and tranfailing bufinefs. Both thefe are
common through the whole kingdom j but feveral kinds
of both are to be found in the different provinces.
Two kinds of real money, both in gold and filver,
are diftinguifhed in Spain •, the old, that is, fuch as were
coined before the year 1772, and thofe coined fubfe-
quent to that period. None of the former are uniform,
but confift of fmall pieces of different fizes unequally
cut, and their currency is only by weight. The latter
uniformly bear the head of the fovereign on the obverfe,,
and on the reverfe fide the arms of Spain \ the ancient
gold coins are more intrinfically valuable than the mo--
dern. The lall only will be here defcribed.
204<
Modern Gold Coins.
}
?
Coins.
Durito
Efcudo chico de oro
Veniento de oro
Efcudo de Oro
Doblon fenzillo
Doblon de oro
Doblon de quatre
Medio doblon de a ocho
Media onza de oro
Doblon de ocho 1
Onza de oro
Value in Sterling money.
4s. 2d. (e)
}
8s.
16s.
4d.
8d.
il. 13s. 4d.
3I. 6s.
8d.
Modern'
(e) In computing the value of the Spanifh coins in fterling money, w’e have employed M. De Laborde’s tables \
in which their value is eftimated in money tournois, computing the livre tournois at icd. fterling, and the fol at ■
fterling,
Spam.
a *5
Weigtes
and mea-
fures.
S P A [ 534; ]
Modern Silver Coins.
SPA
Coins.
Real /
Real de vellon
Medio real de plata
Real de plata 7
Media pecata ^
Pecata 1
Real de a dos i'
Efcudo T
Medio duro t
Duro
Pezoduro
Real de & ocho
}
}
Value in fterling money.
2id.
Jd.
- lod.
- 2s, id.
4s. 2d.
The Spanilh weights and meafures vary confiderably
in different parts of the kingdom, as altnoft every pro¬
vince has both peculiar to itfelf. The pound generally
confifts of 16 ounces in that part of the kingdom former¬
ly belonging to the crown of Caftile, and of 12 ounces
in thofe annexed to the crown of Aragon 5 viz. in Ara¬
gon, in the kingdom of Valencia, and in Catalonia j
but the ounce is not the fame. We (hall here only par¬
ticularize the weights of Caftile.
In the Caftiles they reckon by charges, quintals, aro-
bas, arreldes, pounds, ounces, and drams. The follow¬
ing table gives the proportional value of the Caftilian
weights.
3 quintals
4 arobas
25 pounds
4 pounds
16 ounces
16 drams
30 grains
lb.
300
100
25
4
0<Z.
o
o
o
o
o
I
T
'STS
The charge contains
  quintal
   aroba
——■ arrelde
 pound
—— ounce
• dram
grain
The meafures are ftill more complicated than the
weights 5 and efpecially the meafures of capacity, will
require to be confidered rather more in detail. We
fliall, as ufual, diftinguifti them into long meafure, fuper-
ficial or land meafure, and meafures of capacity.
Long meafure.— The ftandard lineal meafure in Spain
is the royal foot, confifting of 153,Vo lines; and bear¬
ing to the Englifh foot the proportion of about 153 to
144, or of 17 to 16. This foot, however, is not in ge¬
neral ufe, almoft every province having its own foot,
which is generally rather lefs than the royal foot. Thus,
the foot in Caftile is 8 lines lefs, and that of Valencia
about 94 lines lefs than the ftandard.
Of royal feet 100 are equivalent to 102 feet 7 inches
of Catalonia, to 107 feet of Valencia, to 115 feet 10
inches and 4 lines of Caftile.
One hundred feet of Catalonia are equal to 92 feet
2 inches 3 lines of the royal foot, to 97 feet $4 lines
of Valencia, and 104 feet II inches 11 lines of Caftile.
In Valencia ibo feet are equivalent to 93 feet 4
inches 10 lines of the royal foot, to 98 feet 9 inches of
Catalonia-, and 107 feet 2 inches 6 lines of Caftile.
In Caftile, 100 feet are equal to 86 feet I inch 3 lines
of the royal foot j to 93 feet 4 inches 94 lines of Va¬
lencia ; and 92 feet 2 inches 3 lines of Catalonia,
Cloths and fluffs in Catalonia are meafured by canas
2
in other parts of the kingdom by varas ; the cana is di- Spain,
vided into 8 patns, the vara into four. The proper- ‘1"
tions w-hich thefe bear to the royal foot will be feen
from the following table :
Pam of Catalonia,
Cana of Catalonia,
Six pams make the Paris ell.
Pam of Caftile,
Vara of Caftile,
Pam of the kingdom of Valencia,
Five pams and a little more than
-|-th, or one vara one pam and a
little more than fth, make a Paris
ell.
Pam of Aragon, ......
Vara of the Afturias,
Vara of Aragon, - - .
A little lefs than 6 pams, or one vara
two pams, make a Paris ell.
Pam of Galicia for linen drapery,
Vara of Galicia for ditto,
Feet,
O
Inche.'j Lines
7
10
9
541
Land Meafure.—Land in the provinces belonging to
the crown of Caftile is meafured by ungadasrfanegasy
efadales, brajfes, varas, pas, and aranxadas. Of thefe
theungada contains 50 fanegas, about 204^ feet j the
fanega 400 eftadales = about 4^ feet j the eftadale
two braffes— about ten feet j the brals two varas, or
about 5 feet 1 inch 4 lines j the pas about ijd of a
vara, and the aranzada about 73 varas. This laft is
only ufed for meafuring vineyards.
In Bifcay land is meafured by carros, plains, and cele-
mnes; and in Valencia by yugadas, cahizadas, fanegas,
brajfes, and pams.
. Meafures of Capacity.—Com is meafured in the pro¬
vinces belonging to the crown of Caftile by cahi%as, fa-
negas, celemines, and quarti/los; and in Bifcay the
fame meafures are ufed, with the exception of the cahiza.
The cahiza contains 12 fanegas, and is = about 14 lb!
French 5 the fanega contains 12 celemines =124 lb. ;
the celemine 4 quartillos = iolb. 54 ounces, and the
quartillo r= 2 lb. 74 ounces.
In Catalonia grain is meafured by falmas, charges,
quarteras, cortans, and picotis. The falma contains 2
charges or 6 quintals = 5461b. ; the charge contains
2 quarteras or 3 quintals = 2731b. $ and the quartero
12 cortans or 4. quintal = 1361b. 8 oz. : the cortan
contains 4 picotis or 13 lb. of 12 oz. — 11 lb. 6 oz. *
and the picoti 341b. of 1 2 oz. =: 2lb. 134 oz.
The meafures for liquids vary exceedingly, accordina
to the liquid they are intended to contain. Thus,
Madrid, honey is meafured by arobas and quartillos,
the quartillo being about i4lbs. and the aroba contain!
ing 32 quartillos. Oil is meafured in New' Caftile alfo
by arobas and quartillos, but the quartillo is =64 lbs j
and the aroba contains 4 quartillos, or 25 lbs. In Se¬
ville, oil is meafured by the pipe and aroba, the pipe
containing 34 arobas ; while in Valencia it is meafured
by charges, arobas, and cantaros, the charge containing
12 arobas, and the cantaro equal 28 lbs. 1 oz.
# Wine in New Caftile is meafured by moyos, an ima¬
ginary meafure, cantaras, azumbres, quartillos, and fex-
tarios,.
SPA f 535 ] SPA
Spain, tarios. The moyo contains 16 cantaras, the cantara 12
azumbres, the azumbre 4 quartillos, each equal to 1 1b-
At Cadiz wine is meafured by tonneaux, arobas, azum*
bres, and quartillos. The tonneau contains 30 arobas,
the aroba 8 azumbres, the azumbre 4 quartillos, each
of which is equal to 1 lb. I oz. At Seville the meafures
for wine are cantaras, azumbres, and quartillos. The
cantara contains 8 azumbres, the aroba the fame, the
azumbre 4 quartillos, each of which is equal to 1 7 ounces.
In Valencia thefe meafures are, bolas or tonneaux,
charges, arobas, or cantaras, and azumbres or cuentas j
and in Catalonia, pipes, charges, quintals, arobas, quar¬
terns, and quartos, of which the pipe contains 4 charges,
the charge 3 quintals, the quintal 4 arobas, the aroba
22 quarteros, the quartero 4 quartos, and the quarto is
206 equal to nearly 3 ounces of Catalonian meafure.
Laws. The law's of Spain, which for a long time varied
greatly in the different Hates of the monarchy, are at
prefent reduced to a confiderable degree of uniformity.
Navarre and Bifcay have retained their ancient laws and
conflitution j but the revolution which took place in
Spain at the beginning of the 18th century, enabled
Philip V. to introduce into Catalonia and the kingdoms
of Aragon and Valencia the laws of Catlile ; which, ex¬
cepting a few alterations, rendered neceffary by local
peculiarities, Hill continue in full effect.
The laws of Caflile, which are thus become thofe of
almoft all Spain, are contained in the codes known by
the titles of the Fuero ju%%o, Ley de las fiete partidas,
Ordenamiento real, Fuero real, and Recepilacion ; of thefe
the lalt is a colle&ion of occafional edicts of the kings of
Spain, and enjoys the highefl authority.
The Roman law has no validity in Spain, and though
it may be ftudied by a few lawyers, as containing firft
principles univerfally applicable ; yet it is never quoted
in the courts, and is exprefsly excepted againft by fome
of the old laws of Caftile.
Adminiftra- The conduding of a law fuit in Spain is fubjeft to
4ion of ju- very complicated forms j whence neceflarily refults a
ftice. flownefs of progrefs. The whole bufmefs is carried on
by writers, a peculiar branch of the legal profeffion. In
the fuperior tribunals, the management of caufes is in
like manner committed to a kind of fubaltern magiftrates,
called reporters (relatores), who contrive to render their
own department a fituation of much greater emolument
than that of the judge.
In all the branches of civil, military, ecclefiallical,
and judicial adminiftration, in Spain, is evident a fpirit of
mildnefs and paternal indulgence, which often degene-
lates into great abufe. By multiplying courts for the
adminiftration of juftice, and by eftablilhing the long
fenes of appeals from jurifdiaion to jurifdi&ion, in order
that each cafe may be heard and re-heard, and receive
an equitable fentence, the ftill more important advan¬
tages of prompt decifton are facrificed, and a door is
opened for chicane.
It is univerfally acknowledged that the courts of ex¬
ception are far too numerous 5 they enfeeble the autho-
r,ty . e eftablifhed judges, and withdraw a number
of individuals from the fuperintendance of magiftrates
who refide among them, and are readily acceflible, to
confign them to the care of diftant and dilatory tri¬
bunals. y
r ^ confiderable degree of jealoufy and oppofition alfo
lubfifts among many of the tribunals) hence they mutu¬
ally weaken each other’s authority, and the clients are Spw*.
configned over from court to court) fo that lawfuits be- '’“—Y—
come intolerably protracted, and a family is held in fuf-
penie for two or three generations. The conlequence of
this is, that the rich wear out thofe of inferior fortune.
Even the ordinary and regular forms of civil procefs
are flow and complicated. The hufbandman is called
from his labour, the merchant horn his commercial con¬
cerns, the artift from his work, and all from their do-
meftic affairs. Nearly an equal tardinefs takes place in
criminal proceffes, fo that witneffes die, and means of
proof are loft, while the guilty often efcape unpuniftied ;
and thofe who have been formally acquitted, are ftill
fubjeft to a long detention in prifon, whence they are at
length difmiffed without indemnity, and irretrievably
ruined.
In confequence of the great number of courts, the
facility of appeal from one to the other, and the tediouf-
nefs of lawfuitsj the multitude of judges, advocates,
writers, and other fubordinate officers employed in the
adminiftration of juftice is prodigious. The number of
perfons employed in the different law eftablifliments has
been eftimated at 100,COO, which is nearly an hun¬
dredth part of the population of the country j and the
very laft general enumeration of the inhabitants of Spain
makes the number of advocates amount to 5675, and
of writers to 9351 ; befides the judges and their fecre-
taries, the attorneys and their clerks, and the innumer¬
able hoft of alguazils and inferior officers.
Another ferious inconvenience in the adminiftration
of Spanifti law, is the neceffity of repofing entire and
blind confidence in a clafs of fubaltern officers of the
courts, called writers. This appears to be a branch of
the profeffion wholly peculiar to Spain ) the writer exer-
cifing at the fame time the funftions of fecretary, folici-
tor, notifier, regiftrar, and being the foie medium of com¬
munication between the client and the judge.
It is not cuftomary in Spain to allow either of the
parties concerned any copy of the documents requifite
for carrying on a fuit, except by the exprefs order of the
judge. All the writings on both fides are colle&ed to¬
gether and bound up into a volume, which remains
ftatedly in the poffeffion of the writer, who entrufts it
for a certain time to the attorneys of the parties for the
inftruftion of advocates. The writer, .to whofe care the
documents of any fuit are committed, alfo regifters the
decrees and fentences of the judges on the cafe, and no¬
tifies to the parties concerned, each ftep of the procefs,,
by reading to them the proper inftrument j without,
however, allowing them to have a copy of it.
The union of fo many important fundions in the fame-
perfon, neceflarily affords various opportunities for dif-
honefty ; and the chance of being impofed upon is ftill.,
further increafed by an unwife regulation which obliges ^
the defendant, in any adion, to choofe the fame writer
as is employed by the plaintiff.
It may be remarked that fcarcely any other perfons •
are under equal temptations to diflionefty on account of
the almoft total impunity that they enjoy in confequence
of the following regulation. In all thofe diflrids where
there are either a corregidor and fuperior alcade, or two ^
fupeiior alcades ) each of thele officers has an indepen¬
dent tribunal for the decifion of law fuitsj and the right
of pronouncing fentence in any particular cafe belongs
to him of the two at whofe tribunal the firft applica¬
tion ,
soS
Religion.
SPA [ 536 ]
SPA
tion was made. Now the eftablithed falaries of thefe of¬
ficers are fo fmall, that the largeft part of their emolu¬
ments arifes from their fees: this portion of their in¬
come depends wholly on the writers, who have the power
of inftituting fuits in which of the two courts they pleafe.
The natural confequence is, that the judges are induced
to overlook and pafs by in filence thofe malpraftices of
the writers which they cannot prevent without incurring
a ferious perfonal lot's. Finally, the authority of the
writers is irrefragably eftablithed by the entire controul
that they execute over all caufes. They alone receive
the declarations and perfonal anfwers of the parties con¬
cerned ; they alone receive the depofitions of the wit-
neffes on each fide ; put what queltions to them they
pleafe 5 and record the anfwers without the interpofition,
and even in the abfence, of the judges.
Another ferious defeft in the adminiftration of juftice
in Spain, is, that the party condemned, however clearly
unjuft may have been his demand, or however wTeak
may have been his defence, is fcarcely ever obliged to
pay his adverfary’s cofts of fuit j whence it perpetually
happens, that the expences of gaining a juft caufe are
much greater than the lofs of fubmitting to an unjuft
demand ; hence alfo it is in the power of a rich villain
to opprefs and ruin all thofe who are unable to fupport
the expences of a law fuit; w'hich in Spain are enor¬
mous, and perhaps the more fo, becaufe the eftablifhed
charges are very light.
The religion of Spain is the Roman Catholic $ which,
in this country and Portugal, has been carried to a
pitch of fanaticifm unknown to the Italian ft ate s, or
even in the papal territory. The inquifition, has in
thefe unhappy kingdoms, been invefted with exorbitant
power, and has produced the moft ruinous effe&s $
having been formerly condufted with a fpirit totally the
reverfe of the mildnefs and charity of Chriftianity. This
evil has been recently fubdued in a confiderable degree ;
but one fanatic reign would fuffice to revive it. A yet
greater evil, which has fprung from fanaticifm, is the
deftruttion of morals j for the monks being extremely
numerous, and human paffions ever the fame, thofe
afcetics atone for the want of marriage by the practice
of adultery •, and the hufbands, from dread of the inqui¬
fition, are conftrained to connive at this enormous abufe.
The confcience is feared by the pra£Hce of abfolution,
and the mind becomes reconciled to the ftrangeft of all
phenomena, theoretic piety and pra&ical vice united in
bonds almoft indiffoluble.
According to the returns made to the government,
the Spanilh clergy then flood as follows.
Parochial clergy, called curas
Afliftants, called tenientes curas
Sacriftans or fextons - - -
Acolitos to aflift at the altar - . -
Ordinados de patrimonio, having a patrimony
of three rials per day
Ordinados de menores, with inferior ecclefiafti-
cal orders
Beneficiados, or canons of cathedrals, and
other beneficiaries
Monks - -
16,689
5,771
10,873
5,503
]- i3,244
| 10,774
| 23,692
61,6x7
Carry forward
148,163
Brought over
Nuns -
Beatas -
Syndics to colleft for the mendicants
Inquifitors -
148,163
32,5°o
1,130
4,127
2,705
188,625
The archbilhoprics were eight in number j and the
bifhoprics 46. The moft opulent fee was that of To¬
ledo, fuppofed to yield annually about 90,000!. The
Mozarabic Miffal, compofed by St Ifidora for the Gothic
church, after the converfion from Arianifm to the Ca¬
tholic faith, continued to be ufed in Spain till the Moors
were fubdued, when the Roman form was introduced. 30.
The Spanilh clergy, in proportion to the population Prdei.t
of the country, is lefs numerous than was the clergy of Hate of th#
France prior to the revolution ; even their wealth isSpanifli
lefs confiderable, but better adminiftered j and theirc ers^*
contribution to the public revenue is much greater.
As to the general conduft of the Spanilh church, and its
influence on the ftate, wre may remark that after all
the perverted and malicious induftry that has been
exerted in the examination of this queftion, the refult
has turned out highly favourable to the fuperior orders
of the Spanifh clergy, who are, for the moft part, free
from thofe irregularities which are charged on the clergy
of other countries. The confpicuous fituations in the
Spanifh church are by no means confidered as the patri¬
mony of the rich and noble, but as the well-merited re¬
ward of irreproachable conduft. Whatever may be the
rank of an ecclefiaftic in the facerdotal hierarchy, he
never habitually abfents himfelf from his proper place
of refidence, where he expends the revenue of his bene¬
fice in alms or public works. From the period of the
reconqueft of Spain from the Moors, moft of the public
eftablifhments owe their foundation to the clergy, by
whom alfo w'hole towns have been rebuilt and raifed
from their ruins. The moft beautiful aquedu&s, foun¬
tains, and public walks in the cities, have been con-
ftrudled at the expence of their bifhops ; from them alfo
the poor have received the moft effedtual relief in times
of fcarcity, epidemic difeafe, and war. The bifhop of
Orenfe converted his epifcopal palace into an alms-
houfe, where were lodged and fupported 300 French
ecclefiaftics, condemned to tranfportation during the
furies of the revolution j the prelate himfelf took his
place at their table, and refufed to partake of any in¬
dulgence that he could rjot alfo procure for his guefts.
Cardinal Orenzana, archfyilhop of Toledo, converted
the alcazar of that city iilto an eftabliftiment wherein
are received 200 children, and 700 poor perfons of all
ages. The bilhop of Cordova, during the fcarcity of
1804, and for a long time afterwards, made a daily di-
ftribution of 1200 rations of bread to the poor inhabi¬
tants of his diocefe. The aquedutt which conveys water
to the city of Tarragona is the work of their archbi-
fliop, who has thus conferred upon the place the inap¬
preciable benefits of cleanlinefs and health ; to both of
which it was long a ftranger. Similar inftances of pub¬
lic merit may be found in almoft every diocefe.
With regard to the religious orders, their conduft is
certainly lefs exemplary, though by no means meriting
the reproaches that have been fo liberally call upon
them-
1
SPA [ 537 1 SPA
Spain, tliem. The reforms that have taken place at various
L“'—‘v periods have flopped the progrefs of the abufes intro¬
duced by length of time j and as the numbers of the
monks have diminifhed, their pernicious influence on
public opinion has proportionably declined. Some pro¬
grefs has been made in the deiirable policy of uniting
the different orders of the fame rule into a lingle order ;
and from the prefent prohibition to receive novices, it
is probable that leveral orders are about to be totally
210 fuppreffed.
Language 1 he Spanifh language is one of the great fouthern
and litera- dialefts which fpring from the Roman ; but many of the
words become difficult to the French or Italian ftudent,
bcaufe they are derived from the Arabic ufed by the
Moors. The fpecch is grave, fonorous, and of exquifite
melody, containing much of the flow and formal manner
of the orientals.
The Spanifh language is, in fome refpecffs, very rich ;
it abounds in compound words, in fuperlatives, derivatives,
augmentatives, diminutives, and frequentative verbs ;
it has many quite fynonymous words, and others which
well exprels the different fhades of meaning. In the
technical terms of arts and fciences it is, however, ex¬
tremely poor •, a few of thefe it has borrowed from the
Latin, and almoft all the ret! from the French.
On the whole, the Spanifh is one of the fineft of the
European languages. It is dignified, harmonious, ener¬
getic, and expreffive ; and abounds in grand and fonor-
ous expreffions, which unite into meafured periods, whofe
cadence is very agreeable to the ear. It is a language
well adapted to poetry 5 but it alfo inclines to exaggera¬
tion, and its vehemence eafily degenerates into bombalf.
Though naturally grave, it eafily admits of pleafantry.
In the mouth of well educated men it is noble and ex¬
preffive ; lively and pointed in that of the common peo¬
ple 5 fweet, feduftive, and perfuafive, when uttered by a
female. Amongft the orators it is touching and im-
pofing, though rather diffufe ; at the bar and in the
fchools it is barbarous, and is fpoken about the court in
a concife and agreeable manner.
The literature of Spain is highly reputable, though
little known to the other countries of Europe fince the
decline of Spaniffi power. The Bibliotheca Hifpanica
of Antonio will completely fatisfy the curious reader on
this fubjecff. Among the fathers of literature in this
country muff be named Ifidore of Seville, many of whofe
works are extant, and inferior in merit to few of that
epoch. Lives of faints, and chronicles, are alfo found
among the earlieft produflions; and fucceffive writers
may be traced to the nth century, when they become
numerous; but before mentioning fome Spanifh autho¬
rities poflerior to that period, it will be proper to re¬
coiled!: that Arabian leaniing flouriffied under the ca¬
liphs of Cordova, and produced many illuftrious names
well known to the oriental fcholar, as Aben Roe, or
Averroes, Aben Zoar, Rhazes, &c. nor muft it be for¬
gotten that Aben Nazan wrote a book on the learning
and authors of Spain. On this fubjedt the inquifitive
are referred to the work of Cafiri.
. IIt^! century, the Spanifh authors began to
increa.e in number, aud the native language begins to
appear This was the epoch of the famous Cid, Roderic
Didac de Bivar, whofe adtions againft the Moors were
celebrated m^contcmporary fongs, and by a long poem
written in the following century. After the 13 th cen- Sfpaiii.
tury, it would be idle to attempt enumeratii g all the v—
Spanifh authors, among whom are Alphonlo the Wife,
who wrote the Libro del Terofo, a treatile on the Three
Parts of Philofophy •, and at whofe command were com¬
piled the famous Alphonfine Tables of Affronomy.
Raymond Lully is laid to have written not fewer than
319 books, full of metaphyfical froth. In the 15th
century appeared Juan de Mena, a poet of furprifing
powers, fince which time a department of literature can
fcarcely be mentioned in which the Spaniards have not
excelled. It would be unneceffary to repeat the well-
known names of Cervantes, Quevedo, Lopez de Vega,
and others, whofe works are known to all Europe. The
hiifory of Mexico has been celebrated as a compofition j
but in fadf it is defedtive and erroneous. The name of
Bayer in learning, and of Feyjos in general knowledge,
have recently attradfed deferved refpedt ; nor has the ^Pinker*
line of royal authors failed, an elegant tranflation of
Salluft having been publifhed by the heir apparent to the S'^Ppy,
monarchy, the prefent Ferdinand VII *. '° ‘^jr
As the rudiments of education are in Spain generally Education,
imparted by the monks, it can fcarcely be expedled that
ufeful knowledge ffiould be common in that country.
The accounts given on this fubjedt by travellers, have
thrown fo little light on the Rate of education in Spain,
that it can be generally underftood only by comparifon
with other Catholic countries. In this comparifon Spain
will be found inferior to France and Italy, but in many
refpedls fuperior to Auftria and the German ftates. 2I2
The number of univerfities in Spain was formerly Univerfities,
24, but only the following 17 now remain, viz. that of
Pampeluna, in Navarre; of Oviedo, in the Afturias j of
San Jago, in Galicia *, of Seville, and of Granada, in
the provinces of the fame name 5 of Huefca and Zara¬
goza, in Aragon •, of Avila, Ofma, and Valladolid, in
Old Caftile ; of 'Toledo, Siguenza, and Alcala de Ha-
marez, in New Caltile 5 of Cervera, in Catalonia 3 of
Orihuela and Valencia, in Valencia 3 and of Salamanca,
in the province of Leon. Of thefe the moft celebrated,
are the univerfities of Zaragoza, Toledo, Alcala, Cer¬
vera, and Salamanca.
The univerfity of Zaragoza has 22 profeffors, and that
of Toledo has 24 3 about 900 Undents attend the claffes
of the former, and nearly 3000 thofe of the latter 3 yet
neither of thefe eftablilhments is known in Europe, or
regarded as of high reputation even in Spain.
The univerfity of Alcala, eftabliftsed at a prodigious
expence by Cardinal Ximenes, anfwered for nearly a
century the views of its illuftrious founder. This fplen-
did inftitution confifts of 31 general profeffors, and 13
colleges, each of which has its particular eftablilhment
of mafters and profeffors, and of ftudents, who receive
gratuitous fupport and inftru&ion. At prefent, how¬
ever, this univerfity is gone fo entirely to decay, that
fcarcely a veftige of its ancient fplendour remains, and
the whole number of ftudents fcarcely amounts to 500.
The univerfity of Cervera, founded at the commence¬
ment of the 18th century, with a magnificence truly
royal, poffeffes 43 profeffbrs, five colleges, about 900
ftudents; but it partakes of the radical fault of all the
Spanifh univerfilies; the courfe of ftudy is incomplete
and antiquated, and the very name of the inftitution is
fcarcely known beyond the boundaries of Catalonia.
3 Y The
SPA [ 538 ] SPA
* f » L.7.
dorde.
213
State of the
Spanifli
3age.
The univcrfily of Salamanca, the mod ancient of any
in Spain, has enjoyed a degree of celebrity which en¬
titles it to a particular defcription.
It was founded by Alphonfo IX. between the years
1230 and 1244, and was confiderably enlarged by Fer¬
dinand III. his grandfon. But its melt magnificent pa¬
tron was Alphonfo X. furnamed the Wife, fon and fuc-
ceffor of the laft mentioned fovereign. This prince
richly endowed it, and diew up a fet of ftatutes for its
government. He eftablifhed a profefforthip of civil law,
with a falary of 500 maravedies; a profeflbrfhip of ca¬
non law, with a falary of 300 maravedies ; two profefTor-
fhips of decretals with falaries of 500 maravedies •, two
profeffors of natural philofophy, and as many of logic, with
falaries of 200 maravedies each *, and two mafters of
grammar, with falarits of 300 maravedies. It experi¬
enced alfo the liberality of many fucceeding fovereigns,
and received from the popes a vaft extent of privileges.
For many years this univerfity enjoyed a high reputa¬
tion •, its fame extended over all Europe j it was con-
fulted by kings and by popes, and its deputies were re¬
ceived into the general councils, where they well fuf-
tained the charafter of the body which they reprefen ted.
Students flocked to it not only from all the provinces
of Spain and Portugal, and from the iflands of Majorca
and the Canaries, but alfo from the Weft Indies and
New Spain, and even from France, Flanders, and
England. The number of ftudents who attended the
claffes amounted nearly to 15,000. The whole of this
vaft eftablifhment conflfted of 25 colleges, a library, and
r 1 hofpital, called De/ E/iudio, intended for the amelio¬
ration of poor Icholars.
The celebrity of Salamanca continued in full vigour
during many ages : but, at length, as rival inftitutions
fprang up, declined by flow degrees, fo that by the year
1595, the number of ftudents did not exceed 7000*.
After the evacuation of Spain by the Romans, the¬
atrical reprefentations were difcontinued till they were
reftored by the Moors, and from them adopted by the
Gothic Spaniards, who foon became paflionately fond of
the ftage, a tafte which they have ever fince preferved.
They had at firft neither theatres nor a ftage, their
dramas were adled in a court, a garden, or the open
fields; the aftors and fpedlators were mingled, and were
equally exnofed to the injuries of the weather.
At a fubfequent period the ftage was marked out by
a kind of boarded platform, and was furrounded by old
clothes, drawn back, on occafion, by means of cords,
which formed the only decorations, and behind which
the adlors drefled. Their properties confifted only of
crooks, fome wigs and falfe beards, and a few white
Akins, trimmed with gold fringe.
Theatrical exhibitions became more regular and de¬
cent towards the end of the 16th century, when a new
form was given to them by the exertions of Barthole-
Bnew Naharro. a middling dramatic poet. Theatres
w7ere then erefted, but the greatert part were upon tref-
fels, and two parallel pieces of canvas formed their
fcencs, which were fome times checquered with various co¬
lours, fometin.es covered with miferable paintings, or
adorned with foliage, trees, or flowers.
During all thefe periods, the prompter, with a candle
in his ha d, ftationed himfelf on the ftage by the fide
of the performers who were fpeaking, and jumped from
£de to lide whenever the a dors changed their places.
This cuftom prevailed at the end of the 17th century,
and even ftill prevails among the ftrolling companies of u
fmall towns.
Theatres have at length, however, aflumed a hand-
fomer appearance in this country, and cuftoms more
conformable to the reft of Europe. Handfome theatres
have been multiplied, and theij* ftages are now wTell ar¬
ranged and decorated ; all the great cities are well pro¬
vided wdth them, and many of the fmaller towns may
boaft of elegant and not ill furnilhed playhoufes.
The prompter no longer runs from one lide of the
ftage to the other j he is placed in the middle before
the feenes, in a kind of well, where he no longer offends
the fight and tafte of the fpedtator: but an old cuftom
which is ftill obferved, greatly injures the intereft and
effed! of the reprefentation. The prompter, who has the
piece before him, does not wait till the after is at a lofs
to prompt him, but recites the whole drama aloud, fo
that the aftor appears to follow him in his declamation.
By this means two voices are heard in the theatre pro¬
nouncing the fame words, which are confounded, and
often produce a difeord, and the fpeftalor who has firft
heard the piece recited^ no longer takes an equal inte¬
reft in the fame verfes, phrafes, and words, which the ac¬
tor aftenvards declaims.
The Spanifti theatres are divided into a patio, or area,
and boxes called balco and apofentos. The orcheftra,
where the muficians are ftationed, adjoins the ftage 5 an
inclofure between it and the pit is let round with arm
chairs, and deftined for the reception of the higher
clafs : the patio, or pit, is placed behind, and filled with
benches, and the gradas confift of two rows of benches
difpofed amphitheatrically on each fide below the
boxes, and fometimes alfo acrofs the lower end of the
theatre. This laft divifion is found only in a few thea¬
tres •, in the others, the fpace beneath the boxes is emp¬
ty, and perfons Hand in it. The patio and the gradas
contain the common people, the moft numerous, molt
noify, and moft imperious part of the public.
There are commonly only two tiers of boxes, fome¬
times three ; they extend on each fide from the ftage to
the end of the theatre. The form is the ufual one, but
they are divided from each other by partitions, which
completely fhut them up on each fide, a circumftance
which greatly injures the beauty of the general effeft.
There is commonly at the end of the theatre fronting
the ftage, a large box with feats placed femicircularly
behind one another, wThich is called the ca%ue/a. No
man is allowed to enter it, and only women muffled up
in their mantedas are admitted.
There are feveral things very lingular and amnling
in this cazuela. Women of every age and condition
are there united •, the married are confounded with the
fingle ; the wives of the common people with thofe of
tradefmen and the ladies of the court ; the poor woman
with the rich one who would not be at the trouble of
dreffing to appear in her box. Their appearance is
moft curious ; they, are all covered with their mantelas,
a kind of white or black veil, and give the idea of a
choir of nuns. It is the place for chattering, and be¬
tween the afts there proceeds from the cazuela a con¬
fided noife like the hum of bees, which aftonilhes and
diverts all who hear it for the firft time. Scarcely is
the performance ended, when the door of this box, its
galleries, paffages, and the ftaircafe leading to it, are
all
Spain.
SPA [ 539 1 SPA
Spain, all befieged by a great crowd of men of every condi-
tion 5 fome attra&ed by curiofity j others coming to wait
upon the -women who are in it.
Notwithifanding all that has been done for its im¬
provement, the Spanith flage is {till far from the cele¬
brity which it once poffeffed j and the people do not fe-
cond the efforts of their belt writers. The adting is in
a {till lower ftate. The performers polfefs neither that
dignity which charadterizes great perfonages, and en¬
nobles a fubjedt without injuring its interelt) nor that
fweet expreflion of voice and geiture which goes to the
heart, and awakens the fentiments it exprelfes. In their
adting every thing is violent or inanimate j eveiy thing
departs from nature. Their recitation is a feat of Itrength,
and is performed at the foie expence of the lungs. Cries
and ihrieks are its moft impreffive part, and the moft ap¬
plauded by the majority of the audience. They put no¬
thing in its proper place: all their adtion is exaggerat¬
ed; when they threaten they roar; when they command
they thunder; when they figh, it is with an effort which
completely exhaults the breath. They fubftitute anger
for dignity, violence for fpirit, inlipidity for gallantry.
Their gellures rarely correipond with the lentiments
they ought to exprefs ; but referable their recitation ;
and are ufually monotonous, capricious, ignoble, and al-
moil always violent. T e women, in their burfts of paf
flon, become furies; warriors become villains ; generals
robbers ; and heroes bravos. No hing, as they manage
it, is pathetic ; nothing makes any impreflion on the au¬
dience. The fpedlators, equ *lly unmoved at the end of the
* De La- piece, as at the beginning, fee it, without having expe-
frerde. rienced a fingle moment of intereft or emotion *.
prortu e A labour » ; ! culture are reckoned derogatory to the
and agn- Spanilh character, a fufficient quantity of grain for the
culture. fuup rt oc thr inhabitants is not railed, though focieties
for the encouragement of agriculture have been eila-
blilhed in different parts of the kingdom. The principal
produdts are wine, delicious fruits, oil, filk, honey, and
wax. A confiderable proportion of the mountains and
valleys is paflured by immenfe flocks of fheep, whofe
wool is extremely fine and valuable. Eftremadura is
noted for its excellent paflures; and the wool in Old
Cafiile is reputed the fineft in the kingdom. In Cata¬
lonia the hills are covered with foreft and fruit trees.
Valencia is celebrated for its filk, and for the exquifite
flavour of its melons. Murcia abounds in mulberry
trees; and the fouthern provinces yield the mofl: deli¬
cious wines and fruits. Upon the whole, it has been
obferved of Spain, that few countries owe more to na¬
ture, and lefs to induftry.
The foil in general repofes on beds of gypfum, which
is an excellent manure. The common courfe of hufhan-
dry about Barcelona begins with wheat ; which being
ripe in June, is immediately fucceeded by Indian corn,
hemp, millet, cabbage, kidney beans, or lettuce. The
fecond year thefe fame crops fucceed each other as be¬
fore. I he next year they take barley, beans, or vetches ;
which coming off the ground before midfummer, are
followed, as in the former years, by other crops, only
changing them according to the feafon, fo as to have on
the fame fpot the greateft poffible variety. Near Car-
thagena the courfe is wheat, barlev, and fall ow. For
wheat they plough thrice, and fow from the middle of
November to the beginning of December ; in July they
reap from io to ioo for one, tas the feafon happens to be
humid. The rich vale of Alicant yields a perpetual fuc- Spain,
ceflion of crops. Barley is fown in September, reaped v
in April ; fucceeded by maize, reaped in September;
and by a mixed crop of efculents which follow. Wheat
is fown in November, and reaped in June ; flax in Sep¬
tember, pulled in May. In the vale of Valencia wheat
yields from 20 to 40 ; barley from 18 to 24; oats from
20 to 30 ; maize 100; rice 40. The Spanifh plough
is generally light; and is drawn by oxen with the yoke
over the horns ; the molt proper and natural mode, as
the chief ftrength ot the animal centres in the head.
For a very minute account of agriculture ir. Spain, lee
De Laborde’s View, vol iv. chap. 2. 215
That prejudice which regards the mechanic arts as state of
bale, is not yet extinguifhed m Spain ; hence it happensthli drts’
that thefe arts are either negiedted, or abandoned to luch
unfkilful hands as in general to render the Spaniards
much behind their neighbours, in the uleful arts of life.
The influence of this prejudice is leaft in the province of
Catalonia, W'here the laws, cuttoms, and opinions are fa¬
vourable to artizans ; and it is accordingly in this pro¬
vince that the mechanic arts have made the grtaiefl
progrefs Foreign arliils experience great difficulties in
this country. They are not allowtd to practice without
gaining admiffion into fome incorporation or company,
a..d this has almott always been refilled them.
Some arts have, however, made confidevable progrefs
in Spain, efpecially thofe of gilding leather, and priming,
which has lately acquired a great degree of perfec¬
tion.
The fabrication of articles of gold and filver might
become an important objedt in a country where thefe
metals abound ; but it is negledled, and the demand is
almoll entirely fupplied from foreign markets. What
little they perform in this way at home is ufually very-
ill executed, and exorbitantly dear. Madrid, how’ever,
begins to poffefs fome good workmen in this way ; en¬
couragement would increale their number, and facilitate
the means of improvement; but manual labour is there
exceffively dear. Hence the Spaniards prefer foreign
articles of this kind, which, notwithftanding the ex¬
pence of carriage, the enormous duties which are paid
on thefe articles, and the profits of the merchants, are
flill cheaper than thofe made at home. 216
The liberal arts are cultivated in this country with Architcc-
more affiduity and fuccefs. The i6th century was the uie‘
moft brilliant period of the arts in Spain, as well as of
the fciences, of literature, and of the powrer and gran¬
deur of the monarchy. A croivd of able architetls ap¬
peared at once under Charles V. and Philip II. They
eredled numerous edifices, which will immortalize the
reigns of thefe princes and the names of the artifts.
John de Herrera and Cepedes dtfplayed the higheft ta¬
lents ; Pedro de Uria confttufted the magnificent bridge
of Almaraz, in Eftremadura ; John-Baptift-Monegro of
Toledo, affilled in the building of the Efcurial, and of
the church of St Peter at Rome.
The ftruftures of that age are the fineft in Spain, and
perhaps the only ones in the country which deferve to
fix the attention of the fkilful fpeftator. There are fome
among them which, in regularity, folidity, and magni¬
ficence, deferve to be compared with the fine buildings
of the Romans. The bridges of Badajoz over the Gua-
diana, and of Toledo, over the Manzanares, are of this
period; as are eftfo the grand houfe or palace, now the
3 Y 2 council-
SPA [ 54° ] SPA
Spain, council-houfe at Madrid, and the beautiful edifices
v 'r which adorn i oledo j the palace of Los Vargas j the
hofpital of St John the Baptifi, and that of the Holy
C.ofs. During the fame time, the alcazar of this city,
built under Alphonfo X. was reftored with the gran¬
deur and magnificence which it ftill difplays 5 and the
noble palace was ere died, known under the name of the
Houfe of Pilate, at Madrid.
That magnificent building the Efcurial, which the
Spaniards called the eighth wonder of the world, which
ufed to lodge at once the king'and his court, and 200
monks j tins famous palace, which aftoniihes us by its
mafs and extent, by the Ifrength of its ftrudture, the
regularity of its proportions, and the fplendour of its
decorations, as much as by the repulfive appearance of its
fite and neighbourhood, alfo belongs to the fame period,
having been eredled in the reign of Philip II.
The decline of architedfure became as complete in
the 17th century as its Hate had been flourifhing in the
preceding age. From this period no architedl occurs
worthy of remembrance ; and the buildings are mon-
ftrous maffes, delfitute of order, tafte, and regularity.
One only deferves notice, the prifon of Madrid, called
Carcel de Conte, the wmrk of a happy genius, who
fcnew how to profit by the bright examples of the pre¬
ceding period.
About the middle of the x8ih century, however, ar-
chitedlure began again to be cultivated with fuccefs.
The academy of San-Fernando, at Madrid, has already
produced feveral able msn in this branch, who purfue
their art with credit. The handfome bridge built over
the Xarama, between Aranjuez and Madrid, in the
reign of Charles III. difplays the talents of Mark de
Vierna, his architedl j the cullom-houfe of Valencia,
and the temple-church of the fame city, conftrubled on
the plan of Michael Fernandez ; the exchange of Bar¬
celona : the triumphal arch which forms the gate of Al¬
cala, at Madrid, and the fnuff manufadlory at Seville,
do honour to the Spanilh architecture of the prefent
ary <%;
Paintmg. Spain juftly boaits of many eminent fculptors •, but of
all the liberal arts, painting is that which has been moft
cultivated in Spain, and in which its natives have
belt fucceeded. The Spanilh fchool is much lefs
known than it deferves : it holds a middle place be¬
tween the Italian and Flemifh fchools ; it is more natu¬
ral than the former, more noble than the latter, and
partakes of the beauties of both. It has particularly
ex< elled in facred fubjedls ; and we recognife in the
Spanifh pictures the feelings uiually experienced by the
people of the mylferies of religion. By none have de¬
vout ecftafy, fervour, and genuine piety, been fo well
expreffed, or the my flic paffion given with fo much
truth. It is not in correCtnefs of defign, or noblenefs of
form, that the Spanilh artifis ufually excel, but in the
pure imitation of nature, in grace, truth, effeCl, and the
expreffion of feelings.
The Spaniards have at length opened their eyes to
the utility of the arts 5 they acknowledge them to be
advantageous and deferving of refpeCl, and have begun
to give them fuch encouragement as is likely to promote
a tafte for them, and to infure their advancement. Go¬
vernment has done fomething by affording proteClion
and countenance to the new eftablilhments; but the
ftrongeft impulfe has been given by individuals, or pri¬
vate affociations.
Spain now pollelles an academy of painting, at Se- Spain,
viile, and two academies of the fine arts, one at Ma-1 1 ' V"“■
drid, and the other at Valencia. 'The firit owes its ori¬
gin to an affociation of the painters of Seville formed by
themfelves, about the year 1660 ; Charles III. revived
it, and eftabliftied there a fchool of the fine arts. That
ot Madrid was founded by Philip V. The laft was efta-
blilhed by the exertions of feme private perfons, aflilted
by the beneiaClion of Andrew Majoral, archbilhop of
Valencia, and the proteClion of the municipal body.
Charles III. came to its affiftance 26 years after its efta-
blifhment, with an annual gift of nearly 700!. Thefe
academies have for their objeCt the ftudy and improve¬
ment of painting, fculpture, and architecture 5 they
give public leffons on thefe three arts, and diftribute an¬
nual prizes among their pupils. That of Madrid, or
San-Fernando, fends its pupils to Rome at the expence
of government, to complete their ftudies.
Public and gratuitous fchools for drawing have been
eftabliftied within the laft 20 years in different places 5
at Madrid, Cordova, Valencia, Seville, Zaragoza, Bar¬
celona, &c. The laft of thefe is fupported by the mer¬
chants ; that of Vergara wras founded by the patriotic
fociety of Bifcay ; and thofe of Zaragoza and Cordova
owe their birth to the zeal and generofity of two indivi¬
duals ; the firft to Don Martin Noy Cochear, the laft
to Don Antonio Cavallero, the prefent bifliop of Cor¬
dova. Thofe of Madrid, Seville, and Valencia, depend
on the academies of thefe cities. g
The marmfaClures of Spain were more flourifhing du-Manufac-
ring the government of the Moors in that country, thantures.
they have been at any fubfequent period. So complete¬
ly had the kingdom declined in this refpeCl at the end
of the 16th century, when Philip V. afeended the
throne, that it is faid by De Laborde to have been ab-
folutely deftitute of trade. The inteftine wars which ra¬
vaged the kingdom during the firft 14 years of that
reign, and the low ftate to which the national finances
were reduced, prevented the government from paying
attention to manufaClures; and it was not till after tran¬
quillity had been reftored, and regulations adopted with
refpeCl to the public revenue, that the natives were in¬
duced to wear articles of their own manufacture. Since
the reigns of Ferdinand VI. and Charles III. this part
of the internal trade of the kingdom has greatly impro¬
ved, and the manufactures of Spain are now once more
on a refpeCtable footing.
The Spanifti manufactures enumerated by De La¬
borde, in his View of Spain, are thofe of cloth and
other woollen goods ; filks; brocaded fluffs in gold and
filver ; linens and other articles formed from flax or
hemp; cottons \ leather, and other articles manufactu¬
red from fkins and hides ; paper ; china and delft
ware •, brandies ; beer j aquafortis j fait of lead 5 fliears
for the woollen trade ; copper, iron, and brafs goods j
glafs and mirrors; foap ; hats ; articles for the marine j
military implements; arms and ammunition 5 tobacco
and fnuff. Of thefe, the moft important are, the wool¬
len and filk manufactures; leather; brandy j military
weapons •, foap and tobacco.
The principal places for the wmollen manufactures
are, Aulot, Arens, Vich, and the convent of Gironne
in Catalonia ; Jaca, and the diftriCt of Cincavilla in A-
ragon, and Burgos in Old Caftile, for woollen ftock-
ings j Barcelona, Zaragoza, and Burgos, for blankets j
Junquera, Segovia, Burgos, and many others for baizes
and
\
SPA [ 54i ] SPA
Spain and flannels; Eflella in Navarre, Efcoray in Bil’cay,
Grazolerna in Seville, Toledo, &c. for coarfe cloths,
which laft article is manufadlured in large quantities
throughout the kingdom. The woollen fluffs fabricated
in Spain are in general of a very infetior quality, the
wool being imperfectly fcoured, and the dyeing fo ill
executed that the colours are never permanent.
The chief manufactures for fllken articles are thofe
for blonde lace throughout Catalonia, and at Almagro
in La Mancha ; for filk dockings, at Malaga, Zarago¬
za, Valencia, Talavera, and Barcelona 5 and for filk
taffeties, ferges, damafks, and velvets, at Jaen, Grana¬
da, Murcia, Valencia, Malaga, Zaragoza, Toledo,
Talavera, and Barcelona. The articles of this manu¬
facture are in general flout and excellent; but they do
not poffefs that brilliancy of appearance fo remarkable
in the French filks.
Tanning, currying, and drefling hides, fkins, and
all kinds of leather, are very general throughout Spain j
but the tkins and hides prepared at Arevaca and Po-
zuelo, are in greateft repute. The greateft quantity of
foie leather is manufactured in the provinces of Aragon
and Catalonia; and in the latter province are made and
exported a prodigious number of Ihoes.
The making of brandy is confined chiefly to the ftates
belonging to the crown of Aragon, efpecially at Torres
in Aragon •, at Selva, Mataro, &c. in Catalonia j and
in Valencia.
Spain has long been famous for its manufacture of Spain.
military vreapons 5 and it is w’ell known that the fwords,
fabres, hangers, and bayonets, made at Toledo and
Barcelona, are of a very fuperior temper. Large ma¬
nufactories for fire-arms occur in the diftriCt of Guipuf-
coa, and trvo royal founderies for brafs cannon, are efta-
lilhed at Barcelona and Seville.
There is only one manufactory for tobacco and fnuff
in Spain, viz. at Seville ; but this is on a moft extenfive
fcale, and is fuppofed to yield of annual profits about
800,000!. fterling. Here are employed 20 2 mills,
turned by 300 horfes or mules ^ and the various opera¬
tions call for the daily labour of above 1400 perfons. 219
Confideiing the extent of fea coaft belonging to the Commerce,
kingdom of Spain, its commerce is but inconfiderable,
and principally takes place between the mother-country
and the American colonies. Spain, indeed, carries on
a foreign trade with every country in Europe j but its
principal tranfadlions are, wdth England, Holland, Ita¬
ly, and France. Its exports to thefe countries confift
almoft entirely of raw produce, as, if we except oil,
wine, brandy, flroes, fait, and a few coarfe cloths and
filken articles, the trade in manufaftured goods is al¬
moft: wkolly confined to the interior of the country.
Its chief exports, and the amount yielded by each for
the feveral provinces, as well as the whole amount of
the export trade of Spain, to the reft of Europe, will be
feen in the following table.
Value of Exports from each Province in pounds ferling.
Goods exported.
Nuts,
Oil,
Cork,
Wine,
Linens and cotton fluffs,
Silk handkerchiefs,
Paper,
Brandy,
Shoes and flroe foies,
Raifins,
Dried figs,
Almonds,
Dates,
Barylla,
Kermes,
Salt,
Spart worked,
Silk,
Cutlery,
Ribbons,
Corn,
Saffron,
Wool,
Flax,
Coarfe cloths,
Silk and wool mixtures,
Worfted ftockings,
Salt provifions,
Oranges and lemons,
Hemp,
Madder,
Brooms,
Catalonia.
L. 26,000
26,667
235.990
2,667
295,007
51,042
73-333
262,50c
22,024
6,875
Valencia.
Andalufa
L.
io3>333
125,000
10,625
5- 333
6- 563
6.250
i5>875
7,292
9.250
1,002,105 ^89,521
L.
208,333
5c8.333
625,000
34.375
833;333
Murcia. | Aragon, j Other Provinces.
L.
L.
31.250
108,333
4,166
2 29,166
5,000
2,083
78,041
2,500
2,209,374 460-539
38,333
53,437
48,750
1,458
2,666
5,833
540
79,o63
230,080
L.8,336
641,682
A large quantity
from Gallicia.
From Old Caftile
716,685
Total.
-34,336
23 5,000
235,990
645.583
295,007
51,042
73,333
387,500
22,024
63 i,625
39,708
6,563
6,250
124,208
7,292
842.583
4,166
267,499
5,coo
2,083
131,478
2,500
690,432
i,458
2,666
5,833
540
79.063
66,667
6,875
4,908.304
Ths
SPA
Spain,
t The above table is confined aimed entirely to the
European exports. To thel'e muft be added the amount
of Spanilh exports to the American colonies in order to
acquire a juit view of the total amount of the export
commerce. The following table will ihow the amount
of the exports, both of home and foreign produce, from
Spain to America in 1784, as elfimated by Mr Townf-
end in pounds Iterling.
1' 5+2 ]
SPA
Port-
Cad iz
Malaga
Seville
Barcelona
Corunna
Santander
Canaries
Tortofa
Gijon
Total
Home produce.
1,438,9 1 2
*96,379
62,713
122,631
64,575
36,7*5
24,974
7,669
4,28l
L.1,958,849
Foreign produced Total.
2,182,531
*4,3°*
30,543
21,240
39,962
9^>*73
289
10,190
L. 2,3 89.2 29
3,621,443
210,680
93,256
*43,87*
104,537
126,888
24,974
7,95S
*447*
L.4,384,878
Of tliefe exports we are to regard chiefly thofe of
Spanilh produce, and thefe Mr Townfend has probably
eftimated too high. M. de Laborde, on v/hofe authori¬
ty we are more difpofed to rely, (rates the value of
Spanifh domeftic merchandife exported to America in
the year 1788, as amounting to 1,635,658!. llerling,
while in 1792, it amounted to 2,812,500!; ilerling, and
on an average of five years, from 1788 to 1792, it
amounted to 1,833,333!. fterling. The amount of fo¬
reign merchandiie exported in 1788, was 1,484,315!.
llerling. Adding the average to this laft furn, we have
3,317,6481. fterling for the whole export trade to Ame¬
rica. This added to 4,908,304!. fterling, makes a
grand total of 8,225,952!. fterling for the whole ex¬
port trade of Spain.
The Spanifh imports are much more confiderable
than the exports. Before the prefent troubles, Spain
imported from Holland, tapes, linen drapery, common
lace, cutlery goods and paper; from Silefia linen dra¬
pery ; from Germany, more particularly from Ham¬
burgh, quantities of haberdaftiery ; from England, cali¬
coes, iron and fteel goods, fine cloth, quantities of cod
fifh and ling ; the value of the laft; articles is eftimat¬
ed at three millions of duros, five millions livres tournois,
(208,333!. I3'S. qd.) ; from France,calicoes,linen drapery,
filk ftockings, filks, camlets, and other kinds of worfted
fluffs, fine cloths, gilded articles, jewellery, iron goods,
haberdalhery, fteel goods, and perfumery.
We have not fatisfa&ory documents fufficient to af-
certain the amount of thefe imports, but it was certainly
much lefs than that of the imports from the American
colonies. Thefe latter, according to Mr Tovvnfend’s
flatement, amounted in 1784 to 12,635,173!. fterling;
to which, it we add nearly half a million for duty, we
fha’l have a total of above thirteen millions fterling for
American imports alone. De Laborde ellimates the
fc 1 amount of American imports for the year 1788 at
8,382,3701. fterling, of which Cadiz alone imported
6,6 17,873k fterling. If to the above amount we add
577.679k for the duty at the fame period, we {hall have
a total of 8,960,009k fterling againft the mother coun-
4
try, deducing from this 3,317,648k for the average ex- Spain,
ports, we have 5,642,36x1. as the balance of trade in 1—V—-
favour of the Spanilh colonies.
I hough there are in Spam many navigable rivers,Inlaii^na-
few canals of communication have been conltrudled to ligation,
improve the internal navigation of the country. The
canal of Aragon, completed during the reign of Charles
IV. muft be highly beneficial to that province. Two
canals, viz. that of Tueuftre and the imperial canal,
both of which begin at Navarre, run in vaiious W'ind*
ings through Aragon, by turns receding from or ap¬
proaching the river Ebro, where at length they termi¬
nate. Befides the dykes, banks, fluices, and bridges
neceffary in the courfe of theie canals, an aquedudl has
been conftrudted in the valley of Riozaien, 710 tathoms
in length, and 17 feet thick at the bafe, in which the
canal runs.
I he canal of Caftile, projedled and begun in the laft
reign, has been almoll abandoned. It was to com¬
mence at Segovia, lixteen leagues north of Madrid, to
follow the courfe of the Erefma, that falls into the
Douro, and to be continued as far north as Reynofa ;
which is twenty leagues from St Ander, a lea port. At
Reynola is the communication with the canal of Ara-
gon, that unites the Mediterranean to the bay of Bif-
cay. Above Palencia, a branch goes wetlward through
Rio-Seco and Benevento to Zamora ; making the canal
of Caftile, in its whole extent 140 leagues ; where it is
completed, viz. between Reynola and Rio-Seco, its width
at top is 56 feet, at bottom 20, and nine in depth.
In 1784, a canal was planned, which, from the foot
of the mountains of Guadarama near the Efcurial, fhould
proceed fouthward to the Tagus; afterwards to the
Guadiana, and terminate at the Guadalquivir above
Andaxar. Some other attempts to improve the inland
navigation of the country have been unfuccefsfuh
There is no nation in Europe which difplays fuch a <pe,2
variety of national character as Spain. In no two pro- cha'aifter
vinces are the manners and charadfer exadlly alike. Itof the
is therefore difficult to colled! traits on which to found iiPamar£?s*
the national charadter of the Spaniards ; and this cha-
radler has been varioufty reprefented by different writers.
From the tranladlions which have lately taken place
between that people and the Britiffi nation, we confefs
ourfelves prejudiced againft them ; and we (hall there¬
fore, inftead of fketching their charadler according to
our own preconceived notions, endeavour to delineate i£
as concifely as poffible from De Laborde, who is pro¬
bably a fufficiently competent judge.
The national pride, fays this author, is every where the
fame. The Spaniard has the higheft opinion of his na¬
tion and himfelf, and this he expreffeswith energy, in his
geftures, words, and adtions. This opinion is difeovered
among all ranks in life, and all claffes of fociety. Its
refult is a kind of haughtinefs, fometimes repulfive to
him who is its objedl, but ufefnl in giving to the mind
a fentiment of ncblenefs and felf-eiteem which fortifies
it againft all meannefs.
In later times the Spaniards have not degenerated
from the valour of their anceftors. The Spanifh foldier
is ftill one of the beft in Europe, when placed under an
experienced general, and brave and intelligent officers.
He poffeffes a cool and fteady valour; he long endures
fatigue and hunger, and eafilv inures himfelf to labour.
The Spaniards are very referved, and rather wait for,
than
Spain.
222
Diveriities
of charac¬
ter in the
feverai pro¬
vinces.
SPA
than court the advances of a Granger
their apparent gravity, they poffefs an inward gaiety,
which frequently Ihines out when proper occafions call
it forth.
The Spaniard is very flow in all his operations; he
often deliberates when he ought to a£l, and fpoils affairs
as much by temporiflng as the natives of other countries
do by precipitation. This tardinefs would be but a
flight defe<ff, did it not proceed from a ferious radical
want, from the invincible indolence and hatred of labour
which prevails among all ranks of fociety.
That jealoufy which was formerly proverbial among
the Spaniards, is no'.v greatly diminithed j hufbands are
much lefs fufpicious, and women much more acceflible.
Lattices have difappeared ; duennas exift only in roman-
cesq veils are exchanged for mantelas 5 houfes are thrown
open, and the women have recovered a liberty by which
they are lefs tempted to go aftray than when their virtue
was entrufted to locks and grates, and to the fuperin-
tendance of guards often faithlefs and eanly corrupted.
In fine, the Spaniards are fober, difcreet, adroit, frank,
patient in adverfity, flow in decifion, but wife in delibe¬
ration •, ardent in enterprife, and conftant in purfuit.
They are attached to their religion, faithful to thefr
king, hofpitable, charitable, noble in their dealings, ge¬
nerous, liberal, magnificent 5 good friends, and full of
honour. They are grave in carriage, ferious in difcourfe,
gentle and agreeable in converfation, and enemies to
falfehood and evil fpeaking.
Such is the Spaniih charafler as-drawn by De La-
borde. Its varieties in the feverai provinces are thus
ftated by the fame author. The Old Caflilians are fi-
lent, gloomy, and indolent, and are the moft feverely
grave of all the Spaniards; but they poffefs a fteady
prudence, an admirable conftancy under adverfity, an
elevation of foul, and an unalterable probity and up-
rightnefs. The charadler of the natives of New Caftile
is nearly the fame, but more open, and lefs grave and
taciturn. Indocility and conceit make part of the
charafter of the people of Navarre ; they are diftin-
guiflied by lightnefs and adroitnefs. The Bifcayans are
proud, impetuous, and itritable ; abrupt in difcourfe
and in aftion ; haughty and independent, but induf-
trious, diligent, faithful, hofpitable, and fociable. The
Gallicians are gloomy, and live very little in foci'ety ^
but they are bold, courageous, laborious, very fober, and
diflinguifhed for their fidelity. The Afturians partake
of the charafter of the Gallicians and Bifcayans •, but
they are lefs induffrious than the former, lefs civilized,
lefs fociable, lefs amiable, and more haughty than the
latter. The people of Eftremadura are proud, haughty,
vain, ferious, indolent ; but remarkably fober, honour¬
able, and much attached to their own province, which
they ieldotn quit. The Murcians are lazy, lifllefs, plot¬
ting, and fufpicious ; attached neither to fciences, arts,
commerce, navigation, nor a military life. The Valen-
cians are light, inconllant, and indecifive ; gay, fond of
pleafure, little attached to each other, and ftill lefs to
flrangers, but affable, agreeable, and diligent. The Ca-
latans are proud, haughty, violent in their paflions, rude
in difcourfe and in affion, turbulent, untra&able, and
paifionatelv fond of independence ; they are not particu¬
larly liberal, but aifhve, induftrious, and indefatigable 5
they are failors, hufb.vndmen, and builders, and refort to
all corners ol the world to feek their fortunes. They are
Spair
223
[ 543 ] , s p A
Yet in fpite of brave, intrepid, fometimes rafii, obftinate in adhering to
their ichemes, and often fuccefsful in vanquifliing, by
their fteady perfeverance, cbftacles which would appear
infurmountable to others.
The natives of almoft every province have fome di-Manners
ftinguilhing peculiarity in their drefs, manners, and pur.andcuttomfi
fuits. Before the "acceflion of the houfe of Bourbon to
the throne, the ufual drefs of a Spaniih nobleman con-
fifted of a flouched hat, a long black or brown cloak,
ftiort jerkin, and ftrait breeches, with a long Toledo
fword ; but French dreffes are now introduced at court.
The higher claffcs wear their hats under their arm. The
common people wrap themfelves up to the eyes in a
brown cloak, called aleapo, that reaches to the ground 3
and conceal their hair beneath a cotton cap, and a broad
hat called a fombrero. When a lady walks abroad, her
head and upper part of her body are covered with a
mantela ; that is, a white or black veil, fo that it is im-
poflible lire Ihould be known. At home, the drefs is a
jacket and a petticoat of filk or cotton. The hair is ge¬
nerally a fine black ; and powder is rare.
In romance, the ladies are celebrated for beauty, and
fome of them deferve that charaffer 3 yet beauty is not
their general charaffer. They are of a llender make,
but with great art they fupply the defects of nature.
By an indifcriminate ufe of paint, they disfigure their
complexion and Ihtivel their Ikin.
Several of the Spaniih cuftcms and habits, which feem
ridiculous to foreigners, are gradually wearing out, and
in procefs of time will no' doubt be corrected. The
higher claffes at breakfaft ufe chocolate, and feldom tea.
Dinner generally confifts of beef, veal, pork, mutton,
and beans, boiled together. They are fond of garlic 3
and it is proverbial that olives, falad, and radilhes, are
food for gentlemen. The men drink little wine, and
the women ufe water or chocolate. Both fexes fleep
after dinner, and air themfelves in the cool of the even¬
ing. Their repafts are compofed of fweatmeats, bifcuit,
coffee and fruit, which fervants diftribute to the com¬
pany ; who keep their feats, and have little conver¬
fation.
Dancing and cards are favourite amufements. Thea¬
trical exhibitions are generally infipid or ridiculous bom-
baft, low wit, abfurdity, and buffoonery. The combats
of the cavalleros and bull fights, are almoft peculiar to
this country. On thefe occafions young gentlemen
were ufed to (how their courage to their miftreffes 3
and wrere honoured and rewarded according to their fuc-
cefs. But thefe exhibitions were lately conduced with
greater economy and parfimony 3 and mercenary cham¬
pions ftudied in the moft fecure and graceful manner to
deftroy the devoted animal. See 'BuLL-F:ghting..
The chief defeat in all ranks is an averfion to labour
and induftry. The higher orders beftowr no attention on
agriculture and commerce 3 they refide for the moft part
at court and in the metropolis, reckoning it beneath
their dignity to live in villas on their eftates among their
tenants. In their eftimation, a labouring man quits the
dignity of the Spanifti charadler, and renders himfelf an
objedl of contempt. Hence a liftlefs indolence prevails.
Thoufands wafte their time in total want of every incite¬
ment to adlion. Their intelledlual powers lie dormant,
and their views and exertions are confined withm the
narrow fphere of mere exiftence. The comnu n people
have no encouragement to induftry 3 and mull feel ntle
concern
SPA [ 544 1 SPA
, aPam- concern for the welfare of a country where a few over-
” * grown families engrols every thing valuable, and never
think of the condition of their vaflals. The indigent
Spaniard does not beftir himfelf unlefs impelled by want,
becaufe he perceives no advantage to be derived from
induftry. A ttranger to intemperance and excefs, his
fcanty fare is eafily procured 5 and under a climate fo
propitious, few clothes are required. The hovel which
he occupies, together with all its contents, has a mean,
filthy, defpicable appearance ; and all that relates to
him bears the impreffion of wretchednefs and mifery *.
^Playfair's There are certain cuftoms which may be regarded as
peculiar to the Spaniards, or which at leaft are fcarcely
found in any other European country. The number of
fervants retained in the families of the higher ranks is
prodigious j and even a tradefman’s wife, in narrow cir-
cumltances, will frequently have four maid fervants,
though fire cannot, with propriety, employ more than
two. 1 he houfes of gentlemen, and efpecially of gran¬
dees, fwarm with them ; and, not unfrequently, all the
principal fervants will have their wives and children
lodged with them, and fupported by their mailer. We
have heard of one nobleman who was at the daily ex¬
pence of 120I. merely for the maintenance of his nume¬
rous retainers.
The Spaniards are fond of meeting in the evening in
parties, which are often very numerous. On thele oc-
cafions, the ladies as they arrive place themfelves in one
room, and the gentlemen m another 5 or elfe the ladies
range themfelves in a line along the fide of the room,
the lady of the houfe always taking the lowell place
next to the door, whilll the men remain Handing, or
feat themlelves on the oppofite fide. They remain fe-
parated in this manner till the card parties are introdu¬
ced. They play at loo, loto, and other games of a li-
milar kind. Thofe who do not play, either look on,
or embrace the opportunity of chatting with the perfon
moll interefting to them. Others form little circles,
where the converfation is ufually very animated. Thefe
parties very much referable the French evening, and
the Englifh rout.
A refrefco fometimes makes part of thefe entertain¬
ments, but only on particular occafions, when the com¬
pany is more than ufually numerous. But orgeat, le¬
monade, orangeade, ices of different kinds, fweetmeats,
and bifcuits, are diftributed with uncommon profufion ;
and chocolate ends the funcion, as all thefe entertain¬
ments are called.
Many precautions are taken in Spain againft the
heat. The rooms are watered feveral times a-day, and
the windows are fhaded on the outfide with awnings of
cloth or ticking, or on the xnfide by large and full cur¬
tains. In fome places, as at Valencia, the glafs is ta¬
ken out of the windows at the approach of fummer,
and the doors of the apartments are all fet open.
The beds in Spain are hard, being made of mattreffes,
laid on paillaffes, refting on a wooden bottom. The
furniture of the houfes is ufually very fimple, and the
floors are covered with matting or printed cloth. The
chairs have rufh bottoms, and are ufually of different
heights, thofe for the ladies being one-third kuver than
224 thofe for the gentlemen.
Amufe- Among the principal amufements of the Spaniards
meats. aiuft be reckoned mufic and dancing. Though the Spa¬
niards have a tafte for mufic, they are by no means
3
proficients in that accomplifhment. Their principal in- Spain,
itrument is the guitar, which is in the hands of every v——'
body. Different provinces have alfo their peculiar in-
ftruments. I hus the Gallicians ufe a dull and heavy
bagpipe ; the Catalonians a large flageolet, and a little
drum or tabor 5 and the Bifcayans a fhort flute, w'ith
four holes. Caftanettes are alfo extremely common,
and are employed with great dexterity and addrefs in
the national dances.
1 he Spaniards are paflionately fond of dancing, and
they have certain dances which are peculiar to Spain.
Of thefe the fandango is the moil celebrated, and ap¬
pears to be the moft ancient. It is a very extraordinary
dance, in which the whole body is thrown into a regu¬
lar and harmonious convulfion, expreflive of the mefl
lafeivious ideas.
The paflion of the Spaniards for thefe dances is carried
to a height which can fcarcely be imagined. No fooner
are the guitar and the finging to which they are danced
heard in a ball room or theatre, than a murmur of de¬
light arifes on all fides; all faces become animated ; the
feet, hands, and eyes of all prefent are put in motion :
it is impoflibie to deferibe the effect produced. Mr
Townfend, an Englitli traveller, affirms, that if a per¬
fon were to come fuddenly into a church or a court of
juftice playing \.ht fandango, or the colero, priefts, judges,
lawyers, criminals, audience, one and all, grave and gay,
young or old, would quit their fundions, forget all di-
Aindions, and all fet themfelves a dancing.
The Spanifli balls are direded by two perfons chofen
among the vifitors, who are called lofteneras, and with
the hat under the arm, and the cane in the hand, per¬
form the office of mailers of the ceremonies. One is
for the gentlemen, the other for the ladies. It is their
bufinefs to appoint who is to dance, whether minuets or
country dances : they are in general very attentive to
the obfervance of precedence and etiquette, and have ufu¬
ally the complaifance to contrive that thofe (hall dance
together to whom it is peculiarly agreeable to meet.
A Angular cuftorn is obferved at thefe bails, which
appears new and ftrange to a foreigner. The lady
chofen to dance rifes, croffes the room alone, and places
herfeff where flie is to begin dancing, without waiting for
her partner to lead her out ; and after the dance is over,
her partner makes his bow to her again in the middle
of the room without taking any further concern about
her, or handing her back to her place. But this cuftom
prevails only in the provinces.
The bull-fights noticed above were once not only a
favourite but a fafhionable fpe£lacle in Spain. Every
city, and almoft every fmall town, had a place fet apart
for thefe darling combats ; and hither all ranks and ages
reforted with the greateft avidity, and witneffed the
prowefs of the combatants, and the torture of the
wretched animals, whom they were hired to butcher,
with the moft favage expreffions of delight. Thefe
fights made a part of every feftival, and, as foon as they
were announced, the houfewife left her family, the tradef-
man forfook his fhop, the artift his work-room, the la¬
bourer his field, and joy and expe&ation were painted on
every countenance. To the honour of the nation, thefe
cruel fports are at length aboliflied, and Spain has
thus fet an example of humanity, which Britain,
with all her civilization and refinement, need not blufti
to copy.
New-Spain*
SPA [ S4S ] SPA
Spalatro New-SPAIN. See MEXICO.
!l SPALATRO, or Spalatto, a rich, populous, and
Spa lan- fl.rong toWn Df the republic of Venice, capital of Ve-
  netian Dalmatia, with a good harbour and an archbi-
fhop’s fee. Here are the ruins of the palace of Diode-
fian, of which the late Mr Robert Adam publifhed in
1764 a fplendid account, enriched with 71 folio plates.
In 1784, Spalatro was nearly depopulated by the plague.
It is ttrong by fituation, being built on a peninfula,
which is joined to terra firma by a neck of land half a
mile over. It is feated on the gulf of Venice, 35 miles
fouth-eaft of Sebenico, and 102 north-weft of Ragufa.
£. Long. 17. 31. N. Lat. 44. 4.
SPALLANZANI, Lazarus, a celebrated naturalift,
was born at Scandiano, in the duchy of Modena, in Janua¬
ry 17 29. He began his ftudies in his native country, and
went to Reggio de Modena at 15 years of age, to pro-
fecute them further. He was inftrudted in the belles
lettres by the Jefuits, wrho contended with the Domini¬
cans in order to fecure his attachment; but his third
for knowledge determined him to go to Bologna, where
his relative Laura Baffi, a woman highly celebrated for
her genius, eloquence, and fkill in natural philoiophy
and mathematics, was one of the moft diftinguithed pro-
feffus of the Inftitute and of Italy. Under this en¬
lightened guide, he was taught to prefer the ftudy of
nature to that of her commentators, judging of the real
value of ihe commentary by its refemblance to the ori¬
ginal. He availed himfelf of the wifdom of that lady’s
Counfels, the happy effefts of which he very foon ex¬
perienced. Spallanzani’s tafte for philofophy was not
exclufive, for he carefully ftudied his own language,
became a proficient in the Latin tongue, and at¬
tached himfelf above every other to the Greek and
French. By the advice of a father whom he ardently
loved, he applied himfelf to jurifprudence; but being
urged by Anthony Vallifnieri to renounce his vocation,
by procuring the confent of his father, he gave himfelf
up to the ftudy of mathematics with more zeal than
ever, at the fame time devoting himfelf to the ftudy of
languages, both living and dead.
It was not long before he was known all over Italy,
and what is feldom the cafe, his own country firft put
that value on his talents which they juftly merited.
He was chofen profeffbr of logic, metaphyfics and Greek,
in the univerfity of Reggio, in the year 1745, where
he taught during ten years, devoting every moment of
his leifure time to the ftudy and contemplation of the
works of nature. The attention of Haller and Bonnet
was fixed by his obfervations on the animalculae of in-
fufions, the latter affifting him in his laudable career,
and ever after diftinguithed him as one of the learned
interpreters of nature.
Spallanzani was invited to the univerfity of Modena
in the year 1760, and feme years after he declined to
accept of the offers made to him by the academy of
Peterlburg, as well as fimilar ones from Coimbra, Par¬
ma, and Cefena, though extremely advantageous. He
preferred his native fpot, and therefore continued at
Modena till the year 1768, and faw raifed up by his
care a generation of men conftituting at that time the
glory of Italy, among whom we find Venturi, Belloni,
Lucchefini, and Angelo Mazzo.
While Spallanzani remained at Modena, he publilh-
ed his Sa^gio dt O/Jervazioni Microfcopiche concernente
Vol. XIX. Part II.
il Syjlema di Needham e Buffon, in 1765, in which he Spal’an.
eliablifties, by a number of the moft ingenious and folid ^ni-
experiments, the animality of microfcopic animalculae.
This work w7as fent by the author to Bonnet, who drew
from it a prediftion refpefting the future celebrity of
Spallanzani, which he lived to fee aceomplifiied. This
circumftance gave birth to the moft intimate friendfhip,
which lafted to the dole of life, and conftituted their
chief happinefs. During the fame year he publithed a
truly original u'ork, entitled De Lapidibus ab aqua re-
Jilientibus, in which he proves, in oppofition to the com¬
monly received opinion, by the moft fatisfa&ory expe¬
riments, that what are called ducks and drakes, are not
produced by ihe elafticity of the water, but by the ef-
fe£t naturally refulting from the change of dire&ion ex¬
perienced by the ftone in its movement, after it has
ftruek the water, and that it has been carried over the
hollow or the cup formed by the concufiion.
When the univerfity of Padua was re-eftablithed up¬
on a larger fcale, the Count de Firmian was directed by
the emprefs Maria Therefa, to invite Spallanzani to be
profeflbr of natural hiftory, to which his great reputa¬
tion made him competent, although it was folicited by
many celebrated characters } and he merited it by his
fuccefs, as immenfe crowds of Undents thronged to his
lectures. He had a fine genius, and his knowledge was
of vaft extent ; his method was fimple, but rigorous in.
its nature, and what he knew he connected with prin¬
ciples firmly eftablifhed. Pie acquired the valuable art
of interpreting nature by herfelf, which diffufed fuch a
light over his leCtures, that every thing became perfpi-
cuous, which could be faid to afford any inftruCtion.
His difeourfes were plain and animated, and the ele¬
gance and purity of his ftyle charmed every hearer.
He prepared his leClures a year before hand, and it was
his chief aim to render them ufeful in an eminent de¬
gree. His new obfervations made them always new
and engaging. Many learned perfons who attended his
leCtures were not above becoming his fcholars, in order
to acquire a more extenfive knowledge of what they
knew before, and to learn that which otherwrfe they
might probably never have known. The Contemplation
de la Nature of Bonnet was his text book, the vacan¬
cies of which he ably filled up, fully explained the ideas,
and eftablidied-the theories by his own experiments.
This work was tranflated by him into the Italian lan¬
guage, and he added much to its value by notes of his
own, the firft volume of which he publilhed in 1769, and
the fecond the following year.
His conneftion with Bonnet tended, in a great mea-
fure, to influence his genius, which yielded to the fevere
method of inveftigation adopted by the philofopber of
Geneva. He was proud of being the pupil of fuch an
illuftrious charafter, upon whofe writings he inceffantly
bellowed every kilure momen-t, and thus became anxious
to learn from Nature herfelf the proofs of Bonnet’s fen-
tinrents refpeefing the generation of organized bodies,
the pleafing nature of which refearch captivated his at¬
tention for a confiderable time.
The firft two volumes of this work entitled Opufcuh
di Ffica Animate e Vegetabile, were publifhed in the
year 1776, containing the explanation of part of the
micrcfcopic obfervations which were previoufly given
to the world.
If it muft be admitted that the art of accurate obfer-
3 Z vation
s P A
Sp/Uan- tlon is by bar the moft difficult, it cannot be denied that
it is at the fame time the molt neceflary, and requires
' v ffie raoft brilliant talents and abilities, which were pof-
fcffed by Spallanzaru in a remarkable degree, as is fully
evinced by all his refearches and all his admirable wri¬
tings.
The polite manner in which he conducted his difpute
with Needham refpedting the phenomena of generation,
Secured for him a high degree of applaufe. On this
occafion he treated of the influence of cold upon ani¬
mals, and proved that the torpidity of fome during win¬
ter, does not depend on the impreffion the blood may
receive from it, fince a frog deprived of blood, becomes
torpid when reduced to the fame cold Hale by being
immerfed in ice, and fvvims as formerly when re ft ore d
to a proper degree of warmth.
Spallanzani travelled through Switzerland and the
Grifons in the year 1779, after which he went to Ge¬
neva, fpending a month with his friends, by whom his
converfalion was as much admired as his mafterly wri¬
tings. From this place he returned to Pavia, and in
1780 publithed two more volumes of his Di[ferta%ione
di Fijica Am'nale e Vcgetabu'e, wherein he unfolded the
fecrets of the interpretation of two very intricate phe¬
nomena, concerning the economy of animals and ve¬
getables. He was led to this ftudy from fome experi¬
ments made by him upon digejlion, for his ledures j and
he repeated the experiments of Reaumur on gallinace¬
ous birds, remarking that the trituration which in this
ca'e is favourable to digeftion, could not be a very
powerful means. He perceived that the gizzard of thofe
birds, by which the ftones of fruit are pulverized, did
not digeft the powder thus formed, it being neceftary
that it fhould undergo a new operation in the ftomach,
previous to its becoming chyle for the produdion of
the blood and other humours.
'I his fubjed may be regarded as one of the moft dif¬
ficult in pbyfiology, becaufe the obferver is always under
the neceffity of ading and looking in the midft of dark-
nefs; the animal muft be managed with care, that the
derangement of the operations may be avoided ; and
when the experiments are completed with great labour,
it is requifite that the confequences be well diftinguifti-
ed. Spallanzani in this work is truly enchanting, ana¬
lysing Ends with fcrupulofity, in order to afeertain their
caufes with certainty; comparing Nature with his ex¬
periments, in order to form a corred judgement refped-
ing them ; laying hold of every thing eilential to them
in his obfervations, and meafuring their folidity by the
increafe or diminution of fuppofed caufes.
Mr John Hunter appears to have been greatly hurt
by this work, which led him to publifh, in the year
178.-, Some Obfervations upon Dlgefion, in which he
threw out fome bitter farcafms againft the Italian na-
turalift, who took ample revenge by publiffiing this
work in the Italian language, and addreffing to Caldani
in 1788, Una Lett era Apologetlca in Rlfpo/la alle Ofj'er-
va%io'ie del Signor Giovanni Hunter. In this he ex-
pufed with great moderation, but at the fame time with
logic which nothing could refill, the miftakes and er-
rprs of the Britifh phyfiologift, leaving the power of a
reply altogether hopelef.
The generation of animals and plants is treated of in
the fecond volume of this laft-mentioned work, in which
he proves the pre-exiftence of germs to fecundation, by
[ 54S 1
s p
experiments as fatisfadory as furprifing; ihewing alfo
the exiftence of tadpoles in the females ot five different
ipecies of frogs, in lalamanders, and toads, before their
fecundation. He likewife recounts the fuccefs of fome
arufidal fecundations upon the tadpoles of thole five
fpccies, and even upon a quadruped.
In the year 1701, he took the advantage of the aca¬
demical vacation, for the purpofe of making a journey,
in order to add to the cabinet of Pavia. Fie let out
for Mar fellies in the month of July that year, where he
began a new hiltory ot the lea, which preiented him •
with many new and curious fads on numerous genera
of the natives of the ocean. Fie went alfo to Finale,
Genoa, Mafia, and Carrara, to make obfervations on
the quarries 01 marble, held ,,y ftatuaries in fuch eftima-
tion. He then returned to Spezzia, and brought from
thence to Pavia a vail number of fillies, which he de-
pofiied in the cabinet of that city, wholly colleded by
him'el r. With the fame view and fuccefs he vifiled
the coafts of lilria in 1782, and the Apennine moun¬
tains the fubfequent year, taking notice of the dreadful
hurricanes, and the aftonifhing vapours by which that
year became fo noted in meteorology. The emperor
Joieph, on examining this cabinet prefented Spallanzani
with a gold medal. In 1785, he was offered the chair
of natural hiftory by the univerfity of Padua, vacant by
the death of Anthony Vallifnieri ; but in older to pre¬
vent his acceptance of it, his fa 1 ary was doubled by the
archduke, and he went to Conftantinople with Cheva-
liei Zuliani, who had been appointed ambaffador from
the Venetian republic. He fet cut on the 21ft of Au-
guft, and reached the Turkifh metropolis on the nth of
Oflober, where he remained during eleven months.
Flis attention was fixed by the phyfkal and moral phe¬
nomena of this country, which were new even to Spal¬
lanzani. He ft rayed along the borders of the two leas,
and afeended the mountains in the vicinity ; he paid a
vifit to the ifland of Chalki, difeovering to the Turks a
copper mine, the exiftence of which they had never
once conjeClured. He difeovered an iron mine not far
from Conftantinople, in the ifland of Principi, of which
the Turks were equally ignorant, and prepared to re¬
turn for Italy on the 16th of Auguft 1786.
A voyage by fea was undoubtedly the fafeft, but the
dangers to which he would be expofed by land were re¬
garded as nothing when contrafted with the idea of be¬
ing beneficial to fcience and to man. Having reached
Buch a reft, Mauroceni the friend of fciei ce, received
Spallanzani with marks of diftin&ion, prefented him
with many rarities which the country produced, and
gave him horfes for travelling, with an efcort of 30
troopers, to the utmoft confines of his own dominions.
Our philofopher palled by Hermanftadt in Tranfylvania,
and reached Vienna on the 7111 of December, where he
rem?.ined during five days, and had two long confer¬
ences with the emperor Jofeph II. was much efteemed
by the nobility of that city, and refpedfully vifited by
many literary charaders. When he arrived at Pavia,
the ftudents went out of the city gates to meet him, and
teftified their joy at his return by repeated acclama¬
tions. He was almcft inftantly drawn to the auditory,
and compelled to afeend the chair from which he had
been accuftomed to deliver his fafdnating ledures ; but
their demonlrrations of joy and fliouts of applaufe made
him requeft of them to give over, and indulge him with
that
SPA
[ 547 1
SPA
Spi’hn- tliat repcfe In his own houfe which was now fo abfo-
zaw. lately necdlary. His ftudents this year exceeded 500.
“"-'V So extenfive was the larne of Spallanzani become by
this- time, that envy was determined, if poffible, to
wound his reputation. If his difcoveries were too new,
folid, and original, to be fuccefsfully difputed, that vile
paffion, or rather yfcW, began to queition his integrity
and uprightnefs refpehfing the adminilfration ol the ca¬
binet of Pavia j but this iniquitous aaempt to tarnifli
bis honour, only made it fhine forth tvith redoubled
fplendour. The juridical examination of the tribunals
made bis integrity appear even purer than before 5 and
it mutt be mentioned to his honour, that he had the
fortitude to forget this event; his enemies in general
confeffed their miftake, renounced their unprovoked ani-
molity, and Hill hoped to regain a friendlhip of which
they had proved themfelves fo unworthy.
In the voyage of Spallanzani we meet with what
may be denominated a new volcanology. YV e are
there inftrufted how to meafure the intcnfity of volca¬
nic fires, and in his analyfis of the lava, olmofl to touch
the particular gas which tears thofe torrents ol Hone in
fufion from the bowels of the earth, and raifes them to
the top of Mount Etna. This delightful work is clofed
by fame important enquiries into the nature of Swal¬
lows, the mildnefs of their difpofitions, the rapidity of
their flight, difcuffing the celebrated problem refpetting
their remaining torpid during the winter feafon, pro¬
ving that artificial cold, much more intenfe than v’hat
is ever naturally experienced in our climates, does not
reduce tbefe birds to the torpid (late.
Things apparently impoffible were often difcovered
by Spallanzani. In the year 1795 he made one of
this defcription, which he gave to the.world in his Let-
terc fopra ilfopetto d'un iiuovo fenfo nei Pippiftrelh. in
that work we are informed that bats, if deprived of
fight, aft with the fame precifion in every inftance as
thofe which have their eyes; that they fhun in the
fame manner the moft trivial obflaclcs, and alfo know
where to fix themfelves when their flight is terminated.
Several philofophers confirmed thefe aftonifliing experi¬
ments, from which a fufpicion arofe, that thefe animals
muft have a new' fenfe, as it appeared to Spallanzani
that the other known fenfes could not compenfate for
the want of fight ; but he was afterwards inclined to
think, in confequence of Profeflbr Jurine’s experiments
on the organ of hearing in bats, that in this particular
inftance the fenfe of hearing might pcffibly fupply the
want of fight.
The literary career of this celebrated naturalift w'as
terminated bv a letter to Giobert, entitled Scprn In pian'e
chmfe ne vaji dntro Papua e Par in, efpojie a Pimmcdi-
ata lume folare e a Ponibra. Thefe numerous works,
which met with the higheft approbation, do not com¬
prehend the whole of his multifarious labours; for the
phenomena of refpiration had occupied his attention a
confiderable time their points of refemblance and dif-
fimilitude in many fpecies of animals ; and he had near¬
ly finiftied his voyage to Conftantinople, as w'ell as col-
ledfed many valuable materials for a hiftory of the fea,
when his life and labours were unfortunately termina¬
ted.
He rvas feized with a retention of urine on the 4th of
February I799» an<^ next rooming was deprived of the
regular ufe ol his faculties, only enjoying a fountj tnind
during very fhort intervals. Tourdes and Profeffor
Scarpa did every thing to fave him, which could be pro¬
duced by the joint exertions of genius, experience, and
friendfhip, but in vain. He died on the lyd1? but we
know' not what credit is due to the i;ffertion, that he ,-
edified thofe around him during his lalt moments by his
pietij. Be that as it may, while his works exift to fpeak
for themfelves, impartial pofterity will regard him as a
very extraordinary man. Thefe works have been tranf-
lated into almoit every European language, and he was
admitted a member of the academies and learned focie-
ties of London, Stockholm, Gottingen, Holland, Lyons,
Bologna, Turin, Padua, Mantua, acd Geneva, and he
received from Frederick the Great the diploma of mem¬
ber of the academy of Berlin.
SPAN, a meafure taken from the (pace between the
thumb and the tip of the little finger when both are
ftretched out. The fpan is eftimated at three hand’s-
breadths or nine inches.
SPANDRELL, the folid wTork on each haunch of
an arch, to keep it from fpreading.
SPANHEIM, Ezekiel, a learned writer in the
17th century, was born at Geneva in 1629; and
in 1642 w'ent to Leyden to itudy. Here he diftin-
guifhed himfelf to great advantage ; and his repute Ion
fpreading, Charles Louis eleftor palatine fent for him
to be tutor to his only fon. This tafk our author dll-
charged to the entire fatisfaclion of the eleBor; by
whom he was alfo employed in diveis negotiations at
foreign courts. He afterwards entered into the fervice
of the elector of Brandenburg, who in 1680 fent him
envoy extraordinary to the court of France, and loon
after made him a minifter of ftate. After the peace of
Rvfw'ic, he was again fent on an embaffy to France
where he continued from the year 1697 to 1702. I he
eleftor of Brandenburg having during that interval af-
fumed the title of King of Prujfia, conferred on him the
title and dignity of a baron. In 1702 he left France ;
and w'ent ambaffador to England, where he had beSn
feveral times. Pitre he died in 1710, aged 81 years.
It is furprifing, that in difeharging the duties of a public
minifter with fo much exaftnefs, and amidft fo many
different journeys, he could find time enough to write
the i’everal books publiihed by him. It may be Pud of
him, that he acquitted himfelf in his negotiations like a
perfon who had nothing eife in his thoughts; and that
he wrote like a man who had fpent his whole time in his
ftudv. The principal of his works are, 1. De prof an tin
et itfu numifmatum antiquorum; the beft edition of
which is in two volumes folio. 2. Several letters or
differtations on fcarce and curious medals. 3. A pre¬
face and notes to the edition of the emperor Julian’s
works, printed at Leipfic in 1696* folio.
SPANIEL, in ’Zoology. See Canis, Mammalia,
Index.
SPAR, in Mineralogy, a name given chiefly to fome
of the cryftallized combinations of lime, as the carbonate
and the fluate •, the former being called fimply lime/par,
the latter fluor fpar, or Derfbyfhire fpar, from the name
of the place where it is found in greateft abundance.
See Mineralogy.
SPARGANIUM, Bur-reed, a genus of plants be¬
longing to the clafs of monoecia, and to the order of
triandria 5 and in the natural fyflem ranged under the
rid order, Calamarice. See Botany Index.
0 3 Z 2 SPARLING,
Spallan¬
zani
H
Sparga-
nium.
SPA
[ 548 ]
S P A
See Asparagus, Botany and
See Fluoric-Acid, Chemistry
The hiftory
of Sparta
moftly fa¬
bulous till
the time of
Lyeurgus.
Leonidas
undertakes
to defend
the ftraits
of rhermo-
pylae a-
gam it the
Perfians.
* Se* Ana-
charjis's
Travels,
vol. i.
p. 468.
SPARLING, or Spirting, a fmall fiflr belonging to
the genus Salmo. See Ichthyology, p. 99.
SPARMANNIA, a genus of plants belonging to
the clafs of polyandria, and to the order of monogynia.
See Botany Index.
SPARROW. See Fringilla, Ornithology In¬
dex.
SparROW-Hawk. See Falco, Ornithology In¬
dex.
SPARROW-Grafs.
Gardening Index.
SPARRY-acid.
Index.
SPARTA, or Lacedaemon, the capital of the
country of Laconia in Greece, an ancient and moft re¬
nowned Rate, the inhabitants of which have been in all
ages celebrated for the Angularity of their laws and cha-
vadler.—The hiflory of Sparta for many ages is entirely
fabulous j and the authentic accounts commence only
with the celebrated lawgiver Lycurgus, who flourilhed
about 870 B. C. See the article Lycurgus.
After his death, the firft important tranfaftion which
we find mentioned in the Spartan hiftory is the Meffe-
nian war, which commenced in the year 752 B. C. and
end<;d in the total redudlion of the Meffenian territory,
as related under the article Messenia. During this
period, according to fome authors, a great change took
place in the government of Sparta. This was the crea¬
tion of the ephori, which is afcribed to one of the kings
named Theopompus. This man perceiving that there
was a neceffity for leaving magiftrates to execute the
laws, when the kings were obliged to be in the field,
appointed the magiftrates above mentioned, who after¬
wards made fo great a figure in the ftate (fee Ephori).
One great privilege of the ephori was, that they did
not rife up at the prefence of the kings, as all other ma¬
giftrates did : another was, that if the kings offended
againft the laws, the ephori took cognizance of the of¬
fence, and inflidfed a fuitable punilhment. From the
firft eledlion of the ephori, the year was denominated,
as at Athens, from the firft election of the archons.
The conqueft of Mtffenia gave Sparta the fuperiority
over the reft of the dates, excepting only that of Athens,
which for a long time continued to be a very trouble-
fame rival : but the contefts between thefe two rival
ftates have been fo fully related under the article At¬
tica, that nothing more is requifite to be added in this
place.—In the time of the Perfian war, Leonidas the
Spartan king, diftinguilhed himfelf in fuch a manner, as
to become the admiration not only of that but of every
fucceding age. It being refolved in a general council
to defend the ftraits of Thermopylae againft the Per¬
fians, 7000 * foot were put under the command of Leo¬
nidas 5 of whom, however, only 300 were Spartans.
Leonidas did not think it practicable to defend the pafs
againft fuch multitudes as the Perfian king commanded^
and therefore privately told his friends, that his defign
was to devote himfelf to death for his country.
X rxes advancing near the ftraits, was ftrangely fur-
prifed to find that the Greeks were refolved to difpute
his paffage ; for he had always flattered himfelf, that on
his approach they would betake themfelves to flight,
and not attempt to oppofe his innumerable forces.
However, Xerxes ftill entertaining fome hopes of their
flight, waited four days without undertaking any thing, Sparta,
on purpofe to give them time to retreat. During this ”J
time, he ufed his utmoft endeavours to gain and corrupt pcr
Leonidas, promifing to make him mafter of all Greece flans re[A1j.
if he would come over to his intereft. His offers being fed with
rejedled with contempt and indignation, the king order- great
ed him by a herald to deliver up his arms. Leonidas, ^au£*lter*
in a ftyle and with a fpirit truly laconical, anfwered,
“ Come thyfelf, and take them.” Xerxes, at this re¬
ply, tranfported with rage, commanded the Medes and
Ciftians to march againft them, take them all alive, and
bring them to him in fetters. The Medes, not able to
Hand the ihock of the Greeks, foon betook themfelves
to flight : and in their room Hydarnes was ordered to
advance with that body which was called Immortal, and
conlifted of 10,000 chofen men j but when thefe came
to clofe with the Greeks, they lucceeded no better than
the Medes and Ciflians, being obliged to retire with
great {laughter. The next day the Perfians, refledling
on the fmall number of their enemies, and fuppofing fo
many of them to be wounded that they could not pof-
fibly maintain a fecond fight, refolved to make another
attempt 5 but could not by any efforts make the Greeks
give way : on the contrary, they were themfelves put
to a fhameful flight. The valour of the Greeks exert¬
ed itielf on this occafion in a manner fo extraordinary,
that Xerxes is faid to have three times leaped from his
throne, apprehending the entire deftrudlion of his army.
Xerxes having loft all hopes of forcing his way
through troops that were determined to conquer or die,
was extremely perplexed and doubtful what meafures he
Ihould take in this pofture of affairs} when one Epialtes,
in expectation of a great reward, came to him, and dif- ^
covered a fecret pafi'age to the top of the hill which They are
overlooked and commanded the Spartan forces. The frown a
king immediately ordered Hydarnes thither with his fe. ^ay
left body of 10,000 Perfians } who marching all night,
arrived at break of day, and poffeffed tbemfelves of that the Greeks,
advantageous poft. The Phocaeans, who defended this
pafs, being overpowered by the enemy’s numbers, re¬
tired with precipitation to the very top of the mountain,
prepared to die gallantly. But Hydarnes neglefting to
purfue them, marched down the mountain with all pof-
fible expedition, in order to attack thofe who defended
the ftraits in the rear. Leonidas being now apprifed
that it was impoffible to bear up againit the enemy,
obliged the reft of his allies to retire : but he ftaid him¬
felf, with the Thefpians, Thebans, and 300 Lacedemo¬
nians, all refolved to die with their leader ; who being
told by the oracle, that either Sparta ihould be deftroy-
ed or the king lofe his life, determined without the leaft
hefitation to facrifice himfelf for his country. The
Thebans indeed remained againft their inclination, be¬
ing detained by Leonidas as hoftages ; for they were fu-
fpefted to favour the Perfians. The Thefpians, with
their leader Demophilus, could not by any means be
prevailed upon to abandon Leonidas and the Spartans.
The augur Megiftias, who Lad foretold the event of
this enterprife, being preffed by Leonidas to retire, fent
home his only fon ; but remained himfelf, and died by
Leonidas. Thofe who ftaid did not feed themfelves with
any hopes of conquering or efcaping, but looked upon
Thermopylae as their graves \ and when Leonidas, ex¬
horting them to take fome nouriftnnent, faid, that they
ihould
SPA [ 549 ] SPA
Sparta, lliould all fup together with Pluto, with one accord they
' v fet up a fhout of joy, as if they had been invited to a
banquet.
Xerxes, after pouring out a libation at the riling of
5 the fun, began to move with the whole body of his ar-
LeonulaSth my} as lle been advifed by Epialtes. Upon their
an his'men. approach, Leonidas advanced to the broadeft part of
the paffagc, and fell upon the enemy with fuch undaunt¬
ed courage and refolution, that the Perfian officers were
obliged to Hand behind the divilions they commanded,
in order to prevent the flight of their men. Great num¬
bers of the enemy falling into the fea, were drowned j
others were trampled under foot by their own men, and
a great many killed by the Greeks j who knowing they
could not avoid death upon the arrival of thofe who
were advancing to fall upon their rear, exerted their
utmoft efforts. In this aftion fell the brave Leonidas •,
which Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, two of the bro¬
thers of Xerxes, obferving, advanced with great refolu¬
tion to feize his body, and carry it in triumph to Xerxes.
But the Lacedemonians, more eager to defend it than
their own lives, repulfed the enemy four times, killed
both the brothers of Xerxes, with many other command¬
ers of diflinftion, and refeued the body of their beloved
general out of the enemy’s hands. But in the mean
time, the army that was led by the treacherous Epialtes,
advancing to attack their rear, they retired to the nar¬
rowed; place of the paffage, and drawing all together
except the Thebans, potted themfelves on a rifing ground-
in this place they made head againtt the Peitians, who
poured in upon them on all tides, till at length, not
vanquiffied, but oppreffed and overwhelmed by numbers,
they all fell, except one who efcaped to Sparta, where
he was treated as a coward and traitor to his country ;
but afterwards made a glorious reparation in the battle
of Platsea, where he diftinguiffied himfelf in an extraor¬
dinary manner. Some time after, a magnificent monu¬
ment was erefted at Thermopylae, in honour of thofe
brave defenders of Greece, with two inferiptions; the
one general, and relating to all thofe who died on this
occalion, importing, that the Greeks of Peloponnefus,
to the number only of 4000, made head againft the Per¬
fian army, conffiling of 3,000,000. The other related
to the Spartans in particular, and was compofed by the
poet Simonides, to this purport : “ Go, paffenger, and
acquaint the Spartans that we died here in obedience to
their juft commands.” At thofe tombs a funeral oration
was yearly pronounced in honour of the dead heroes, and
public games performed with great folemnity, wherein
none but the Lacedemonians and Thefpians had any
ffiare, to (how that they alone were concerned in the
glorious defence of Thermopylse.
6 At the end of the 77th Olympiad, a moft dreadful
euVhqiuke earthquake happened at Sparta, in which, according to
in Sparta. Diodorus, 20,000 perfons loft their lives ; and Plutarch
tells us, that only five houfes were left {landing in the
whole city. On this occafion the Hcloles or flaves,
whom the Spartans had all along treated with the ut¬
moft cruelty, attempted to revenge themfelves, by ta¬
king up arms, and marching diredlly to the ruins of the
city, in hopes of cutting off at once thofe who had efca¬
ped from the earthquake. But in this they were pre¬
vented by the prudence cf the Spartan king Archida-
mus • for he, obferving that the citizens were more de-
firous of preferring their effects than taking care of
their own lives, caufed an alarm to be founded, as if he Sparta,
had known that an enemy was at hand. On this the '~v
citizens armed themfelves in hafte with fuch weapons
as they could come at 5 and having marched a little
way from the city, met the Helotes, whom they foon
compelled to retire. The latter, however, knowing 7
that they had now no mercy to expedl from thofe who^ar^^1
had alreaty treated them with fuch cruelty, refolved totes_
defend themfelves to the laft. Having therefore feized
a fea-port town in Meffenia, they from thence made
fuch incurfions into the Spartan territories, that they
compelled thofe imperious mafters to afk affifthnee from
the Athenians. This was immediately granted ; but
when the Spartans favv that the fkill of the Athenians
in befieging towns was much greater than their own,
they became jealous, and difmiffed their allies, telling
them, that they had now no farther occafion for their
fervices. On this the Athenians left them in difguft j
and as the Helotes and Meffenians did not choofe to
come to an engagement with a Spartan army in the
field, but took {belter in their fortified places, the war
was protradled for ten years and upwards. At laft the
Helotes were reduced to their former mifery •, and the
Meffenians were obliged to leave Peloponnefus, on pain
of being made flaves alfo. Thefe poor people were
then received by the Athenians, who granted them-
Naupaflus for their refidence, and afterwards brought
them back to a part of their own country, from xvhence
in the courfe of the Peloponnefian war they had driven
the Spartans. <,
In the year 431 B. C. the Peloponnefian war com-with the
menced ; of which a full account has been given under Athenians
the article Attica, N° 116—165. It ended mofl un-and
fortunately for the Athenians ; their city being taken ians‘
and difmantled, as related in the article above mention¬
ed. Thus were the Spartans railed to the higheft pitch
of glory ’■> and, in the reign of Agefilaus, they feemed
to be on the point of fubverting the Perfian empire, as
related under the article Persia, N° 34. But here
their good fortune and their views of empire were fud-
denly checked. Agefilaus had carried on the war in
Afia with the greateft fuccefs •, and as he would heark¬
en to no terms of accommodation, a Perfian governor
named Tithrauflcs, having firft attempted in vain to
bribe the king, difpatched Timocrates the Rhodian with
qo talents into Greece, in order to try whether he could
there meet with any perfons lefs incorruptible than the
Spartan monarch. This agent found many who inclined
to accept his offers ; particularly in Thebes, Corinth,,
and Argos. By diftributing the money in a proper
manner, he inflamed the inhabitants of thefe three cities 9
againft the Spartans j and of all others the Thebans A general
came into his terms with the greateft readinefs. They c.ornbir‘a:
faw that their antagonifts would not of their own ac-
cord break with any of the ftates of Greece, and did
not choofe to begin the war themfelves, becaufe the
chiefs of the Perfian fatlion were unwilling to be ac¬
countable for the event. For this reafon they perfua-
ded the Locrians to invade a fmall diftricl which lay in
difpute betwixt the Phocians and themfelves. On this
the Phocians invaded Locris •, the Locrians applied to
the Thebans, and the Phocians to the Spartans. The
latter were glad of an opportunity of breaking with the
Thebans ; but met with a much warmer reception than
they expected. Their old general Lyfander, who had
reduced
S P A [ 5.
tAu't:‘“ reduced Athens, was defeated and killed, with the lofs
of xooo men : on which difafter AgeGlaus was recalled,
and obliged to relinquilh all hopes of conquering the
Perfians. His return changed the fortune of the war
fo much, that all the Hates began to grow weary of a
l0 conteft from which nobody derived any advantage ex-
Feace of cept the king of Perfia. In a ftxort time a treaty was
Antaleidas. concluded, known in hiitory by the name of the peace
of dntalcidas. The terms of this treaty were highly
* See For- difad van tageous and difhonourable to the Greeks * ; for
I*a> n° 37- even the Spartans, though fuccefsful in Greece, had
loH a great battle at fea with the Perfian fleet under
Conon the Athenian, which entirely broke their power
in Alia.
.By the peace of i^ntalcidas, the government of Boe-
otia wras taken from the Thebans, which they had for
a long time enjoyed ; and by this they were fo much
provoked, that at firfl: they abfolutely refufed to accede
to the treaty *, but as Agefilaus made great preparations
it to invade them, they thought proper at laft to comply.
Hoftiiities However, it was not long before a new war commenced,
rw ii./neu- which threatened the total fubverfion of tbe Spartan
Hate. As, by the peace of Autalcidas, the king of
Perfia had in a manner guaranteed the fovereignty of
Greece to Sparta, this republic very foon began to ex-
ercife its power to the utmofl extent. The Mantineans
were the firfl: who felt the weight of their refentment,
although they had been their allies and confederates.
In order to have a pretence for making war againfl:
them, they commanded them to quit their city, and to
retire into five old villages which, they faid, had ferved
their forefathers, and where they would live in peace
themfelves, and give no umbrage to their neighbours.
This being refufed, an army was fent againfl them to
befiege their city. The fiege was continued through
the fummer with very little fuccefs on the part of the
Spartans ; but having during the winter feafon dammed
up the river on which the city flood, the water rofe to
fuch a height, as either to overflow or throw down
the houfes ; which compelled the Mantineans to fubmit
to the terms prefcribed to them, and to retire into the
old villages. The Spartan vengeance fell next on the
Pnliafians and Olynthians, whom they forced to come
into fuch meafures as they thought proper. After this
they fell on the Thebans, and, by attempting to feize
on the Pireeum, drew the Athenians alfo into the quar¬
rel. But here their career was flopped : the Thebans
had been taught the art of war by Chabrias the Athe¬
nian •, fo that even Agefilaus himfelf took the command
12 of the Spartan army in vain. At fea they were de-
The power feated by Timotheus the fon of Conon j and by land
entwly* l^e. battle of Leuftra put an end to the fuperiority
fcrokeu. rvhich Sparta had held over Greece for near 500 years.
See Leuctra.
After this dreadful defeat, the Spartans bad occafion
to exert all their courage and refolution. The women
and nearefl relations oF thofe who were killed in battle,
infiead of fpending their time in lamentations, (hook
each other bv the hand, while the relations of thofe
who had efcaped from the battle hid themfelves among
the women j or if they were obliged to go abroad, they
appeared in tattered clothes, with their arms folded, and
their eyes fixed on the ground. It was a law among
the Snartans, that fuch as fled from battle fhould be de¬
graded from their honours, Ihould be conftiained to ap-
3
<5 .1 SPA
pear in garments patched with divers colours, to wear Spaita.
their beards half-Ihaved, and to luffer any to beat them ’’*~"~v  *
who pleaied, without refinance. At prefent, however,
this law' was difpenled with ; and Ageiilaus by his pru¬
dent conduct kept up the fpirits ot the people, at the
lame time that by his fkill in military affairs he checked
the progrefs of the enemy. Yet, during the lifetime of
Epaminondas the Theban general, the war went on
greatly to the difadvantage of the Spartans; but he be-
ing killed at the battle of Mantinea, all parties became
quickly defirous of peace. Agefilaus did not long fur-
vive ; and with him, we may fay, perilled the glory of
Sparta. Soon after this all the Hates of Greece fell
under the power of Alexander the Great 5 and the
Spartans, as well as the red, having become corrupt,
and loll their martial fpirit, became a prey to domeltic
tyrants, and to foreign invaders. They maintained
their ground, however, with great refolution againfl the
celebrated Pyrrhus king of Epirus j whom they repul-
fed for three days fucceflively, though not without af-
fiflance from one of the captains of Antigonus. Soon
after this, one of the kings of Sparta named per¬
ceiving the univerfal degeneracy that had taken place,
made an attempt to reflore the laws and difeipline of
Lycurgus, by which he fuppofed the Hate would be re-
flored to its former glory. But though at firfl he met AgisVrd
with fome appearance of fuccefs, he was in a fhort time Clfomenes
tried and condemned by the ephoxi as a traitor to hisat,emPti»
country. Cleomenes, however, who afeended the throne v‘u" t0 re*
in 216 B. C. accompliflied the reformation which Agis!t°reit'
had attempted in vain. He fupprefied the ephori 5 can¬
celled all debts; divided the lands equally, as they had
been in the time of Lycurgus ; and put an end to the
luxury which prevailed among the citizens. But at lafl
he was overborne by the number of enemies which fur-
rounded him •, and being defeated in battle by Anti¬
gonus, he fled to Egypt, where he put an end to his
own life. With him periflied every hope of retrieving
the affairs of Sparta : the city for the prefent fell into
the hands of Antigonus 5 after which a fucceffion of ty¬
rants took place 5 till at laft all difturbances w>ere ended
by the Romans, who reduced Macedon and Greece
to provinces of their empire, as has been related under
thefe articles. ' ^
It remains now only to fay fomething concerning the Inftitutioris
charafter, manners, and cufloms of the Spartans, which, of Ljcur-
as they w'ere founded on the laws of Lycurgus, may £us<
beft be learned from a view of thefe laws. ^
The inflitutions of Lycurgus were divided into 1 2 His laws
tables. The firft comprehended fuch of the Spartan concrining
laws as regarded religion. The ftatues of all the gods reil&ton*
and goddeffes were reprefented in armour, even to Ve¬
nus herfelf; the reafon of which was, that the people
might conceive a military life the moft noble and ho¬
nourable, and not attribute, as other nations did, floth
and luxury to the gods. As to facrifices, they confift-
ed of things of very fmall value ; for which Lycurgus
himfelf gave this reafon, That w'ant might never hinder
them from worfhipping the gods. They wTere forbidden
to make long or rafh prayers to the heavenly powers,
and w'ere injoined to afk no more than that they might
live honeftly and difeharge their duty. Graves were
permitted to be made within the bounds of the city,
contrary to the cuflom of moft of the Greek nations j
nay, they buried clofe by their temples, that all degrees
S P A
[ 551 ]
SPA
Sparta.
i5
Concernin*
the divifion
oi land.
T7 .
Of the citi¬
zens chil¬
dren, 8tc.
of people might be made familiar with death, and not
' conceive it Rich a dreadful thing as it was generally
tdeemed elfewhere : on the fame account, the touching
dead bodies, or affitling at funerals, made none unclean,
but were held to be as innocent and honourable duties
as any other. There was nothing thrown into the
grave with the dead body ; magnideent fepulchres were
forbidden 3 neither was there fo much as an infeription,
however plain or modeft, permitted. Tears, fighs, out¬
cries, were not allowed in public, becaufe they were
thought diihonourable in Spartans, whom their lawgiver
would have to bear all things with equanimity. Mourn¬
ing wTas limited to u days 3 on the 1 2th the mourner
facrificed to Ceres, and threw afide his weeds. In fa¬
vour of Such as were fiain in the wars, however, and of
women who devoted themfclves to a religious life, there
was an exception allowed as to the rules before mention¬
ed 3 for fuch had a fhort and decent infeription on their
tombs. When a number of Spartans fell in battle, at
a didance from their country, many of them were bu¬
ried together under one common tomb 3 but if they fell
on the frontiers of their own date, then their bodies
were carefully carried back to Sparta, and interred in
their family fepulchres.
II. Lycurgus divided all the country of Laconia in¬
to 30,000 equal {hares : the city of Sparta he divided
into 9000, as fame fay 3 into 6000, as others fay 3 and
as a third party will have it, into 4500. The intent of
the legiflator was, that property ihould be equally di¬
vided among his citizens, fo that?1 none might be power¬
ful enough to opprefs his fellows, or any be in fuch ne-
ceffity, as to be therefrom in danger of corruption.
With the fame view he forbade the buying or felling
thefe poffeiTions. If a flranger acquired a right to any
of thefe fhares, he might quietly enjoy it, provided he
fubmitted to the laws of the republic. The city of
Sparta was unwalled 3 Lycurgus trufting it rather to
the virtue of its citizens than to the art of mafons. As
to the houfes, they were very plain 3 for their ceilings
could only be wrought by the axe, and their gates and
doors only by the faw 3 and their utentils were to be
of a like ftamp, that luxury might have no inftruments
among them.
III. The citizens were to be neither more nor lefs
than the number of city lots 3 and if at any time thefe
happened to be more, they were to be led out in co¬
lonies. As to children, their laws were equally barfh
and unreafonable 3 for a father was direfled to carry his
new-born infant to a certain place, where the graved:
men of his tribe looked upon the infant ; and if they
perceived its limbs liraight, and thought it had a whole-
fume look, they then returned it to its parents to be
educated 3 otherwij? it was thrown into a deep ca¬
vern at the foot of the mountain Taygelus. This law
feems to have had one very good effect, viz. making
women very careful, when they w’ere with child, of ei¬
ther eating, drinking, or exercifing, to excefs: it made
them alfo excellent nurfes 3 for which they were in
mighty requefl throughout Greece. Strangers were
not allowed to refide long in the city, that they might
not corrupt the Spartans by teaching them new cuf-
toms. Citizens were alfo forbidden to travel, for the
fame reafon, unlefs the good of the date required it.
Such as were not bred up in their youth according to
the law, were not allowed the liberty of the city, be¬
caufe they held it unreafonable, that one who had not Sparta,
fubmitted to the laws in his youth fhculd receive the be-1-—v—**'
nefit of them when a man. They never preferred any
ftranger to a public office 3 but if at any time they had
cccaiion for a perfon not born a Spartan, they firft made
him a citizen, and then preferred him. jg
IV. Celibacy in men was infamous, and puniffied in of celibacy
a moil extraordinary manner 3 for the old bachelor wasandmar-
conftrained to walk naked, in the depth of winter,riage.
through the market place : while he did this, he was
obliged to fing a fong in difparagement of himfelf 3 and
he had none of the honours paid him which otherwife
belonged to old age, it being held unreafonable, that
the youth ihould venerate him who was refolved to
leave none of his progeny behind him, to revere them
when they grew old in their turn. The time of mar¬
riage was alio fixed 3 and if a man did not marry when
he was of full age, he wTas liable to an action ; as tvere
fuch alfo as married’above or below themfelves. Such
as had three children had great immunities 3 fuch as had
four were free from all taxes whatfoever. Virgins were
married without portions 3 becaufe neither w’ant fhculd
hinder a man, nor riches induce him, to marry contrary
to his inclinations. When a marriage was agreed on,
the huffiand committed a kind of rape upon his bride.
Huffiands went for a long time, fecretly and by Health,
to the beds of their wives, that their love might not
be quickly and eafily extinguished. Huffiands were
allowed to lend their wives 3 but the kings were
forbidden to take this liberty. Some other law's of the
like nature there u'ere, which as they were evidently
again It modefty, fo they were far from producing the
end for which Lycurgus defigned them 3 fince, though
the men of Sparta were generally remarkable for their
virtue, the Spartan women were as generally decried for
their boldnefs and contempt of decency.
V. It was the care of Lycurgus, that, fiom their
very birffi, the Lacedemonians ihoukl be inured tooptlieir"
conquer their appetites: for this reafon he dire6I-childrear
ed, that nurfes ffiould accuftcm their children to
fpare meals, and now' and then to failing 3 that they
ffiould carry them, when 12 or 13 years old, to thofe
who ffiould examine their education, and wrho ffiould
carefully obferve whether they were able to be in the
dark alone, and whether they had got over all other
follies and weakneffes incident to children. He direfl-
ed, that children of all ranks ffiould be brought up in
the fame way ; and that none ffiould be more favoured
in food than another, that they might not, even in their
infancy, perceive any difference between poverty and
riches, but confider each other as equals, and even as
brethren, to whom the fame portions were affigned,
and who, through the courfe of their lives, were to fare
alike : the youths alone were allowed to eat fielh : older
men ate their black broth and pul!e 3 the lads ilept to¬
gether in chambers, and after a manner fomewhat re-
fembling that Hill in ufe in Turkey for the Janizaries :
their beds, in the fummer, were very hard, being com-
pofed of the reeds plucked by the hand from the banks
of the Eurotas: in winter their beds were fofter, but
by no means downy, or fit to indulge immoderate deep.
They ate altogether in public 3 and in cafe any abfiain-
ed from coming to the tables, they were fined. It rvas
likewife ftriftly forbidden for any to eat or drink at .
home before they came to the common meal 3 even then
each: *
Sparta.
20
Of the ir
diet, cloth
ing, Sic.
SPA [55
( eac^ his proper portion, that every thing might be
done there with gravity and decency. The black broth
was the great rarity of the Spartans, which was com-
poied of fait, vinegar, blood, &x. fo that, in our times,
it would be efteemed a very unfavoury foup. If they
were moderate in their eating, they were fo in their
drinking alfo ; third was the foie meafure thereof; and
never any Lacedemonian thought of drinking for plea-
fure : as for drunkennefs, it was both infamous and fe-
verely punifhed 5 and, that young men might perceive
the reafon, haves were compelled to drink to excefs, that
the beaftlinefs of the vice might appear. When they
retired from the public meal, they were not allowed any
torches or lights, becaufe it was expe&ed, that men
who were perfeftly fober Ihould be able to find their
way in the dark : and, befides, it gave them a facility
of marching without light ) a thing wonderfully ufeful
to them in time of war.
VI. As the poor ate as well as the rich, fo the rich
could wear nothing better than the poor : they neither
changed their faihion nor the materials of their gar¬
ments ; they were made for warmth and ftrength, not
for gallantry and (how : and to this cufiom even their
kings conformed, who wore nothing gaudy in light of
their dignity, but were contented that their virtue
Ihould diltinguilh them rather than their clothes. The
youths wore a tunic till they were twelve years old ; af¬
terwards they had a cloak given them, which was to
ferve them a year : and their clothing was, in general,
fo thin, that a Lacedemonian veil became proverbial.
Hoys were always ufed to go without Ihoes ; but when
they grew up, they were indulged with them, if the man¬
ner of life they led required it; but they were always
inured to run without them, as alfo to climb up and
Hip down keep places with bare feet : nay, the very
Ihoe they ufed was of a particular form, plain and
iirong. Boys were not permitted to wear their hair ;
but when they arrived at the age of twenty, they fuf-
fered their hair and beard to grow. Baths and anoint¬
ing were not much in ufe among the Lacedemonians 5
the river Eurotas fupplied the former, and exercife the
latter. In the field, however, their fumptuary laws did
not take place fo flri&ly as in the city •, for when they
went to war, they wore purple habits ; they put on
crowns when they were about to engage the enemy j
they had alfo rings, but they were of iron 5 which me¬
tal was moft efteemed by this nation. Young women
wore their vefts or jerkins only to their knees, or, as
iome think, not quite fo low •, a cuftom which both
Greek and Roman authors cenfure as indecent. Gold,
precious ftones, and other coftly ornaments, were per¬
mitted only to common women 3 which permiflion was
the ftrongeft prohibition to women of virtue, or who af-
feifted to be thought virtuous. Virgins went abroad
without veils, with whigh married women, on the con¬
trary were always covered. In certain public exercifes,
in which girls were admitted as well as boys, they were
both obliged to perform naked. Plutarch apologifes
for this cuftom, urging, that there could be no danger
from nakednefs to the morals of youth whofe minds
were fortified and habituated to virtue. One of Ly-
cijrgus’s principal views in his inftitutions, was to era¬
dicate the very feeds of civil diffenfion in his republic.
Hence proceeded the equal divifion of eftates injoined
by him 3 hence the contempt of wealth, and the negle6t
4
2 ] SPA
of other diftin&Ions, as particularly birth, he confider- Sparta,
ing the people of his whole ftate as one great family 3
diliin61ions which, in other commonwealths, frequently
produce tumults and confufions that fhake their very
foundation. 2I
VII. J hough the Spartans were always free, yet it Obedience
was with this reftnfhon, that they were fubfervient to ':o fu*
their own laws, which bound them as ftriffly in the city Penors'
as foldiers, in other ftates, were bound by the rules of
war in the camp. In the firft place, ftrift obedience to
their fuperiors was the great thing required in Sparta.
I his they looked upon as the very balls of government 3
without which neither laws nor magiftrates availed much.
Old age was an indubitable title to honour in Sparta :
to the old men the youth rofe up whenever they came
into any public place ; they gave way to them when
they met them in the ftreets, and were filent whenever
their elders fpeke. As all children were looked upon
as the children of the ftate, fo all the old men had the
authority of parents : they reprehended whatever they
faw amifs, not only in their own, but in other people’s
children: and by this method Lycurgus provided, that
as youth are everywhere apt to offend, they might be
nowhere without a monitor. The laws went Hill fur¬
ther : if an old man was prefent where a young one
committed a fault, and did not reprove him, he was
punilhed equally with the delinquent. Amongft the
youths there was one of their own body, or at moft
two years older than the reft, who was ftyled iren: he
had authority to queftion all their adtions, to look
ftridtly to their behaviour, and to punilh them if they
did amifs 3 neither were their punifhments light, but,
on the contrary, very fevere 3 whereby the youth were
made hardy, and accuftomed to bear ftripes and rough
ufage. Silence was a thing highly commended at Spar¬
ta, where modefty was held to be a moft becoming vir¬
tue in young people 3 nor was it reftrained only to their
words and adtions, but to their very looks and geftures 3
Lycurgus having particularly diredted, that they Ihould
look forward, or on the ground, and that they Ihould
always keep their hands within their robes. A ftupid
inconliderate perfon, one who would not liften to in-
ftrudtion, but was carelefs of whatever the world might /
fay of him, the Lacedemonians treated as a fcandgl to
human nature 3 with fuch a one they would not con-
verfe, but threw him off as a rotten-branch and worth-
lefs member of fociety.
VIII. The plainnefs of their manners, and their be-Learn;Rr,
ing )o very much addidted to war, made the Lacede¬
monians lefs fond of the fciences than the reft of the
Greeks. A foldier was the only reputable profeflion
in Sparta 3 a mechanic or hulhandman was thought a
low fellow. The reafon of this was, that they imagi¬
ned profeflions which required much labour, fome con-
ftant pofture, being continually in the houfe, or always
about a fire, weakened the body and depreffed the
mind : whereas a man brought up hardily, was equally
fit to attend the fervice of the republic in time of
peace, and to fight its battles when engaged in war.
Such occupations as were neceffary to be followed for
the benefit of the whole, ns hufbandry, agriculture,
and the like, were left to their flaves the Helotes 3 but
for curious arts, and fuch as ferved only to luxury, they
would not fo much as fuffer them to be introduced in
their city 3 in confequence of which, rhetoricians, au-
gurs,
SPA
Sparta, gurs, bankers, and dealers in money, were fhut out.
U~,_v ' The Spartans admitted not any of the theatrical diver-
lions among them ; they would not bear the reprefen-
tation of evil even to produce good •, but other kinds
of poetry were admitted, provided the magiftrates had
the perufal of pieces before they were handed to the
public.
Above all things, they affefted brevity of fpeech,
and accuftomed their children, from their very infancy,
never to exprefs themfelves in more words than were
llriiffly neceffary ; whence a conciie and fententious ora¬
tory is to this day tlyled Laconic. In writing they ufed
the fame concifenefs; of which we have a lignal intlance
in a letter of Archidamus to the Eleans, when he un-
derftood that they had fome thoughts of afliiling the
Arcadians. It ran thus: “ Archidamus to the Eleans:
It is good to be quiet.” And therefore Epaminondas
thought that he had reafon to glory in having forced
the Spartans to abandon their monofyllables, and to
lengthen their difcourfes.
The greateft part of their education confided in gi¬
ving their youth right ideas of men and things : the
iren or matter propofed queftions, and either commend¬
ed the anfwers that were made him, or reproved iuch
as anfwered weakly. In thefe queftions, all matters,
either of a trivial or abftrufe nature, were equally avoid¬
ed j and they were confined to fuch points as were of
the higheft importance in civil life ; fuch as, Who was
the belt man in the city ? wherein lay the merit of
fuch an aftion ? and, Whether this or that hero’s fame
was well-founded ? Harmlefs raillery was greatly en¬
couraged •, and this, joined to their Ihort manner of
fpeaking, rendered laconip replies univerfally admired.
Mufic was much encouraged; but in this, as in other
things, they adhered to that which had been in favour
with their anceftors ; nay, they were fo ttrift therein,
that they would not permit their flaves to learn either
the tune or the words of their moft admired odes ; or,
which is all one, they wmuld not permit them to fing
them if they had leamed them. Though the youth of
the male fex were much cherilhed and beloved, as thofe
that were to build up and continue the future glory of
the ftate, yet in Sparta it was a virtuous and modeft af-
feftion, untinged with that fenfuality which was fo
fcandalous at Athens. The good effedls of this part of
Lycurgus’s inftitutions wTere feen in the union that
reigned among his citizens; and which was io extra¬
ordinary, that even in cafes of competition, it was hard¬
ly known that rivals bore ill-will to each other ; but,
on the contrary, their love to the fame perfon begat a
fecondary friendfhip among themfelves, and united them
in all things which might be for the benefit of the per¬
fon beloved.
Some authors have accufed this great lawgiver of en¬
couraging theft in his inftitutions ; which, they lay,
was not held fcandalous among the Spartans, if it were
fo dexterqufly managed as that the perfon was not de-
tefted in it. Eut this is certain, and feems to be a
ttrong contradidlion of the heinous charge, that when a
theft was difcovered, it was punilhed with the utmoif
feverity : a perfon even fufpected of it would endure
the heaviell punilhments rather than acknowledge it,
2. and be branded with fo bafe a crime.
Exercifes. IX. The exercifes inftituted by law fall under the
ninth table. In thefe all the Greeks w'ere extremely
Voi.. XIX. Part II.
SPA
careful, but the Lacedemonians in a degree beyond Sparta,
the reft ; for if a youth, by his corpulence, or any 1 ~v~“
other means, became unfit for thefe exercifes, he under¬
went public contempt at leaft, if not banifhment.—
Hunting was the ufual diverfion of their children ; nay,
it was made a part of their education, becaufe it had
a tendency to {Lengthen their limbs, and to render
thofe who pradlifed it fupple and fleet: they likewife
bred up dogs for hunting with great care. They had
a kind of public dances, in which they exceedingly de¬
lighted, and which were common alike to virgins and
young men : indeed, in all their fports, girls were allow¬
ed to divert themfelves with the youths : infomuch,
that, at darting, throwing the quoit, pitching the bar,
and fuch like robuft diverfions, the women were as dex¬
terous as the men. For the manifeft oddity of this pro¬
ceeding, Lycurgus affigned no other reafon, than that he
fought to render women, as wTell as men, ftrong and
healthy, that the children they brought forth might be
fo too. Violent exercifes, and a laborious kind oi life,
w'ere only enjoined the youth 5 for when they w’ere
grown up to men’s eftate, that is, w'ere upwards of 30
years old, they w'ere exempted from all kinds of labour,
and employed themfelves wholly either in aftairs of ftate
or in wrar. They had a method of whipping, at a cer¬
tain time, young men in the temple of Diana, and about
her altar ; which, however palliated, was certainly un¬
natural and cruel. It w'as efteemed a great honour
to fuftain thefe flagellations without weeping, groan¬
ing, or fhow'ing any fenfe of pain ; and the thirft of
glory wras fo ftrong in thefe young minds, that they
very frequently fuffered death without (hedding a tear
or breathing a figh. A defire of overcoming all the
weaknefles of human nature, and thereby rendering his
Spartans not only fuperior to their neighbours, but to
their fpecies, runs through many of the inftitutions of
Lycurgus 5 which principle, if well attended to, tho¬
roughly explains them, and without attending to wdiich
it is impoflible to give any account of them at all.
X. Gold and filver wrere, by the conftitutions of Money,
Lycurgus, made of no value in Sparta. He wras fo Ne¬
well apprized of the danger of riches, that he made the
very pofleffion of them venal ; but as there was no li¬
ving without fome fort of money, that is, fome common
meafure or ftandard of the worth of things, he diredl-
ed an iron coinage, whereby the Spartans w'ere fup-
plied with the ufeful money, and at the fame time had
no temptation to covetoulnefs afforded them \ for a very
fmall fum wras fuffleient to load a couple of horfes, and
a great one muft have been kept in a barn or warehoufe.
The introdudlion of all foreign money was alfo prohibited,
that corruption might not enter under the name of com¬
merce. The moft ancient method of dealing, viz. by
barter, or exchange of one commodity for another, was
preferved by lawr in Sparta long after it had gone into
difufe everywhere elfe. Intereft was a thing forbidden in
the Spartan commonw'ealth ; where they had alfo a law
againft alienation of lands, accepting prefents from fo¬
reigners, even without the limits of their own country,
and when their authority and charafter might well feem
to excufe them. 25
XI. Such of the laws of Sparta as related to courts of p0,,.rts
juftice maybe brought under the nth table. Thirty iu^ice*
years muft have paffed over the head of him who had
a right to concern himfelf in juridical proceedings.
4 A Young
[ 553 1
SPA [ 554 ] SPA
^ Sparta. Young men were thought unfit for them ; and it was
v—even indecent, ^nd of ill report, for a man to
have any fondnefs for law-fuits, or to be bufying him-
felf at the tribunals, when he had no affairs there of
his own. By thefe rules Lycurgus thought to fhut
out litigioufnefs, and to prevent that multiplicity of
luits w'hich is always fcandalous in a date. As young
people were not permitted to inquire about the laws
of other countries, and as they were hindered from
hearing judicial proceedings in their courts, fo they
■were likewife forbidden,to afk any queftions about, or
to endeavour to difcover, the reafons of the laws by
wrhich themfelves were governed. Obedience w-as their
duty ; and to that alone they would have them kept.
Men of abandoned characters, or who were notorioufly
of ill fame, loft all right of giving their votes in refpeCt
of public affairs, or of fpeaking in public affemblies j
for they would not believe that an ill man in private
life could mean his country better than he did his neigh-
26 hour.
Military XII. Till a man was 30 years old, he was not ca-
fervicc. pable of ferving in the army, as the beft authors agree $
though fome think that the military age is not well
afcertained by ancient writers. They wrere forbidden
to march at any time before the full-moon 5 the rea-
fon of w'hich law is very hard to be difcovered, if in¬
deed it had any rsafon at all, or was not rather founded
on fome fuperftitious opinion, that this w7as a more
lucky conjuncture than any other. They were like¬
wife forbidden to fight often againft the fame enemy j
which was one of the wifelt maxims in the political
fyftem of Lycurgus : and Agefilaus, by offending a-
gainft it, deftroyed the power of his country, and loft
her that authority which for many ages fhe maintain¬
ed over the reft of Greece ; for, by continually war-
ring againft the Thebans, to whom he had an invete¬
rate hatred, he at laft beat them into the knowledge
of the art of war, and enabled them, under the com¬
mand of Epaminondas, to maintain for a time the prin¬
cipality of Greece. Maritime affairs they w’ere forbid¬
den to meddle with, though the neceflity of things com¬
pelled them, in procefs of time, to tranfgrefs this inftitu-
tion, and by degrees to transfer to themfelves the domi¬
nion of the fea as well as of the land : but, after the Pe-
loponnefian war, they again negleCIed naval affairs from
a perfuafion that failors and ftrangers corrupted thofe
with whom they converfed. As they never fortified
Sparta, they were not ready to undertake fieges: fight¬
ing in the field was their proper province, and, while
they could overcome their enemies there, they rightly
conceived that nothing could hurt them at home. In
lime of war they relaxed fomewhat of their ftrift man¬
ner of living, in which they were lingular. The true
reafon for this was, in all probability, that wTar might
be lefs burdenfome to them 5 for, as we have more than
once obferved, a ftrong defire to render them bold and
warlike wTas the reigning paflion of their legiflator. They
were forbidden to remain long encamped in the fame
place, as well to hinder their being furprifed, as that
they might be more troublefome to their enemies, by
wafting every corner of their country. They flept all
night in their armour ; but their outguards were not
allowed their fikields, that, being unprovided of defence,
they might not dare to deep. In all expeditions they
were careful in the performance of religious rites; and*
after their evening meal was over, the foldiers fung to* Sparta
gether hymns to their gods. When they were about II.
to engage, the king facrificed to the mules, that, by ,S''artlurn,1
their afliftance, they might be enabled to perform deeds
worthy of being recorded to lateft times. Then the
army advanced in order to the found of ftutes, which
played the hymn of Caftor. The king himfelf fung the
paean, which was the fignal to charge. This was done
with all the folemnity imaginable ; and the foldiers
were fare either to conquer or die : indeed they had no
other choice ; for if they fled they were infamous, and
in danger of being flain, even by their own mothers, for
difgracing their families. In this confifted all the ex¬
cellency of the Spartan women, who, if poflible, exceed¬
ed in bravery the men, never lamenting over hulbands
or fons, if they died honourably in the field •, but de¬
ploring the lhame brought on their houfe, if either the
one or the other efcaped by flight. The throwing away
a fhield alfo induced infamy j and, with refpeft to this,
mothers, when they embraced their departing fons, were
wont to caution them, that they Ihould either return
armed as they were, or be brought back fo when they
were dead 5 for, as we have obferved, fuch as were fiain
in battle were neverthelefs buried in their own country.
When they made their enemies fly, they purfued no
longer than till vi£lory was certain 5 becaufe they would
feem to fight rather for the honour of conquering, than
of putting their enemies to death. According to their
excellent rules of war, they were bound not to fpoil the
dead bodies of their enemies 5 but in procefs of time,
this, and indeed many other of their moft excellent re¬
gulations, fell into defuetude. He who overcame by
ftratagem, offered up an ox to Mars 5 whereas he who
conquered by force, offered up only a cock; the former
being efteemed more manly than the latter. After 40
years fervice, a man was, by law, no longer required to
go into the field; and confequently, if the military age
was 30, the Spartans were not held invalids till they
were *70.
SPARTIANUS, .ZElius, a Latin hiftorian, who
wrote the lives of Adrian, Caracalla, and four other
Roman emperors. He lived under the reign of Dio.
clefian, about the year 290.
SPARTIUM, Broom, a genus of plants belonging
to the clafs of diadelphia, and order of decandria j and
in the natural fyftem arranged under the 3 2d order,
Fapiliotiacece. See Botany Index.
The flower buds are in fome countries pickled, and
eaten as capers; and the feeds have been ufed as a bad
fubftitute for coffee. The branches are ufed for ma¬
king befoms, and tanning leather. They are alfo ufed
inftead of thatch to cover houfes. The old wood fur-
nifties the cabinet-maker with beautiful materials for
vaneering. The tender branches are in fome places
mixed with hops for brewing, and the macerated bark
may be manufa&ured into cloth.
The junceum, or Spanifh broom, grows naturally in
the fouthern provinces of France, as well as in other parts
of the fouth of Europe. It grows in the pooreft foils, Journal ds
on the fteepeft declivities of the hills, in a ftony foil, Fhyfielue'
where hardly any other plant could vegetate. In a few
years it makes a vigorous ftmib 7 infmuating its roots
between the interftices of the ftones, it binds the foil,
and retains the fmall portion of vegetable earth fcattered
over thefe hills, which the autumnal rains would other.
SPA [ 555 ] S P E
Spartlum. wife wafh away. It is moft eafily raifed from feed, which
js ufually fown in January, after the ground has recei¬
ved a flight drefling.
The thrub ferves two ufeful purpofes. Its branches
yield a thread of which linen is made, and in winter fup-
port Iheep and goats.
In manufa&uring thread from broom, the youngeft
plants are cat in the month of Auguft, or after harveftB
and gathered together in bundles, which at firft are laid
in the fun to dry : they are then beaten with a piece of
wood, wafhed in a river or pond, and left to deep in
the water for about four hours. The bundles thus
prepared are taken to a little diftance from the water,
and laid in a hollow place made for them, where they
are covered with fern or ftraw, and remain thus to fleep
for e'ght or nine days ; during which time, all that is
neceffary, is to throw a little water once a-day on the
heap, without uncovering the broom. After this, the
bundles are well waihed, the green rind of the plant or
epidermis comes off, and the fibrous part remains j each
bundle is then beaten with a wooden hammer upon a
ftone, to detach all the threads, which are at the fame
time carefully drawn to the extremity of the branches.
After this operation, the faggots are untied, and fpread
upon ftones or rocks till they are dry. The twigs muft
not be peeled till they are perfeftly dry *, they are then
drelfed with the comb, and the threads are feparated ac¬
cording to the finenefs, and fpun upon a wheel.
The linen made of this thread ferves various purpofes
in rural economy. The coarfeft is employed in making
facks and other llrong cloths for carrying grain or
feeds. Of the fineft is made bed, table, and body li¬
nen. The peafants in feveral places ufe no other, for
they are unacquainted with the culture of hemp or flax,
their foil being too dry and too barren for raifing them.
The cloth made with the thread of the broom is very
nfeful; it is as foft as that made of hemp } and it would
perhaps look as w-ell as that made of flax if it was
more carefully fpun. It becomes white in proportion
as it is fteeped. The price of the fineft thread, when
it is fold, which feldom happens, is generally about a
(hilling a pound.
The other ufe to which this broom is applied, is to
maintain flreep and goats during winter. In the mountains
of Lower Languedoc thefe animals have no other food
from November to April, except the leaves of trees pre-
ferved. The branches of this broom therefore are a re-
fource the more precious, that it is the only frefh nou-
riflrment which at that feafon the flocks can procure,
and they prefer it at all times to every other plant. In
fine weather the flieep are led out to feed on the broom
where it grows •, but in bad weather the fliepherds cut
the branches, and bring them to the fheep folds. There
is, however, an inconvenience attending the continued
ufe of this food. It generally produces inflammation in
the urinary paffages. But this inconvenience is eafily
removed by cooling drink, or a change of food, or by
mixing the broom with fomething elfe.
It is perhaps needlefs to add, that it differs much
from the broom that is common everyvrhere in the north
of Europe, though this too, in many places, is ufed for
food to cattle. Both of them produce flowers, that
are very much reforted to by bees, as they contain a
great quantity of honey juice. And this flrould be
another inducement to the cultivation of the Spanifh Spams
broom. i!
SPARUS, GiLTHEAD, a genus of filhes belonging to , sPecies-
the order of thoracici. See Ichthyology Index. The
farus auratus, or gilthead, was well known to the Ro¬
mans, who did not efteem them unlefs they were fed
with Lucrine oyfters, as Martial informs us,
Non otnnis laudem pretinmque AvRATA mcretur,
Sed qui Joins ent concha Lucrinci cibus.
Lib. xiii. Ep. 90.
SPASM, a convulfion. See Medicine, n° 278.
SPATHA, in Botany, a fheath 5 a fpecies o calyx
which burfts lengthwife, and protrudes a (talk fupporting
one or more flowers, ‘which commonly have no perian-
thium or flower-cup.
SPATHACEiE (from fpatlw, “ a {heath”), the
name of the ninth order in Linnaeus’s Fragments of a
Natural Method, confifling of plants whofe flowers are
protruded from a fpatha or {heath. See Botany /«-
dex.
SPATHELIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs of pentandria, and to the order of trigynia. See
Botany Index.
SPAW. See Spa.
SPAWN, in Natural Hj/lory, the eggs of fiflies or
frogs.
SPAVENTO. See Scanto.
SPAVIN, in the manege, a difeafe in horfes, being
a fwelling or ftiffhefs, ufually in the ham, occafioning a
lamenefs. See Farriery Index*
SPAYING, or Spading, the operation of caftra-
ting the females of feveral kinds of animals, as fows,
bitches, &c. to prevent any further conception, and
promote their fattening. It is performed by cutting
them in the mid flank, on the left fide, with a (harp
knife or lancet, taking out the uterus, and cutting it
off, and fo Hitching up the wound, anointing the part
with tar, and keeping the animal warm for two or
three days. The ufual way is to make the incifion
aflope, two inches and a half long ; that the fore-finger
may be put in towards the back, to feel for the ovaries,
which are two kernels as big as acorns on both fides of
the uterus, one of which is drawn to the wound, and
thus both taken out.
SPEAKER of the Houfe of Commons, a member of
the houfe ele&ed by a majority of notes thereof to aft
as chairman or prefident in putting queftions, reading
briefs, or bills, keeping order, reprimanding the refrac¬
tory, adjourning the houfe, &c. See Parliament.
SPEAKING, the art or aft of exprefling one’s
thoughts in articulate founds or words. See Gram¬
mar, Language, Reading, and Oratory, Part iv.
SPEAKING-Trumpct. See Trumpet.
SPEAR-Mint. See Mentha, Botany Index.
SPEAR-Wort. See Ranunculus, Botany Index.
SPECIAL, fomething that is particular, or has a
particular defignation *, from the Latin fpecies, in oppo-
fition to general, ixom. genus.
SPECIES, in Logic, a relative term, exprefling an
idea which is comprifed under fome general one called a
genus. See Logic, N° 68.
Species, in Commerce, the feveral pieces of gold,
filver, copper, &c. which having paffed their full
4 A 2 preparation
S P E [ 556 ] S P E
Species
II.
Specific
-Gravity.
preparation and coinage, are current in public. See
Money.
Species, in Algebra, are the letters, fymbols, marks,
, or characters, which reprefent the quantities in any ope¬
ration or equation. This fhort and advantageous way
of notation was chiefly introduced by Yieta, about the
year 1590 $ and by means of it he made many dif-
coveries in algebra, not before taken notice of.
Species, in Optics, the image painted on the retina
by the rays of light reflected from the feveral points of
the furface of an objeCt, received by the pupil, and
collected in their paflage through the cryitalline, &c.
It has been a matter of difpute among pbilofophers,
whether the fpecies of objeCts which give the foul an oc-
cafion of feeing, be an effufion of the fubftance of the
body } a mere impreflion which they make on all bo¬
dies under certain circumftances .5 or whether they are
not fome more fubtile body, fuch as light. The moderns
have decided this point by the invention of artificial
eyes, in which the fpecies of objeCts are received on pa¬
per, in the fame manner as in the natural eye.
SPECIFIC, in Philofophy, that which is peculiar to
any thing, and diflinguifhes it from all others.
Specifics, in Medicine. By fpecifics is not meant
fuch as infallibly and in all patients produce falutary
effefts. Such medicines are not to be expeCled, be-
caufe the operations and effefts of remedies are not
formally inherent in them, but depend upon the mu¬
tual aClion and reaClion of the body and medicine upon
each other j hence the various effecds of the fame me¬
dicine in the fame kind of diforders in different pa¬
tients, and in the fame patient at different times. By
fpecific medicines we underftand fuch medicines as are
found to be more uniform in their effeCts than others in
any particular diforder.
SPECIFIC Gravity, is a term much employed in the
difcuffions of modern phyfics. It expreffes the wti ght
of any particular kind of matter, as compared with the
weight of the fame bulk of fome other body of which
the weight is fuppofed to be familiarly known, and is
therefore taken for the ftandard of comparifon. The
body generally made ufe of for this purpofe is pure
water.
The fpecific gravity of bodies is a very interefling
queftion both to the philofopher and to the man of
bufinefs. The philofopher confiders the weights of bodies
as meafures of the number of material atoms, or the
quantity of matter which they contain. This he does
on the fuppofition that every atom of matter is of the
fame weight, whatever may be its fenfible form. This
fuppofition, however, is made by him with caution, and
he has recourfe to fpecific gravity for afcertaining its
truth in various ways. This lhall be confidered by and
by. The man of bufinefs entertains no doubt of the
matter, and proceeds on it as a fure guide in his molt
interefling tranfa£lions. We meafure commodities of
various kinds by tons, pounds, and ounces, in the fame
manner as we meafure them by yards, feet, and inches, or
by bufliels, gallons, and pints •, nay, we do this with
much greater confidence, and prefer this meafurement
to all others, whenever we are much interefled to know
the exadl proportions of matter that bodies contain.
The weight of a quantity of grain is allowed to inform
us much more exactly of its real quantity of ufeful mat¬
ter than the moll accurate meafure of its bulk. We fee
many circumftances which can vary the bulk of a quan- Specific
tity of matter, and thefe are frequently fuch as we can- Grav'iy.
not regulate or prevent but we know very few indeed v
that can make any fenfible change in this weight with¬
out the addition or abftrabtion of other matter. Even
taking it to the fummit of a high mountain, or from the
equator to the polar region, will make no change in its
weight as it is afcertained by the balance, becaufe there
is the lame real diminution of weight in the pounds and
ounces ufed in the examination.
Notwithftanding the unavoidable change which heat
and cold make in the bulk of bodies, and the permanent -
varieties of the fame kind of matter which are caufed
by different circumflances of growth, texture, &c. molt
kinds of matter have a certain conftancy in the denfity
of their particles, and therefore in the weight of * given
bulk. Thus the purity of gold, and its degree of adul¬
teration, may be inferred from its weight, it being purer
in proportion as it is more denfe. The denfity, there¬
fore, of different kinds of tangible matter becomes cha-
raCteriflic of the kind, and a tell of its purity ; it marks
a particular appearance in which matter exitts, and may
therefore be called, with propriety, Specific.
But this denfity cannot be direftly obferved. It is
not by comparing the diitances between the atoms of
matter in gold and in water that we fay the firff is 19
times denfer than the laft, and that an inch of gold con¬
tains 19 times as many matetial atoms as an inch of
water 5 we reckon on the equal gravitation of every
atom of matter whether of gold or of water 5 therefore
the weight of any body becomes the indication of its
material denfity, and the weight of a given bulk be¬
comes fpecific of that kind of matter, marking its kind,
and even afcertaining its purity in this form.
It is evident that, in order to make this comparifon
of general ufe, the ftandard muff be familiarly known,
and mult be very uniform in its denfity, and the com¬
parifon of bulk and denfity muft be eafy and accurate.
The moff: obvious method would be to form, with all
nicety, a piece of the ftandard matter of fome convenient
bulk, and to weigh it very exactly, and keep a note of
its weight : then, to make the comparifon of any other
fubftance, it muft be made into a mafs of the lame pre-
cife bulk, and weighed with equal care ; and the moll
convenient way of exprefling the fpecific gravity would
be to confider the weight of the ftandard as unitv, and
then the number expreffing the fpecific gravity is the
number of times that the weight of the ftandard is con¬
tained in that of the oilier fubftance. This comparifon
is moft eafily and accurately made in fluids. We have
only to make a veffel of known dimenfions equal to
that of the ftandard which we employ, and to weigh it
when empty, and then when filled with the fluid. Nay,
the moft difficult part of the procefs, the making a
veffel of the precife dimenfions of the ftandard, may be
avoided, by uling fome fluid fubftance for a ftandard.
Any veffel will then do ; and we may enfiire very great '
accuracy by ufing a veflel with a flender neck, fuch as
a phial or matrafs ; for when this is filled to a certain
mark in the neck, any error in the eftimation by the
eye will bear a very fmall proportion to the whole. The
weight of the ftandard fluid which fills it to this mark
being carefully afcertained, is kept in remembrance.
The fpecific gravity of any other fluid is had by weigh¬
ing the contents of this vcffel Tv hen filled with it, and
dividing
O
Specific
Gravity.
s P E [ 557 ] S P E
dividing the weight by the weight of the ftandard. The of any other body is the real weight in pounds and Specific
quotient is the fpecific gravity of the fluid. But in all ounces, when of the bulk of one pound or one ounce of G'-avny.
other cafes this is a very difficult problem : it requires water. It is therefore of the firft importance, in ail
very nice hands, and an accurate eye, to make two difcuflions refpecling the fpecific gravity of bodies, to
bodies of the fame bulk. An error of one hundredth have the precife weight of fome known bulk of pure
part in the linear dimenfions of a folid body makes an water. We have taken fome pains to examine and coin-
error of a 30th part in its bulk ; and bodies of irregular pare the experiments on this fubjeft, and lhali endea-
flrapes and friable fubftance, fuch as the ores of metals, vour to afcertain this point with the precifion which it
cannot be brought into convenient and exahl dimennons deferves. We fhail reduce all to the Englifh cubic foot
for meafurement. and avoirdupois ounce of the Exchequer ftandard, on
From all thefe inconveniences and difficulties we are account of.a very convenient circumltance peculiar to
freed by the celebrated Archimedes, who, from the prin- this unit, viz. that a cubic foot contains almofi: precilely
ciples of hydroftatics difcovered or eftabliflred by him, a thoufand ounces of pure water, fo that the fpecific
deduced the accurate and eafy method which is now gravity of bodies expreffes the number of fuch ounces
univerfally pradtited for difcovering the fpecific gravity contained in a cubic foot.
and denfity of bodies. (See Archimedes and Hy- We begin with a trial made before the houfe of com-
DRODYNAMics). Inflead of meafuiing _ the bulk of mons in 1696 by Mr Everard. He weighed 2145.6
the body by that of the difplaced fluid (which would cubic inches of water by a balance, which turned fen-
have been impoffible for Archimedes to do with any fibly with 6 grains, when there were 30 pounds in each
thing like the neceffary precifion), we have only to ob- fcale. The weights employed were the troy weights,
fcrve the lofs of weight fuftained by the folid. This can in the depofit of the Court of Exchequer, which are dill
be done with great eafe and exa&nefs. Whatever may preferved, and have been molt fcrupuioufly examined
be the bulk of the body, this lofs of weight is the and compared with each other. The weight was I131
weight of an equal bulk of the fluid •, and we obtain the ounces 14 pennyweights. This wants jufl 11 grains of
fpecific gravity of the body by fimply dividing its whole a thoufand avoirdupois ounces for 1728 cubic inches, or
weight by the weight loft : the quotient is the fpecific a cubic foot; and it would have amounted to that
gravity when thisCfluid is taken for the ftandard, even weight had it been a degree or two colder. The tem-
though we ftiould not know the abfolute weight of any perature indeed is not mentioned j but as the trial was ■
given bulk of this ftandard. It alfo gives us an eafy made in a comfortable room, we may prefume the tem-
and accurate method of afcertaining even this fundamen- perature to have been about 550 of Fahrenheit’s ther-
tal point. We have only to form any folid body into mometer. The dimenflons of the veffel were as accu-
an exa£t cube, fphere, or prifm, of known dimenfions, rate as the nice hand of Mr Abraham Sharp, Mr Flam-
and obferve what weight it lofes when immerfed in this Head’s afliftant at Greenwich, could execute, and it was
ftandard fluid. This is the weight of the fame bulk of made by the Exchequer ftandard of length,
the ftandard to be kept in remembrance ; and thus we This is confided in by the naturalifts of Europe as a
obtain, by the bye, a moft eafy and accurate method very accurate ftandard experiment, and it is confirmed
for meafuring the bulk or folid contents of any body, by many others both private and public. The ftandards
however irregular its fliape may be. We have only to of weight and capacity employed in the experiment are
fee how much weight it lofes in the ftandard fluid ; we ftill in exiftence, and publicly known, by the report of
can compute what quantity of the ftandard fluid will the Royal Society to parliament in 1742, and by the
have this weight. Thus fhould we find that a quantity report of a committee of the houfe of commons in 1758.
of fand, or a furze buffi, lofes 250 ounces when im- This gives it a fuperiority over all the meafures which
merfed in pure u-ater, we learn by this that the folid have come to our knowledge.
meafure of every grain of the fand, or of every twig The firft experiment, made with proper attention, ,
and prickle of the furze, when added into one lum, that we meet with, is by the celebrated Snellius, about
amounts to the fourth part of a cubic foot, or to 43 2 the year 1615, and related in his Eratojlhenes Batavus.
cubic inches. He weighed a Rhinland cubic foot of diltilled water,
To fril thefe advantages of the Archimedean method and found it 62.79 Amfterdam pounds. If this was the
of afcertaining the fpecific gravity of bodies, derived ordinary weight of the (hops, containing 7626 Engliih
from his hydroftatical doftrines and difcoveries, wre may troy grains, the Engliflv cubic foot mult be 62 pounds
add, that the immediate ftandard of comparifon, namely, 9 ounces, only one ounce more than by Everard’s expe-
water, is, of all the fubftances that we know, the fitteft riment. If it was the Mint pound, the weight was 62
for the purpofe of an univerfal ftandard of reference. pounds 6 ounces. The only other trials which can come
In its ordinary natural (fate it is fufficiently conftant and into competition with Mr Everard’s are ibme made by
uniform in its weight for every examination where the the Academy of Sciences at Paris. Picart, in 1691,
utmoft mathematical accuracy is not wanted ; all its found the Paris cubic foot of the w’ater of the fountain
variations arife from impurities, from which it may at d’Arcueil to weigh 69.588 youndis.,poids de Paris. Du
all times be feparated by the Ample procefs of diililla- Plamel obtained the very fame refult ; but Mr Monge,
tion : and we have every reafon to think that when in 1783, fays that filtered rain-water of the temperature
pure, its denfity, when of the fame temperature, is in- 12° (Reaumur) weighs 69.3792. Both thefe meafures
variable. are confiderably below Mr Everard’s, which is 62 5,
Water is therefore univerfally taken for the unit of the former giving 62.053, and the latter 61.868. M.
that fcale on which we meafure the fpecific gravity of Lavoifier ftates the Paris cubic foot at 70 pounds, which
bodies, and its weight is called 1. The fpecific gravity makes the Englifn foot 62.47. But there is an incon-
fluency
S P E
Specific
Gravity.
VS P E , [ SS8
fiftency among them which makes the companion im-
poflible. Some changes were made in 1688, by royal
authority, in the national ftandards, both of weight and
length j and the academicians are exceedingly puzzled
to this day in reconciling the differences, and cannot
even afcertain with perfedt afl'urance the lineal meafures
which were employed in their molt boafted geodetical
operations.
Such variations in the meafurements made by perfons
of reputation for judgement and accuracy engaged the
writer of this article i’ome years ago to attempt another.
A velfel wTas made of a cylindrical form, as being more
eafily executed with accuracy, whofe height and dia¬
meter -were 6 inches, taken from a moft accurate copy
of the Exchequer ftandard. It was weighed in diitilled
water of the temperature 55°feveral times without vary¬
ing 2 grains, and it loft 42895 grains. This gives for
the cubic foot 998.74 ounces, deficient from Mr Eve-
rard’s an ounce and a quarter; a difference which may
be expe&ed, fince Mr Everard ufed the New River wa¬
ter without diftillation.
We hope that thefe obfervations will not be thought
fuperfluous in a matter of fuch continual reference, in
the moft interefting queftions both to the philofopher
and the man of bufinefs $ and that the determination
which we have given will be confidered as fufficiently
authenticated.
Let us, therefore, for the future take water for the
ftandard, and fuppofe that, when of the ordinary tempe¬
rature of fummer, and in its ftate of greateft natural pu¬
rity, viz. in clean rain or fnow, an Englifti cubic foot of
it weighs a thoufand avoirdupois ounces of 437.5 troy
grains each. Divide the weight of any body by the
weight of an equal bulk of water, the quotient is the
fpecific gravity of that body j and if the three firft
figures of the decimal be accounted integers, the quo¬
tient is the number of avoirdupois ounces in a cubic foot
©f the body. Thus the fpecific gravity of the very fineft
gold which the refiner can produce is 19.365, and a cu¬
bic foot of it weighs 19365 ounces.
But an important remark muft be made here. All
bodies of homogeneous or unorganifed texture expand
by heat, and contract by cooling. The expanfion and
contradtion by the fame change ©f temperature is very
different in different bodies. Thus water, when heated
from 6o° to ioo°, increafes its volume nearly -r|T of
its bulk, and mercury only and many fubftances
much lefs. Hence it follows, that an experiment de¬
termines the fpecific gravity only in that very tempera¬
ture in which the bodies are examined. It will there¬
fore be proper always to note this temperature •, and it
will be convenient to adopt lome very ufeful temperature
for fuch trials in general: perhaps about 6o° of Fahren¬
heit’s thermometer is as convenient as any. It may al¬
ways be procured in thefe climates without inconveni¬
ence. A temperature near to freezing would have feme
advantages, becaufe water changes its bulk very little
between the temperature 3 2° and 450. But this tempe¬
rature cannot always be obtained. It will much con¬
duce to the facility of the comparifon to know the va¬
riation which heat produces on pure water. The fol¬
lowing table, taken from the obfervations of Dr Blag-
den and Mr Gilpin (Phil. Tranf. 1792) will anfwer
this purpofe.
Tempera¬
ture of
Water.
30
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
Bulk
of
Water.
99910
99070
999I4
99932
99962
100000
100050
100106
100171
100242
100320
100404
100501
100602
Specific
Gravity.
x.00090
I.OO094
1.00086
1.00068
I.OOO38
I.OOCOO
0.99950
0.99894
0,99830
°-99759
0.99681
0.99598
0.99502
0.99402
Specific
Gravity.
Thofe gentlemen obferved the expanfion of water to be
very anomalous between 320 and 450. This is diftindt-
ly feen during the gradual cooling of water to the point
of freezing. It contradts for a while, and then fud-
denly expands. But we feldom have occafion to mea-
fure fpecific gravities in fuch temperature.
The reader is now fufficiently acquainted with the
principles of this hydroftatical method of determining
the fpecific gravity of bodies, and can judge of the pro¬
priety of the forms which may be propofed for the ex¬
periment.
The fpecific gravity of a fluid may be determined
either by filling with it a veffel with a narrow neck, or
by weighing a folid body that is immerfed in it. It is
hard to fay which is the belt way. The laft is not fub-
jedt to any error in filling, becaufe wre may fufpend the
folid by a fine wire, which will not difplactf any fenfible
quantity of the fluid *, and if the folid is but a little
heavier than the fluid, the balance being loaded only
wfith the excefs, will be very fenfible to the fmalleft: want
of equilibrium. But this advantage is perhaps compen-
fated by an obftrudtion to the motion of the folid up
or down in the fluid, arifing from vifeidity. When the
weight in the oppofite fcale is yet too fmall, we flowly
add more, and at laft grain by grain, which gradually
brings the beam to the level. When it is ex&dtly level,
the weight in the fcale is fomewhat too great ; for it
not only balances the preponderance of the folid, but
alfo this vifeidity of the fluid. But we may get rid of
this error. Add a fmall quantity more j this will bring
the beam over to the other fide. Now put as much
into the fcale on the fame fide with the folid j this will
not reftore the beam to its level. We muft add more
till this be accomplifhed 5 and this addition is the mea-
fure of the vifeidity of the fluid, and muft be fubtraefed
from the weight that was in the other fcale when the
beam came JirJl to a level. This eftefl of vifeidity is
not infenfible, with nice apparatus, even in the pureft
water, and in many fluids it is very conliderable—and,
what is worfe, it is very changeable. It is greatly di-,
miniffied by heat; and this is an additional reafen for
making
S P E
Specific making thofe trials in pretty warm temperatures. But
Gravity. for Qf which the vitcidity is confiderable, this
method Js by no means proper •, and we muft take the
other, and weigh them in a veffel with a narrow neck.
Mercury muft alfo be treated in this way, becaufe we
have no folid that will fink in it but gold and platina.
It is not fo eafy as one would imagine to fill a veffel
precifely to the fame degree upon every trial. But if
we do not operate on too fmall quantities, the unavoid¬
able error may be made altogether infignificant, by hav¬
ing the neck of the veffel very fmall. If the veffel hold
a pound of water, and the neck do not exceed a quarter
of an inch (and it will not greatly retard the operation
to have it half this fize'), the examinator mufl: be very
carelefs indeed to err one part in two thoufand ; and
this is perhaps as near as we can come with a balance.
We mull: always recolleft that the capacity of the veffel
changes by heat, and we mufl: know this variation, and
take it into the account. But it is affeftation to regard
(as Mr Homberg would make us believe that he did)
the diftenfion of the veffel by the preffure of the fluid.
His experiments of this kind have by no means the con-
fiftency with each other that flrould convince us that he
did not commit much greater errors than what arofe
from diftenfion.
In examining either folids or fluids, we muft: be
careful to free their furface, or that of the veffel in which
the fluid is to be weighed, from air, which frequently
adheres to it in a peculiar manner, and, by forming a
bubble, increafes the apparent bulk of the folid, or di-
minifhes the capacity of the veffel. The greateft part
of what appears on thofe occafions feems to have ex-
ifted in the fluid in a ftate of chemical union, and to
be fet at liberty by the fuperior attraction of the fluid
for the contiguous folid body. Thefe air bubbles muft
be carefully brulhed off by hand. All greafy matters
muft be cleared off for the fame reafon : they prevent
the fluid from coming into contaft.
We muft be no lefs careful that no water is imbibed
by the folid, which would increafe its weight without
increafing its bulk. In fome cafes, however, a very
long maceration and imbibition is neceflary. Thus, in
examining the fpecific gravity of the fibrous part of ve¬
getables, we fliould err exceedingly if we imagined it as
fmall as appears at firft. We believe that in moft plants
it is at leaft as great as water, for after long maceration
they fink in it.
It is almoft needlefs to fay that the niceft and moft
fenfible balances are neceffary for this examination. Ba¬
lances are even conftrufted on purpofe, and fitted with
feveral pieces of apparatus, which make the examina¬
tion eafy and neat. We have defcribed (fee Balance)
Mr Gravefande’s as one of the moft convenient of any.
His contrivance for obferving the fractions of a grain is
extremely ingenious and expeditious, efpecially for de¬
tecting the effeCt of vifcidity.
The hydrometer, or areometer, is another inftrument
for afcertaining the fpecific gravity of fluids. This very
pretty inftrument is the invention of a lady, as eminent
for intellectual accomplilhments as (he was admired for
her beauty. Hypatia, the learned daughter of the cele¬
brated mathematician Theon of Alexandria, became fo
eminent for her mathematical knowledge, that fhe was
made public profeffor of the fcience in the firft fchool
in the wcpld. She wrote a commentary on the works
S P E
of Apollonius and of Diophantus, and eompofed Af-
tronomical Tables j all of which tire loft. Thefe rare
accomplilhments, however, could not fave her from the
fury of the fanatics of Alexandria, who cut her in pieces
for having taken an offenfive part in a difpute between
the governor and patriaich.—We have del’ciibed fome
of the moft approved of thele initruments in the article
Hydrometer, and fhall in this place make a few ob-
fervations on the principles of their conftruClion, not as
they are ufually made, accommodated to the examina¬
tion of particular liquors, but as indicators of pure fpe¬
cific gravity. And we muft premife, that this would,
for many reafons, be the heft way of conftruCiing them.
The very ingenious contrivances for accommodating
them to particular purpofes are unavoidably attended
with many fources of error, both in their adjuftment by
the maker and in their ufe ; and all that is gained by a
very expenfive inftrument is the faving the trouble ol
infpefting a table. A fimple fcale of fpecific gravity
would expofe to no error in conftrmftion, becaufe all
the weights but one, or all the points of the fcale but
one, are to be obtained by calculation, which is incom¬
parably more exa£t than any manual operation, and
the table can always be more exatft than any complex
obfervation. But a ftill greater advantage is, that the-
inftruments would by this means be fitted for examin¬
ing all liquors whatever, whereas at prefent they are al¬
moft ufelefs for any but the one for which, they are con-
ftrudfed.
Hydrometers are of two kinds. The moft fimple
and the moft delicate are juft a fubftitute for the hydro-
ftatical balance. They confift of a ball (or rather an
egg or pear-lhaped veffel, which moves more eafily
through the fluid) A (fig. I.) having a foot projedling
down from it, terminated by another ball B, and a flen-
der ftalk or wire above, carrying a little difli C. The
whole is made fo light as to float in the lighteft fluid we
are acquainted with ; fuch as vitriolic or muriatic ether,
whofe fpecific gravity is only 0.73. This number fhould
be marked on the dith, indicating that this is the fpecific
gravity of the fluid in which the inftrument floats, fink¬
ing to the point D of the ftem. The ball B is made
heavy, and the foot is of fome length, that the inftru¬
ment may have liability, and fwim erect, even if confi-
derably loaded above ; and, for the fame reafon, it muft
be made very round, otherwife it will lean to a fide.
When put into a heavier liquor, its buoyancy will caufe
it to float with a part of the ball above the furface.
Weights are now put into the fcale C, till the inftru-
ment fink to D. The weight put into the fcale, added
to the weight of the inftrument, is the weight of the
difplaced fluid. This, compared with the weight of the
whole when the inftrument is fwimming in pure water,,
gives the fpecific gravity of the fluid. All trouble of
calculation may be avoided by marking the weights
with fuch numbers as (hall indicate the fpecific gravity
at once. Thus having loaded the inftrument fo as to
fink it to D in pure water, call the whole weight 1000;
then weigh the inftrument itfelf, and fay, “ as the weight
when fwimming in water is to its prefent weight, fo i»
1000 to a 4th proportional.” This is the fpecific gra¬
vity of the liquor which would float the unloaded in¬
ftrument. Suppofe this to be 730. The hydrome¬
ter would juft float in muriatic ether, and this Ihould
be marked on the fide. Now make a fet of fmall
weights,.
[ 559 1
Specific
Gravity.
 /™—J
Plate
CCCCXCI3&
S P E [ 560 ]
S P E
■Specific weights, and mark them, not by their weights in grains,
Gravity, g jn units that 270 of them ftsall be equal to the
v weight which fits the inftrument for pure water.
Suppofe that, in order to float this inftrument in a
certain brandy, there are required 186 in thefe (mail
weights. This added to 730 gives 916 for the fpecific
gravity, and fliows it to be precifely excife proof fpi-
rit. Nine weights, viz. 2 56, 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 4,
2, I, will fuffice for all liquors from ether to the
ftrongeft worts. And that the trouble in changing
the weights may be greatly leffened, let a few circles
a, b, c, d, e, be marked on the top of the ball. When
we fee it float unloaded at the circle C for inftance, we
know it will require at leaft 128 to fink it to D on the
ftem.
If the weights to be added above are confiderable,
it raifes the centre of gravity fo much, that a fmall want
of equilibrium, by laying the weights on one fide, will
produce a great inclination of the inftrument, which is
unfightly. Inftead therefore of making them loofe
weights, it is proper to make them round plates, with a
fmall hole in the middle, to go on a pin in the middle
of the fcale. This will keep the inftrument always up¬
right. But unlefs the hydrometer is of a confiderable
fize, it can hardly be made fo as to extend from the
lighteft to the heavieft fluid which we may have oc-
cafion to examine, even though we except mercury.
Some of"the mineral acids are confiderably more than
twice the weight of ether. When there is fuch a load
at top, the hydrometer is very apt to overfet, and inclines
with the fmalleft want of equilibrium. Great fize is in¬
convenient even to the philofopher, becaufe it is not al¬
ways in his power to operate on a quantity of fluid fuf-
ficient to float the inftrument. Therefore two, or per¬
haps three, are neceffary for general examination. One
may reach from ether to water 5 another may ferve for
ail liquors of a fpecific gravity between one and one and
a half; and the third, for the mineral acids, may reach
from this to two. If each of thefe be about two folid
inches in capacity, we may eafily and expeditioufly de¬
termine the fpecific gravity within one ten thoufandth
part of the truth : and this is precifion enough for moft
purpofes of fcience or bufinefs.
The chief queftions are, 1. To afcertain the fpecific
gravity of an unknown fluid. This needs no farther
explanation. 2. To afcertain the proportion of two
fluids which are known to be in a mixture. This is
done by difcovering the fpecific gravity of the mixture
by means of the hydrometer, and then deducing the
proportion from a comparifon of this with the fpecific
gravities of the ingredients.
In this mode of examination the bulk is always the
fame ; for the hydrometer is immerged in the different
fluids to the fame depth. Now if an inch, for example,
of this bulk is made up of the heavieft fluid, there is an
inch wanting of the lighteft ; and the change made in
the weight of the mixture is the difference between the
weight of an inch of the heavieft, and of an inch of the
lighteft ingredients. The number of inches therefore
of the heavieft fluid is proportional to the addition made
to the weight of the mixture. Therefore let B and b
be the bulks of the heavieft and lighteft fluids in the
bulk /3 of the mixture; and let D, //, and £ be the den-
fities, or the weights, or the fpecific gravities (for they
are in one ratio) of the heavy fluid, the light fluid, and
the mixture (their bulk being that of the hydrometer). Specific
We have /3=:B-j-£. The addition which would have Gravity,
been made to the bulk /3, if the lighteft fluid were v
changed entirely for the heavieft, would be D—d; and
the change which is really made is ^—d. Therefore
/3 : Z>—D—d : ^—d. For fimilar reafons we fhould have
/3 : B—D—d : D—0 ; or, in words, “ the difference be¬
tween the Jpecijic gravities of the two fluids, is to the dif¬
ference between the fpecific gravities of the mixture and
of the hghtejl find, as the buih of the whole to the bulk
of the heavufi contained in the mixture and “ the dif¬
ference of the fpecfic gravities oj the two Jluids, is to the
difference of the fpecific gravities of the mixture and of
the heavieft fluids, as the bulk of the whole to that of the
lightefl contained in the mixture.'1'1 This is the form in
which the ordinary bufinefs of life requires the anfwer
to be expreffed, becaufe.we generally reckon the quan¬
tity of liquors by bulk, in gallons, pints, quarts. But
it would have been equally eafy to have obtained the
anfwer in pounds and ounces; or it may be had from
their bulk, fince rve know their fpecific gravities.
The hydrometer more commonly ufed is the ancient
one of Hypatia, confiiting of a ball A (fig. 2.) made
fteady by an addition B, below it like the former, but
having a long ftem CF above. It is fo loaded that it
finks to the top F of the ftem in the lighteft of all the
fluids which we propofe to meafure with it, and to-fink
only to C in the heavieft. In a fluid of intermediate
fpecific gravity it will fink to fome point between C
and F.
In this form of the hydrometer the weight is always
the fame, and the immediate information given by the
inftrument is that of different bulks with equal weight.
Becaufe the inftrument finks till the bulk of the dif-
placed fluid equals it in weight, and the additions to the
difplaced fluid are all made by the ftem, it is evident
that equal bulks of the ftem indicate equal additions of
volume. Thus the Hem becomes a fcale of bulks to the
fame weight.
The only form in which the ftem can be made with
fufficient accuracy is cylindrical or prifmatical. Such a
ftem may be made in the moft accurate manner by wire¬
drawing, that is, palling it through a hole made in a har¬
dened iteel plate. If fuch a ftem be divided into equal
parts, it becomes a fcale of bulks in arithmetical progref-
fion. This is the eafieft and moft natural divifion of the
fcale ; but it will not indicate denfities, fpecific gravities,
or weights of the fame bulk in arithmetical progreflion.
The fpecific gravity is as the weight divided by the bulk.
Now a feries of divifors (the bulks), in arithmetical pro¬
greflion, applied to the fame dividend (the bulk and
weight of the hydrometer as it floats in water), will not
give a feries of quotients (the fpecific gravities) in arith¬
metical progreflion : they will be in what is called har¬
monic progreflion, their differences continually diminifli-
ing. This will appear even when phyflcally confidered.
When the hydrometer finks a tenth of an inch near the
top of the ftem, it difplaces one tenth of an inch of a
light fluid, compared with that dil'placed by it when it
is floating with all the ftem above the furface. In order
therefore that the divifions of the ftem may indicate
equal changes of fpecific gravity, they muft be in a ferics
of harmonic progreflionals increaiing. The point at
which the inftrument floats in pure water fliould be mar¬
ked 1000, and thofe above it 999> 99^’ 991 ■> i an^
thole
j
?
S P E [ 561 ] S P E
Specific tliofe below the water mark muft be numbered 1001,
Gravity. jqo2, 1003, &c. Sucli a fcale will be a very appolite
'' v pidlure of the denfities of Huids, for the denfity or vici¬
nity of the divifions will be precifely fimilar to the den-
fny of the fluids. Each interval is a bulk of fluid of
the fame weight. If the whole inftrument were drawn
out into wire of the fize of the idem, the length from the
water mark would be tooo.
Such are the rules by which the fcale muft be divi¬
ded. Eut there muft be fome points of it determined
by experiment, and it will be proper to take them as re¬
mote from each other as poflible. For this purpofe let
the inftrument be accurately marked at the point where
it Hands, in two fluids, differing as much in fpecific gra¬
vity as the inftrument will admit. Let it alio be mar¬
ked where it Hands in water. Then determine with the
utmoft precifton the fpecitic gravities of thefe fluids, and
put their values at the correfponding points of the fcale.
Then the intermediate points of the fcale muft be com¬
puted for the different intervening fpecific gravities, or
it muft be divided from a pattern fcale of harmonic pro-
grefllonals in a rvay well known to the mathematical in-
ftrument-makers. If the fpecific gravities have been ac¬
curately determined, the value 1000 will be found to
fall precifely in the water mark. If we attempt the di-
vifion entirely by experiment, by making a number of
fluids of different fpecific gravities, and marking the ftem
as it Hands in them, we (hall find the divifions turn out
very anomalous. This is however the way ufually prac-
tifed 5 and there are few hydrometers, even from the
beft maker, that hold true to a fingle diviiion or two.
Yet the method by computation is not more troublelbme j
and one fcale of harmonic progreflionals will ferve to
divide every ftem that offers. We may make ufe of a
fcale of equal parts for the ifem, with the afiiftance of
two little tables. One of thefe contains the fpecific gra¬
vities in harmonic progreffion, correfponding to the
arithmetical fcale of bulks on the ftem of the hydrome¬
ter •, the other contains the divifions and fraftions of a
diviiion of the fcale of bulks, which correfpond to an
arithmetical fcale of fpecific gravities. We believe this
to be the belt method of all. The fcale of equal parts
en the ftem is fo eafily made, and the little table is fo
eafily infpected, that it has every advantage of accuracy
and difpatch, and it gives, by the way, an amufing view
ef the relation of the bulks and denfities.
We have hitherto fuppofed a fcale extending from the
lighted, to the heavieft fluid. But unlefs it be of a very
inconvenient length, the divifions muft be very minute.
Moreover, when the bulk of the ftem bears a great pro¬
portion to that of the body, the inftrument does not fwim
fteady •, it is therefore proper to limit the range of the
inftrument in the fame manner as thole of the firft kind.
A range from the denfity of ether to that of water may
be very well executed in an inftrument of very moderate
fize, and two others will do for all the heavier liquors 5
or an equal range in any other denfities as may fuit the
ufual occupations of the experimenter.
To avoid the inconveniences of a hydrometer with
a very long and {lender ftem, or the neceffity of having
a feries of them, a third fort has been contrived, in
which the principles of both are combined. Suppofe
a hydrometer with a ftem, whofe bulk is th of that
of the bail, and that it finks in ether to the top of the
ftem ; it is evident that in a fluid which is ^th heavier,
Vol. XIX. Part II.
the whole ftem will emerge ; for the bulk of the difplaced Specific'
fluid is now Wth of the whole lefs, and the weight is the Gnivlt)'-
fame as before, and therefore the fpecific gravity is Wth y
greater.
Thus we have obtained a hydrometer which will indi- .
cate, by means of divifions marked on the ftem, all fpe¬
cific gravities from 0.73 to 0.803 ; for 0.803 G Toth
greater than 0.73. Thefe drvifions muft be made in
harmonic prcgreltion, as before direbled for an entire
fcale, placing 0.73 at the top of the ftem and 0.803 at
the bottom.
When it floats at the loweft divifion, a weight may
be put on the top of the ftem, which will again fink it
to the top. This weight muft evidently be 0.073, or
W-th of the weight of the fluid difplaced by the unload¬
ed inftrument. The hydrometer, thus loaded, indicates
the fame fpecific gravity, by the top of the ftem, that
the unloaded inftrument indicates by the loweft divi¬
fion. Therefore, when loaded, it will indicate another
feries of fpecific gravities, from 0.803 to
(=0.803 d" 0-c8°3), and wall float in a liquor of the
fpecific gravity 0.8833 with the whole ftem above the
furface.
In like manner, if we take off this weight, and
put on 1 = 0.080.3, it will fink the hydrometer to the
top of the ifem ; and with this new weight it will
indicate another feries of fpecific gravities from 0.8833
to 0.97163 (= 0.8833 -j-0.08833). And, in the
fame manner, a third weight = 08833 wdl again fink
it to the top of the ftem, and fit it for another feries of
fpecific gravities up to 1.068793. And thus, with
thiee weights, wre have procured a hydrometer fitted for
all liquors from ether to a wort for a malt liquor of two
barrels per quarter. Another weight, in the fame pro¬
greffion, will extend the inftrument to the ftrongeft wort
that is brewred.
This is a very commodious form of the inftrument,
and is now in very general ufe for examining fpirituous
liquors, worts, ales, brines, and many fuch articles of
commerce. But the divifions of the fcale are general¬
ly adapted to the queftions w’hich naturally occur in the
bufinefs. Thus, in the commerce of ftrong liquors,
it is ufual to eftimate the article by the quantity of fpi-
rit of a certain ftrength which the liquor contains.-—
This wre have been accuftomed to call proof fpirit, and
it is fuch that a wine gallon weighs 7 pounds 12 ounces 5
and it is by this ftrength that the excife duties are le¬
vied. Therefore the divifions on the fcale, and the
weights which connect the fucceflive repetitions of the
fcale, are made to exprefs at once the number of gal¬
lons or parts of a gallon of proof fpirits contained in a
gallon of the liquor. Such inftruments fave all trouble
of calculation to the excifeman or dealer*, but they li¬
mit the ufe of a very delicate and expenfive inftrument
to a very narrow employment. It wrould be much bet¬
ter to adhere to the expreffion either of fpecific gravity
or of bulk * and then a very fmall table, which could be
comprifed in the fmalleft cafe for the inftrument, might
render it applicable to every kind of fluid.
The reader cannot but have obferved that the fuc-
ctffive weights, by which the fhorl fcale of the inflru-
ment is extended to a great range of fpecific gravities,
do not increafe by equal quantities. Each difference is
the weight of the liquor difplaced by the graduated
ftem of the inftrument when it is funk to the top of
4 B the
s P E [ 56.2 ] S P E
Specific the fcale. It is a determined aliquot part of the whole
vGr^vlty' weight of the inftrument fo loaded, (in our example it
/ ‘ is always -rVt-h of it). It increafes therefore in the fame
proportion with the preceding weight of the loaded
inftrument. In fhort, both the fucceftive additions, and
the whole weights of the loaded inftrument, are quan¬
tities in geometrical progrefiion ; and, in like manner,
the divifions on the fcale, if they correfpond to equal
differences of fpecific gravity, muft alfo be unequal—
This is not fufficiently attended to by the makers ; and
they commit an error here, which is very confiderable
when the whole range of the inftrument is great. For
the value of one divifion of the fcale, when the largeft
weight is on, is as much greater than its value, when
the inftrument is not loaded at all, as the full loaded
inftrument is heavier than the inftrument unloaded. No
manner whatever of dividing the fcale will correfpond
to equal differences of fpecific gravity through the
whole range with different weights but if the divi-
lions are made to indicate equal proportions of gravity
when the inftrument is ufed without a weight, they
will indicate equal proportions throughout. This is
evident from what we have been juft now faying ; for
the proportion of the fpecific gravities correfponding to
any twm immediately fucceeding weights is always the
fame.
The heft wray, therefore, of conftrufling the inftru¬
ment, fo that the fame divifions of the fcale may be ac¬
curate in all its fucceftive repetitions with the different
weights, is to make thefe divifions in geometrical pro-
greflion. The correfponding fpecific gravities will al¬
fo be in geometric proportion. Thefe being all inferted
in a table, v7e obtain them with no more trouble than
by infpefring the fcale which ufually accompanies the
hydrometer. This table is of the moft eafy conftruc-
tion ; for the ratio of the fucceflive bulks and fpecific
gravities being all equal, the differences of the logarithms
are equal.
This will be illuftrated by applying it to the exam¬
ple already given of a hydrometer extending from 0.73
to 1.068793 with three weights. This gives four re¬
petitions of the fcale on the ftem. Suppofe this fcale
divided into 10 parts, wre have 40 fpecific gravities.—
Let thefe be indicated by the numbers o, 1. 2, 3, &c.
to 40. The mark O is affixed to the top of the ftem,
and the divifions downwards are marked 1, 2, 3, &c.
the low7eft being 10. Thefe divifions are eafily deter¬
mined. The ftem, which we may fuppofe 9 inches
long, w7as fuppofed to be T~th of the capacity of the
ball. It may therefore be confidered as the extremity
of a rod of 11 times its length, or 55 inches ; and we
.muft find nine mean proportionals between 50 and 9
inches. Subtract each of thefe from 55 inches, and
the remainders are the d’ftances of the points of divi¬
fion from o, the top of the fcale. The fm-alleft weight
is marked 10, the next 20, and the third 30. If the
inftrument loaded with the weight 20 finks in fome li¬
quor to the mark 7, it indicates the fpecific gravity 27,
that is, the 27-h of 40 mean proportionals between
0.73 and 1.068793, or 0.944242. To obtain all thefe
intermediate fpecific gravities, we have only to fubtrafl
9 8633229, the logarithm of 0.73, from that of Specific
1.068793, viz. 0.0288937, antl talce 0*004T393> the Gravity.
40th part of the difference. Multiply this by 1, 2, 3, v
&.c. and add the logarithm of 0.73 to each of the pro-
dudfs. The firms are the logarithms of the fpecific gra¬
vities required. Thefe wTill be found to proceed fo
equably, that they may be interpolated ten times by a
fimple table of proportional parts without the ftnalleft:
fenfible error. Therefore the ftem may be divided in¬
to a hundred parts very fenfible to the eye (each being
nearly the 20th of an inch), and 406 degrees of fpecific
gravity obtained within the range, which is as near as
we can examine this matter by any hydrometer. Thus
the fpecific gravities correfponding to N° 26, 27, 28,
29, are as follow :
26 0.93529
27 0.94424
28 0.95328
29 0.96241
1 ft Diff.
895
904
9*3
2d Diff.
9
9
Nay, the trouble of infpedling a table may be avoid¬
ed, by forming on a fcale the logarithms of the num¬
bers between 7300 and 1068.793, and placing along
fide of it a fcale of the fame length divided into 400
equal parts, numbered from o to 400. Then, looking
for the mark fhown by the hydrometer on this fcale of
equal parts, rve fee oppofite to it the fpecific gravity.
We have been thus particular in the illuftiation of
this mode of conftruttion, becaufe it is really a beauti¬
ful and commodious inftrument, which may be of great
ufe both to the naturalift and to the man of bufinefs.—
A table may be comprifed in 20 oftavo pages, which
will contain the fpecific gravities of every fluid which
can intereft either, and anfvver every queftion relative
to their admixture with as much precifion as the ob-
fervations can be made. We therefore recommend it
to our readers, and we recommend the very example
which w7e have given as one of the moft convenient.
The inftrument need not exceed eight inches in length,
and may be contained in a pocket cafe of two inches
broad and as many deep, which will alfo contain the
fcale, a thermometer, and even the table for applying it
to all fluids which have been examined.
It is unfortunate that no graduated hydrometer can
be made fo eafily for the examination of the corrofive
mineral acids (a). Thefe muft be made of glafs, and
we cannot depend on the accurate cylindric form of any
glafs ftem. But if any fuch can be procured, the con-
ftru&ion is the fame. The divided fcale may either be
on thin paper pafted on the infide of the ftem, or it may¬
be printed on the ftem itfelf from a plate, with ink made
of a metallic calx, which will attach itfelf to the glafs
with a very moderate heat. We would recommend
common white enamel, or arfenical glafs, as the fitteft:
material for the whole inftrument -, and the ink ufed, in
taking the impreflion of the fcale, may be the fame that
is ufed for the low-priced printing on Delft ware pot¬
tery.—Firft form the fcale on the ftem. Then, having
meafured the folid contents of the graduated part as ex-
adly as poflible, and determined on the general ftiape
(a) It would be worth while to try copper enamelled.
S P E [ 563 ! S P E
Specific of the ball and counterpolfe below, calculate Its fize, fo
Gravity- that it may be a little lefs than ten times that of the
" item. The glafs-blower can copy this very nearly, and
join it to the item. Then make two brines or other li¬
quors, which ihall have fpecific gravities in the ratio of
10 to 11. Load the initrument fo that it may fink to
o in the lighteit. When put into the heavieft, it ihould
rife to 10. If it does not rife fohigh, the immerfed part
is too fmall. Let the glafs-blower enlarge the ball of
the counterpoife a little. Repeat this trial till it be ex-
aft. Nothing now remains but to form the weights :
And here we obferve, that when the initrument is to
have a very great range, as for examining all ftates of
the vitriolic acid, it has a chance of being very tot¬
tering when loaded -with the greateft weight on the
top ot fo long a fcale. To avoid this, Mr Quin and
others have added fame of their weights below.—-
But this will not fuit the prefent conitruftion, becaufe
It will alter the proportion between the balks of the
Item and immerfed part. Therefore let thefe weighty
confiit of cylinders of metal finall enough to go into
the Item, and let them be foldered to the end of long
wires, which will let them go to the bottom, and leave
a fmall hook or ring at top. Thefe can lie alongfide
of the inftrument in its cafe. This is indeed the belt
conftruftion for every hydrometer, becaufe it makes it
incomparably more Heady. The inttrument is poifed
by fmall (hot or mercury. But it will be much better to
do it with Newton’s tufible metal (three parts of tin,
five parts of lead, and eight parts of bifmuth) in coarfe
-filings. When the exaft quantity has been put in, the
inftrument may be fet in a veflel of oil, and this kept
on the fire till all is completely melted. It foon freezes
again, and i-emains fall. If this metal is not to be had,
let a few bits of fealing wax be added to the mercury
or (hot, to make up the counterpoife. When heated,
it will float a-top, and when it freezes again it will
keep all fall. Thus we (hall make a very complete and
cheap inftrument.
There is yet another method of examining the fpe¬
cific gravities of fluids, firft propofed by Dr Wilfon,
late profeffor of aftronomy in the univerfity of Glafgow.
This isjay a feries of fmall glafs bubbles, differing equally,
or according to fome rule, from each other in fpecific
gravity, and each marked with its proper number.
When thefe are thrown into a fluid which is to be exa¬
mined, all thofe which are heavier than the fluid will fall
to the bottom. Then holding the veffel in the hand,
or near a fire or candle, the fluid expands, and one of
the floating bubbles begins to fink. Its fpecific gravity,
therefore was either equal to, or a little lefs than, that
of the fluid 5 and the degree of the thermometer, when
it begaw to fink, will inform us how much it was defi¬
cient, if we know the law of expanfion of the liquor.
Sets of thefe bubbles fitted for the examination of fpi-
rituous liquors, with a little treatife fhowing the manner
of ufing them, and calculating by the thermometer, are
made by Mr Brown, an ingenious artift of Glafgow,
and are often ufed by the dealers in fpirits, being found
both accurate and expeditious.
Alfo, though a bubble or two fhould be broken, the
ftrength of fpirits may eafily be had by means of the
remainder, unlefs two or three in immediate fucceflion
be wanting: for a liquor which anfwers to N° 4 will
fink N° 2. by heating it a few degrees, and therefore
N° 3. may be fpared. This is a great advantage in or- Specific
dinary bufinefs. A nice hydrometer is not only an ex- Gravity-
penfive inftrument, but exceedingly delicate, being fo
very thin. If broken or even bruifed, it is ufelefs, and
can hardly be repaired except by the very maker.
As the only queftion here is, to determine how many
gallons of excife proof fpirits is contained in a quantity
of liquor, the artift has conftrufted this feries of bubbles
in the fimpleft manner poffible, by previoufly making
40 or 50 mixtures of fpirits and water, and then adjuft-
ing the bubbles to thefe mixtures. In fome fets the
number on each bubble is the number of gallons of
proof fpirits contained in 100 gallons of the liquor. In
other fets the number on each bubble expreffes the gal¬
lons of w'ater which will make a liquor of this ftrength,
if added to 14 gallons of alcohol. Thus, if a liquor an¬
fwers to N° 4, t hen 4 gallons of water added to 14
gallons of alcohol wall make a liquor of this ftrength.
The firft is the beft method ; for we fhould be miftaken
in luppofing that 18 gallons, which anfvver to N°4, con¬
tains exaftly 14 gallons of alcohol: it contains more
than 14, for a reafon to be given by and by.
Bv examining the fpecific gravity of bodies, the phi-
lofopher has made fome very curious difcoveries. The
moll remarkable of thefe is the change wdfich the denfi-
ty of bodies fuffers by mixture. It is a moft reafonable
expectation, that when a cubic foot of one fubftance is
mixed any how with a cubic foot of another, the bulk
of the mixture will be two cubic feet; and that 18 gal¬
lons of wTater joined to 18 gallons of oil will fill a veffel
of 36 gallons. Accordingly this was never doubted j
and even Archimedes, the moft fcrupulous of mathema¬
ticians, proceeded on this fuppofition in the folution of
his famous problem, the difcovery of the proportion of
filver and gold in a mixture of both. He does not even
mention it as a poftulate that 7nay be granted him, fo
much did he conceive it to be an axiom. Yet a little
refleftion feems fufficient to make it doubtful and to
require examination. A box filled with mulket-balls
will receive a confiderable quantity of fmall (hot, and af¬
ter this a confiderable quantity of fine fand, and after
this a confiderable quantity of water. Something like
this might happen in the admixture of bodies of porous
texture. But fuch fubftancesas metals, glafs, and fluids,
where no difcontinuity of parts can be perceived, or was
fufpefted, feemfree from every chance of this kind of in-
trofufception. Lord Bacon, however, without being a
naturalift or mathematician ex profejfo, inferred from the
mobility of fluids that they confuted of difcrete parti¬
cles, which muft have pores interpofed, whatever be
their figure. And if w'e afcribe the different denfities, or
other fenfible qualities, to difference in fize or figure of
thofe particles, it imift frequently happen that the fmall-
er particles will be lodged in the interftices between the
larger, and thus contribute to the weight of the fenfible
mafs without increafing its bulk. He therefore fufpefts
that mixtures will be in general lefs bulky than the fum
of their ingredients.
Accordingly, the examination of this queflion w'as
one of the firft employments of the Royal Society of
London, and long before its inftitution had occupied
the attention of the gentlemen who afterwards compo-
fed it. The regifter of the Society’s early meetings
contains many experiments on this fubjeft, with mix¬
tures of gold and filver, of other metals, and of various
4 B a fluids,
s P E [ 5<)4 ] S P E
specific fluids, examined by the hydroftatical balance of Mr
Graviiy. g0yie< J3r JJooke made a prodigious number, chief¬
ly on articles of commerce, which were unfortunately
loft in the fire of London.
It was foon found, however, that Lord Bacon’s con¬
jecture had been well founded, and that bodies changed
their denfity very fenfibly in many cafes. In general,
it was found that bodies which had a ftrong chemical
affinity increafed in denfity, and that their admixture
was accompanied with heat.
By this difcovery it is manifeft that Archimedes had
not folved the problem of detecting the quantity of fil-
ver mixed with the gold in King Hiero’s crown, and
that the phyfical folution of it requires experiments made
on all the kinds of matter that are mixed together.
We do not find that this has been done to this day, al¬
though we may affirm that there are few queftions of
more importance. It is a very curious faCf in chemi-
ftry, and it wTould be moft definable to be able to re¬
duce it to fome general laws: For inftance, to afcertain
what is the proportion of two ingredients which pro¬
duces the greateft change of denfity. This is impor¬
tant in the fcience of phyfics, becaufe it give us confi-
derable information as to the mode of aCtion of thofe
natural powers or forces by which the particles of tan¬
gible matter are united. If this introfufception, con¬
centration, compenetration, or by whatever name it
be called, were a mere reception of the particles of
one fubftance into the interftices of thofe of another,
it is evident that the greateft concentration would be
obferved when a fmall quantity of the recipiend is mix¬
ed wdth, or difleminated through, a great quantity of
the other. It is thus that a fmall quantity of fine fand
will be received into the interftices of a quantity of
fmall ffiot, and will increafe the weight of the bagful
without increafing its bulk. The cafe is nowife diffe¬
rent when a piece of freeftone has grown heavier by
imbibing or abforbing a quantity of water. If more
than a certain quantity of land has been added to the
imall (hot, it is no longer concealed. In like manner,
various quantities of water may combine with a mafs of
clay, and increafe its fize and weight alike. All this is
very conceivable, occafioning no difficulty.
But this is not the cafe in any of the mixtures we
are now confidering. In all thefe, the firft additions of
either of the two fubftances produce but an inconfider-
able change of general denfity j and it is in general
moft remarkable, whether it be condenfation or rare-
fa&ion, when the two ingredients are nearly of equal
bulks. We can illuftrate even this difference, by re¬
flecting on the imbibition of water bv vegetable folids,
fuch as timber. Some kinds of wood have their weight
much more increafed than their bulks 5 other kinds of
wood are more enlarged in bulk than in weight. The
like happens in grains. This is curious, and (hows in the
moft unqueftionable manner that the particles of bodies
are not in contact, but are kept together by forces
which aft at a diftance. For this diftance "between
the centres of the particles is moft evidently fufceptible
of variation ; and this variation is occafioned by the in-
troduftion of another fubftance, ‘which, bv afting on
the particles by attraftion or repulfion, diminifhes or
mcreafes their mutual aftions, and makes new diftances
neceffary for bringing all things again into equilibrium.
We refer the curious reader to the ingenious theory of
the abbe Bofcovicb for an excellent illuftratlon of this
fubjeft {JLlieor. Phil. Nat. § de Solutione Chemica).
1'his queftion is no lefs important to the man of bu-
finefs. lift we know the condenfation of thofe metals
by mixture, we cannot tell the quantity of alloy in gold
and filver by means of their fpecific gravity ; nor can we
tell the quantity of pure alcohol in any fpirituous liquor,
or that of the valuable fait in any folution of it. For
want of this knowledge, the dealers in gold and filver
are obliged to have recourfe to the tedious and difficult
teft of the allay, which cannot be made in all places or
by all men. It is therefore much to be wiffied, that
fome perfons would inftitute a feries of experiments in
the moft interefting cafes : for it muft be obferved, that
this change of denfity is not always a fmall matter ; it is
fometimes very confiderable and paradoxical. A re¬
markable inftance may be given of it in the mixture of
brafs and tin for bells, great guns, optical fpeculums,
8cc. 'Jftie fpecific gravity of caft brafs is nearly 8.oc6,
and that of tin is nearly 7.363. If two parts of brafs be
mixed with one of tin, the fpecific gravity is 8.9175
whereas, if each had retained its former bulk, the fp. grav.
would have been only 7.793^— -- ‘°0j. A
mixture of equal parts fhould have the fpecific gravity
7.684 5 but it is 8.441. A mixture of two parts tin
with one part brafs, inftead of being 7.577, is 8.027.
In all thefe cafes there is a great increafe of fpecific
gravity, and confequently a great condenfation of parts
or contraftion of bulk. The firft mixture of eight cu¬
bic inches of brafs, for inftance, with four cubic inches
of tin, does not produce 1 2 cubic inches of bell-metal,
but only ic^- nearly, having fhrunk ^ It would ap¬
pear that the diftances of the brafs particles are moft af«
fefted, or perhaps it is the brafs that receives the tin in¬
to its pores 5 for we find that the condenfations in thele
mixtures are nearly proportional to the quantities of the
brafs in the mixtures. It is remarkable that this mix¬
ture with the lighter! of all metals has made a compofi-
tion more heavy and denfe than brafs can be made by
any hammering.
The moft remarkable inftance occurs in mixing iron
with platina. If 10 cubic inches of iron are mixed with
i-J of platina, the bulk of the compound is only 9!
inches. The iron therefore has not fimply received the
platina into its pores : its own particles are brought
nearer together. There are fimilar refults in the folu¬
tion of turbith mineral, and of fome other falts, in wa¬
ter. The water, inftead of rifing in the neck of the vef-
fel, when a fmall quantity of the fait has been added to
it, finks confiderably, and the two ingredients occupy
lefs room than the water did alone.
The fame thing happens in the mixture of water with
other fluids and different fluids with each other : But we
are not able to trace any general rule that is obferved
with abfolute precifion. In moft cafes of fluids the
greateit condenfation happens when the bulks of the in¬
gredients are nearly equal. Thus, in the mixture of al¬
cohol and water, we have the greateft condenfation
when i6x ounces of alcohol are mixed with 20 ounces
of water, and the condenfation is about of the whole
bulk of the ingredients. It is extremely various in dif¬
ferent fubftances, and no claffification of them can be
made in this refpeff.
A differtation has been publiihed on this fubjeft by
Le
Specific
Gravity.
S P E
Specific
Gravity.
S P E [ 56
Dr Hahn of Vienna, Intitled De Ejficacia Mixtionis in
mutandis Corporum Voluminibus, in which all the re¬
markable inftances of the variation of denfity have been
collefted. All that we can do (as we have no direfting
principle) is to record fuch inftances as are of chief im¬
portance, being articles of commerce.
The fir ft that occurs to us is the mixtures of alcohol
and water in the compofition of fpirituous liquors. This
has been confidered by many with great care. The moft
fcrupulous examination of this, or perhaps of any mix¬
ture, has been lately made by Dr Blagden (now Sir
Charles Blagden) of the Royal Society, on the requi-
fition of the Board of Excife. He has publiftied an ac¬
count of the examination in the Philofophical Tranfac-
tions of London in 1791 and I792, ^,e S^ve an
account of it under the article SPIRITUOUS Liquors;
and at prefent only feleft one column, in order to thow
the condenfation. The alcohol was almoft Rte ftrongeft
that can be produced, and its fpecific gravity, when of
the temperature 6o°, was 0.S25. The whole mixtures
were of the fame temperature.
Column 1. contains the pounds, ounces, or other
meafures by weight, of alcohol in the mixture. Co¬
lumn 2. contains the pounds or ounces of water. Co¬
lumn 3. is the fum of the bulks of the ingredients, the
bulk of a pound or ounce of water being accounted I.
Column 4. is the obferved fpecific gravity of the mix¬
ture, taken from Dr Blagden’s differtation. Column 5.
is the fpecific gravity which would have been obferved
if the ingredients had each retained its own fpecific gra¬
vity. This we calculated by dividing the fum of the
two numbers of the firft and fecond columns by the cor-
refponding number of the thira. Column 6. is the dif¬
ference of column 4* und column 3. and exhibits the
condenfation.
TABLE.
A.
W
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
2C
20
20
20
20
20
20
'9
18
o
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
M
15
16
18
20
20
20
Volume.
24.2424
25.2424
26.2424
27.2424
28.2424
29.2424
30.2424
31.2424
2 2.2424
33-2424
34.2424
35.2424
36.2424
37.2424
38.2424
39.2424
40.2424
41.2424
42 2424
43.2424
44.2424
43-03°3
48.1182
Sp. Grav.
obferved.
Sp. Grav.
calculated.
Conden¬
fation.
0.8250
0.8360
0.8457
0-8543
0.8621
0.8692
0.8757
0.8817
0.8872 1
0.8923
0.8971
0.9014
09055
0.9093
0.9129
0.9162
o-9'93
0.9223
0.9250
0.9276
0.9300
0.9325
0-9349
0.8250
0.8320
0.8383
0.8443
0.8498
0.8549
0.8597
0.8642
0.8684
0.8724
0.8761
0.8796
0.8829
0.8860
0.8891
O.89 ! 9
O.8946
O.897I
O.8996
O.9OI9
O.9O4I
O.9063
O.9087
OO
40
74
100
123
M3
160
175
188
199
216
218
226
-233
238
243
247
2 c 2
254
257
259
262
262
A.
17
16
*5
M
I 13
i 12
i 11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
o
W.
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
Volume.
40.6061
39-3939
38.1818
36.9697
35-7576
34-5455
33-3333
32.1212
30.9091
29.6970
28.4849
27.2727
26 0606
24.8485
23 6364
22.4242
21.2121
20.0000
Sp. Grav.
obferved.
Sp. Grav.
calculated.
0-9375
0.9402
0.9430
0.9458
0.9488
0.9518
0.9549
0.9580
0.9612
0.9644
0.9675
o 9707
0.9741
o 9777
0.9818
0.9865
0,9924
1.0000
0.9112
0.9139
0.9167
0.9197
0.9229
0.9263
0.9300
0.9340
0.9382
0.9429
0.9479
o-9533
0 9593
0.9659
o 9731
o 9811
0.9900
1.0000
Conden¬
fation.
263
263
263
261
259
255
249
240
230
215
196
174
148
11S
87
54
24
Specific
Gravity.
It is to be remarked, that the condenfation is greateft:
when 164 ounces of alcohol have been added to 20 of
water, and the condenfation is -qtVtVj or nearly -4-g-th
of the computed denfity. Since the fpecific gravity of
alcohol is 0.825, it is evident that 164 ounces of alco¬
hol and 20 ounces of water have equal bulks. So that
the condenfation is gveateft when theiubftances are mix¬
ed in equal volumes^ and 18 gallons of alcohol mixed
with 18 gallons of water will produce not 36 gallons of
fpirits, but 35 only.
We may alfo obferve, that this is the mixture to
which our revenue laws refer, declaring it to be one to
fix or one in /even under proof, and to weigh 7 pounds
1 3 ounce per gallon. This proportion was probably fe-
le&ed as the moft eafily compofed, viz. by mixing equal
meafures of water and of the ftrongeft fpirit which the
known proceffes of diftillation could produce. Its fpeci¬
fic gravity is 0.939 very nearly.
We muft conlkler this elaborate examination of the
mixture of water and alcohol as a ftandnrd feries of ex¬
periments, to which appeal may always be made, whe¬
ther for the purpofes of fcience or of trade. The regu¬
larity of the progreflion is fo great, that in the column
which we have examined, viz. that for temperature 6o°,
the greateft anomaly does not amount to one part in fix
thoutand. The form of the feries is alfo very judici-
oufly chofen for the purpofes of fcience. It would per¬
haps have been more direftly ftereometrical had the pro¬
portions of the ingredients been ftated in bulks, which
are more immediately connected with denfity. But the
author has aftigned a very cogent reafon for his choice,
viz. that the ^proportion of bulks varies by a change of
temperature, becaufe the water and fpirits follow difter-
ent laws in their expanfion by heat.
This is a proper opportunity for taking notice of a
miftake which is very generally made in the conclufions
drawn from experiments of this kind. Equal additions
of the fpirit or water produce a feries of fpecific gravi¬
ties, which decreafe or increafe by differences continual¬
ly diminifiling. Hence it is inferred that there is a con-
tra&iqn of bulk. Even Dr Lewis, one of our moft ac-
complifhed -
$ P E t 566 1 S P E
compliilied naturalifts, advances this pofition, in a dif-
fertation on the potatli of America ; and it confiderably
affedts his method for eflimating the tirength of the pot-
aih leys. £ut that it is a miftake, appears plainly from
this, that although vve add for ever equal quantities of
the fpirits, we thall never produce a mixture which has
as fmall a fpecific gravity as alcohol. Therefore the fe-
ries of fucceflive gravities muft approximate to this with¬
out end, like the ordinates of a hyperbolic curve refer¬
red to its aflymptote.
That this may appear in the moft general terms, let
to reprelent the weight of the conftant quantity of wa¬
ter in the mixture, and let a be the weight of the fmall
addition of fpirits. Adfo let w reprefent the bulk of
this quantity of water, and b the bulk of the fmall ad¬
dition of alcohol. 1 he weight of the mixture is
the fpecific gravity obferved ; and thus we learn whe¬
ther b, the bulk of the added ingredient, fuft'ers any
change. We thall have occafion by and by to refume
the confideration of this queftion, which is of the firft
moment in the theory of fpecific gravities, and has great
intluence in many tranfadlions of commerce.
I his feries. of fpecific gravities is not fo well fitted
for commercial traniadhons. In thefe the ulual quef¬
tion is, how many gallons of alcohol is there in a calk,
or fome number of gallons of fpirit ? and it is more
dnedtiy anfwered by means of a table, formed by mix-
ing tiie ingredients in aliquant parts of one contlant
bulk. The following table, conftrudled from the ex¬
periments of Mr Britfon of the academy of Paris, and
publifhed in the Memoirs for 1769, is therefore in-
ferted.
and its bulk is w-\-b, and its fpecific gravity is •—
If we now add a fecond equal quantity of fpirits, the
weight will be w-\-2a, and if the fpirit retains its den-
fity unchanged, the bulk will be TO-f-2 £, and the fpeci-
r . . %V -4- 2 U , .
nc gravity is ;   : and after any number m of fuch
w -j- 2 b
equal additions of fpirits, the fpecific gravity will be
\u-\-ma
 ; 7. Divide the numerator of this fradtion by its
tu q- m o J
denominator, and the quotient or fpecific gravity will
, my. a—b .
be l-j ; Tms confifls of the conflant part 1,
w-^-mb r ’
and the variable part —— We need attend only
w-j-rnb •'
to this part. If its denominator were conftant* it is
plain that the fuccefiive fpecific gravities would have
equal differences, each being = ~becaufe m in-
'w-\-mb
creafes by the continual addition of an unit, and a b
is a conftant quantity. But the denominator u’ + w Z>
continually increafes, and therefore the value of the frao-
. a—b . ......
tion —  7 continually dimmifties.
w m b
Therefore the gradual diminution of the increments
or decrements of fpecific gravity, by equal additions of
one ingredient to a conftant meafure of the other, is not
of itfelf an indication of a change of denfity of either
of the ingredients; nor proves that in very diluted mix¬
tures a greater proportion of one ingredient is abforbed
or lodged in the interftices of the other, as is generally
imagined. This muft be afeertained by comparing
each fpecific gravity with the gravity expreffed by 1 -j-
—b')
w-\-mb
This feries of fpecific gravities refembles fuch a nu¬
merical feries as the following, 1 ; • 1.56 ;
1.163 ; 1.4-69 j &c. the terms of which alfo confift of
the conftant integer 1, and the decimal fractions 0.156 j
0.163 j 0.169 5 &c. The fraction ~~—expreffes
b
this decimal part. Call this </, or make
iv -j-m b
This will give us £ ~ Now a is the weight
cf the added ingredient, and d is the variable part of
3
In this table the whole quantity of fpirituous liquor is
always the fame. The firft column is the number of
meafures (gallons, pints, inches, &c.)s of water in the
mixture : and column 2d gives the meafures of alcohol.
Column 3d is the fpecific gravity which was obferved
by Mr Briffon. Column 4th is the fpecific gravity
which would have been obferved if the fpirits, or wa¬
ter, or both, had retained their fpecific denfity un¬
changed, And the 5th column marks the augmenta¬
tion of fpecific gravity or denfily in parts of 10.000.
A 6th column is added, ftrowing the bulk of the 16
cubic meafures of the two ingredients. Each meafure
m»y be conceived as the 16th part of 10.000, or 625 j
and we may iuppofe them cubic inches, pints, gallons,
or any folid meafure.
This table fcarcely differs from Sir Charles Blag-
den’s ; and the very fmall difference that may be ob¬
ferved, arifes from Mr Briffon’s having ufed an alcohol
not fo completely reftified. Its fpecific gravity is
9,8371, whereas the other was only 0.8250.
Here it appears more diftinftly that the condenfa-
tion is greateft when the two ingredients are of equal
bulk.
Perhaps this feries of fpecific gravities is as declara¬
tive as the other, whether or not there is a change of
denfity induced in either of the ingredient*. The
whole.
SpecinC
Gravity.
I
S P E
[ 567 ]
S P E
Specific
Gravity.
whole bulk being always the fame, it is plain that the
fucceflive equal additions to one of the ingredients is a
fuccelTive equal abitradtion of the other. The change
produced, therefore, in the weight of the whole, is the
difference between the weight of the ingredient which
is taken out and the weight of the equal meaiure of the
other which fuppiies its place. Therefore, if neither
ingredient changes its cienfity by mixture, the weights
of the mixtures will be in arithmetical progreffion. If
they are not, there is a variation of denfity in one or
both the ingredients.
We fee this very clearly in the mixtures of water and
alcohol. The fuff fpecitic gravity differs from the fe-
cond by 156, and the laff differs from the preceding by
no more than 81. Had neither of the denfilies chan¬
ged, the common difference would have been 102.
We obferve alfo, that the augmentation of fpecific gra¬
vity, by the fucceffive addition of a meafure of wTa-
ter, grows lefs and lefs till 1 2 meafures of water is mixed
with 4 of alcohol, wdien the augmentation is only 58,
and then it increafes again to 81.
It alfo appears, that the addition of one meafure of
water to a quantity of alcohol produces a greater .change
of denffty than the mixture of one meafure of alcohol
to a quantity of wTater. Hence foine conclude, that the
water difappears by being lodged in the interftices of
the fpirit. But it is more agreeable to the jurteft no¬
tions w'hich we can form of the internal conilitution of
tangible bodies to fuppofe that the particles of water di¬
mini fh the diifances between the particles of alcohol
by their ftrong attraflions, and that this diminution
(exceedingly minute in itfelf) becomes fenfible on ac¬
count of the great number of particles whofe diffances
are thus diminifhed. This is merely a probability
founded on this, that it would require a much greater
diminution of diftances if it was the particles of wTater
which had their diftances thus diminiihed. But the
greater probability is, that the condenfation takes place
in both.
We have been fo particular in our confideration of
this mixture, becaufe the law of variation of denfity has,
in this inftance, been afeertained with fuch precifion by
the elaborate examination of Sir Charles Blagden, fo
that it may ferve as an example of what happens in al-
moft every mixture of bodies. It merits a Hill farther
difeuffion, becaufe it is intimately connected with the
aflion of the corpufcular forces j and an exadl knowledge
of the variations of diffance between the particles will
go far to afeertain the law of aflion of thefe forces.
But the limits of a work like this will not permit us to
dwell longer on this fubjeef. We proceed therefore to
give another ufeful table.
The vitriolic or fulphuric acid is of extenfive ufe in
manufaftures under the name of oil of vitriol. Its va¬
lue depends entirely on the faline ingredient, and the
water is merely a vehicle for the acid. This, being
much denfer than water, affefts its fpecific gravity, and
thus gives us a method of afeertaining its ftrength.
The ftrongeft oil of vitriol that can be ealily manu¬
factured contains 6l2TV grains of dry acid, united
with grains of water, which cannot be feparated
from it by diftillation, making 1000 grains of oil OF
trtlTRlOL. Its fpecific gravity in this ftate is 1.877.
Ihe following table (hows its fpecific gravity at the
temperature of 55® when diluted by the fucceflive addi¬
tion of parts of water by weight.
Specific Gravity.
O'- Vit.
10
Water.
O
4
8
12
l6
20
24
28
32
40
5°
Co
Ob? rved.
I.877
I. 644
J. 474
I.381
1.320
I.274
1-243
1.211
I.183
I.172
I.I48
1.128
Cain lated.
I.877
1-501
1-350
1.269
1.219
1.184
i-*59
1.140
1.125
1-113
1.103
1.084
1.069
Cond.
.OO
•I43
.124
.112
.101
.090
.084
.07 £
.070
.070
.070
.064
•059
its fpecific gravity is
acid.
Nitr. Ac.
10
X
Water.
o
I
6
11
16
21
26
3i
36
41
1-557
1.474
I*35°
1.269
1.214
1.175
1.151
1.127
1.106
1.086
I-557
1.474
1.273
1.191
I*I47
1.120
1.101
1.087.
1.077
1.068
0.077
0.078
0.067
°-055
0.050
0.040
0.029
0.018
There is not the fame uniformity in the denfities of
this acid in its different ftates of dilution. This feems
©wing
Specific
Gravity.
Here is obferved a much greater condenfation than
in the mixture of alcohol and water. But we cannot
affign the proportion of ingredients which produces the
greateft condenfation j becaufe we cannot, in any cafe,
fay what is the proportion of the faline and watery in¬
gredients. The ftrongeft oil of vitriol is already a wa¬
tery folution \ and it is by a confiderable and uncertain
detour that Mr Kirwan has affigned the proportion of
61 2 and 388 nearly. If this be the true ratio, it is un¬
like every other folution that we are acquainted with j
for in all folutions of falts, the fait occupies iels room in
its liquid form than it did when foiid ; and here it would
be greatly the reverfe.
This folution is remarkable alfo for the copious emer¬
gence of heat in its dilutions with more water. This
has been aferibed to the great fuperiority of water in its
capacity for heat; but there are faffs which render this
very doubtful. A veffel of water, and another of oil of
vitriol, being brought from a cold room into a warm
one, they both imbibe heat, and rife in their tempera¬
ture ; and the water employs nearly the fame time to
attain the temperature of the room.
Aquafortis or nitrous acid is another fluid very much
employed in commerce 5 fo that it is of importance to
afeertain the relation between its faline ftrength and its
fpecific gravity. We owe alfo to Mr Kirwan a table for
this purpofe.
The moft concentrated ftate into which it can eafily
be brought is fuch, that 1000 grains of it confifts of
563 grains of water and 437 of dry acid. In this ftate
1.557. Let this be called nitrous.
Specific
Gravity.
S P E
[ 563 ]
S
P
E
owing to the variable proportion of the deleterious and
vital air which compofe this acid. It is more denfe in
proportion as it contains more of the latter ingre¬
dient.
The proportions of the aeriform ingredients of the
muriatic acid are fo very variable, and fo little under
our command, that we cannot frame tables of its fpe-
cific gravity which would enable us to judge of its
ftrengfh.
It is a general property of thefe acids, that they
are more expanfrble by heat as they are more concen¬
trated.
There is another clafs of fluids which it would be of
great confequence to reduce to fome rules with refpedl
to fpecific gravity, namely, the folutions of falts, gums,
and refins. It is interefting to the philofophcr to know
in what manner falts ai'e contained in thefe watery fo¬
lutions, and to difcover the relation between their
ftrength and denfity } and to the man of bufinefs it
would be a moft defirable thing to have a criterion of
the quantity of fait in any brine, or of extradlable mat¬
ter in a decoiftion. It would be equally defirable to
thole who are to purchafe them as to thofe who manu¬
facture or employ -them. Perhaps we might ascer¬
tain in this way the value of fugar, depending on the
quantity of fweetening matter which it contains •, a
thing which at prefent refts on the vague determina¬
tion of the eye or palate. It would therefore be doing
a great fervice to the public, if fome intelligent perfon
would undertake a train of experiments with this view.
Accuracy alone is required ; and it may be left to the
philofophers to compare the fa£ls, and draw the confe-
quences refpefting the internal arrangement of the par¬
ticles.
One circumftance in the folution of falls is very ge¬
neral $ and we are inclined, for ferious reafons, to think
it univerfal : this is a diminution of bulk. This indeed
in fome falts is inconfiderable. Sedative fait, for in-
itance, hardly (hows any diminution, and might be con-
lidered as an exception, w'ere it not the fingle inftance.
This circumflance, and fome confiderations connected
with our notions of this kind of folution, difpofe us to
think that this fait differs in contraction from others
only in degree, and that there is fome, though it was
not fenfible, in the experiments hitherto made.
Thefe experiments, indeed, have not been numerous.
Thofe of Mr Achard of Berlin, and of Dr Richard
Watfon of Cambridge, are perhaps the only ones of
which wTe have a defcriptive narration, by which we can
judge of the validity of the inferences drawn from them.
The fubjeft is not fufceptible of much accuracy; for
falts in their folid form are feldom free from cavities
and fliivery interftices, which do not admit the water
on their firft immerfion, and thereby appear of greater
bulk when we attempt to meafure their fpecific gravity
by weighing them in fluids which do not diflblve them,
fuch as fpirits of turpentine. They alfo attach to them-
felves, with confiderable tenacity, a quantity of almo-
fpheric air, which merely adheres, but makes no part of
their compofition. This efcapes in the aft of folution,
being fet at liberty by the ftronger affinity of the water.
Sal gem, however, and a few others, may be very accu¬
rately meafured ; and in thefe inftances the degree of
contraftion is very conftant.
The following experiments of Dr Watfon appear to
4
us the moft inftruftive as to this circumftance. A glafs Specific
veffel was ufed, having a flender cylindrical neck, and CTiavity.
holding 67 ounces of pure water when filled to a cer¬
tain mark. The neck above this mark had a fcale of
equal parts palled on it. It was filled to the mark with
water. Twenty four pennyweights of fait were thrown
into it as fpeedily as poffible, and the bulk of the fait
was mealured by the elevation of the water. Every
thing was attended to which could retard the immediate
folution, that the error arifing from the folution of the
firlt particles, before the reft could be put. in, might be
as fmall as poffible ; and in order that both the abfolute
bulk and its variations might be obtained by fome known
fcale, 24 pennyweights of water were put in. This raf¬
fed the furface 58 parts of the fcale. Now we know ex¬
actly the bulk of 24 pennyweights of pure water. It is
2.275 cubic inches; and thus we obtain every thing in
abfolute meafures : And by comparing the bulk of each
fait, both at its firft immerfion and after its complete fo¬
lution, we obtain its fpecific gravity, and the change
made on it in paffing from a folid to a fluid form. The
following table is an abftraft of thefe experiments. The
firfi column of numbers is the elevation of the iurface im¬
mediately after immerflon ^ the fecond gives the eleva¬
tion when the fait is completely diffolved } and the third
and fourth columns are the fpecific gravities of the falts
in thefe two ftates.
Twenty-four Pennyweights.
I.
III.
TV.
W ater
Glauber’s fait
Mild volatile alkali
Sal ammoniac
Refined white fugar
Coarfe brown fugar
White fugar candy
Lymington Glauber’s fait
Terra foliata tartari
Rochelle fait
Alum not quite diffolved
Borax not one-half diffol¬
ved in two days
Green vitriol
White vitriol
Nitre
Sal gem from Northwich
Blue vitriol
Pearl allies
Tart, vitriolatus
Green vitriol calcined to
white
Dry fait of tartar
Bafket fea-falt
Corrofive fublimate
Turbith mineral
58
42
40
40
39
39
37
35
37
33
33
33
3 2
3°
3°
27
26
2 5
22
22
21
19
14
9
36
33
39
3 6
36
36
29
30
28
28
31
26
24
21
*7
20
10
11
11
E3
*5
10
o
1.380
1.45°
1.450
M87
1.487
I-i67
i-657
1.567
i-757
I-757
I,757
1.812
I*933
i*933
2.143
2.230
2.320
2.636
2.636
2.761
3-°52
4.142
6.444
1.611
1.787
1.487
1.611
1.611
1.611
2.000
I-933
2.071
2.061
2.230
2.416
2.766
3-411
2.900
5.800
5.272
5.272
4.461
3866
3.800
The infpeftion of this liff naturally fuggefls two flates
of the cafe as particularly interefting to the philofopher
ftudying the theory of folution. The firft ftale is when
the lixivium approaches to faturation. In the very point
of faturation any addition of fait retains its bulk un¬
changed. In diluted brines, we fliall fee that the den-
fity
S P E [ 569 ] S P E
fity of tl;s fluid full is greater, and gradually diminilhes
as we add more fait. It is an important queilion,
Whether this diminution goes on continually, till the
fluid denfity of the fait is the fame with its foiid den-
fity ? or, Whether there is an abrupt paffage from fome
degree of the one to the fixed degree of the other, as .we
obferve in the freezing of iron, the fetting of flucco, and
fome other inftances ?
The other interefting ftate is that of extreme dilution,
when the dift’erences between the lucceflive denfities bear
a gi'eat pi’oportion to the denfities themfelves, and thus
enable the mathematician to afcertain with fome preci-
fion the variations of corpufcular force, in confequence of
a variation of diftance between the particles. The {ketch
of an invefligation of this important queftion given by
Bofcovich, in his Theory of Natural Philolophy, is very
promifing, and flrould incite the philofophical chemift
to the fludy. The firfl: thing to be done is to compare
the law of Ipecific gravity •, that is, the relation between
the fpecific gravity and quantity of fait held in folution,
Wifhing to make this work as ufeful as poflible, we
have fearched for experiments, and trains of experi¬
ments, on the denfity of the many brines which make
important articles of commerce ; but we were morti¬
fied by the fcantinefs of the information, and difappoint-
ed in our hopes of being able to combine the detached
obfervations, fuited to the immediate views of their au¬
thors, in fuch a manner as to deduce from them fcales
(as they may be called) of their flrength. We rarely
found thefe detached obfervations attended with circum-
ftances which would conneff them with others; and
there was frequently fuch a difcrepancy, nay oppofition,
in feriefes of experiments made for afcertaining the rela¬
tion between the denfity and the flrength, that we could
not obtain general principles which enable us to con-
Ihiufl: tables of ftrength a priori.
.Mr Lambert, one of the firfl: mathematicians and phi-
lofophers of Europe, in a diffcrtation in the Berlin Me¬
moirs (1762), gives a narration of experiments on the
brines of common fait, from which he deduces a very
great condenfation, which he attributes to an abforption
in the weak brines of the fait, or a lodgement of its par¬
ticles in the interftices of the particles of wracer. Mr
Achard of the fame academy, in 1785, gives a very
great lift of experiments on the bulks of various brines,
made in a different way, which (how no fuch introfuf-
ception ; and Dr Watfon thinks this confirmed by ex¬
periments which he narrates in his Chemical Effays. We
fee great reafon for hefitating our affent to either fide,
and do not think the experiments decifive. We incline
to Mr Lambert’s opinion ; for this reafon, that in the
iucceffive dilutions of oil of vitriol and aquafortis there
is a moft evident and remarkable condenfation. Now
what are thefe hut brines, of which we have not been
able to get the laline ingredient in a feparate form ?
The experiments of Mr Achard and Dr Watfon were
made in fuch a way that a fingle grain in the meafure-
ment bore too great a proportion to the whole change
of fpecific gravity. At the fame time, fome of Dr Wat-
fon’s are fo fimple in their nature that it is very difficult
to with-hold the affent.
In this ftate of uncertainty, in a fubjefl which
feems to us to be of public importance, we thought
it our duty to undertake a train of experiments to
which recourfe may always be had. Works like this
Vok. XIX. Part II.' ' ' '
are feldom confidered as fources of original mforma- Specific
tion ; and it is thought fufticient when the know- Gravity.
ledge already diffufed is judiciouily compiled. But a *”* ~
due refpebt for the public, and gratitude for the very
honourable reception hitherto given to our labours, in¬
duce us to exert ourfelves with honeft zeal to merit the
continuance of public favour. We affure our readers
that the experiments were made with care, and on quan¬
tities fufficiently large to make the unavoidable irregu¬
larities in fuch cafes quite infignificant. The law of den¬
fity was afcertained in each fubflancein two ways. We
diffolved different portions of fait in the lame quantity
of water, and examined the fpecific gravity of the brine
by weighing it in a veffel with a narrow neck. The
portions of fait were each of them one-eighth of what
would make a nearly faturated folution of the tempera¬
ture 55. We did not make the brine ftronger, that
there might be no rilk of a precipitation in form of
cryftals. We confidered the fpecific gravities as the
ordinates of a curve, of which the ablciffre were the
numbers of ounces of dry fait contained in a cubic foot
of the brine. Having thus obtained eight ordinates cor-
refponding to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 portions of fait,
the ordinates or fpecific gravities for every other pro¬
portion of fait were had by the ufual methods of inter-
pofidon.
The other method was, by firft making a brine near¬
ly faturated, in which the proportion of fait and water
was exa£fly determined. We then took out one-eighth
of the brine, and filled up the veffel with water, taking
care that the mixture fiiould be complete } for which
purpofe, befides agitation, the diluted brine was allow¬
ed to remain 24 hours before weighing. Taking out
o-ne-eighth of the brine alfo takes out one eighth of the
fait 5 fo that the proportion of fait and water in the dilu¬
ted brine was known. It was now weighed, and thus
we determined the fpecific gravity for a new proportion
of fait and water.
We then took out one-feventh of the brine. It is
evident that this takes out one-eighth of the original
quantity of fait-, an abllraftion equal to the former.
We filled the veffel with water with the fame precau¬
tions \ and in the fame manner we proceeded till there
remained only one-eighth of the original quantity of fait.
The fpecific gravities by thefe two methods agreed
extremely well. In the very deliquefcent falts the firfl:
method exhibited fome fmall irregularities, ariling from
the unequal quantities of water which they had imbibed
from the atmofphere. We therefore confided moft in the
experiments made with diluted brines.
That the reader may judge of the authority of the
tables which we fliall infert, we fubmit to his ii.ffpe£tion
one feries of experiments.
Two thoufand one hundred and eighty-eight grains
of very pure and dry (but no't decrepitated) common
fait, prepared in large cryftals, were diffolved in 6562
grains of diftilled water of the temperature 550. A.
fmall matrafs with a narrow neck, which held 4200
grains of diftilled water, was filled with this brine. Its
contents weighed 5027 grains. Now 6562 -j- 2x88
: 2188 5027 : 1256.75. Therefore the bottle of
brine contained 1256.75 grains of fait diffolved in
3770.25 grains of water. Its fpecific gravity is rr
C027
-—or 1.10600 5 ; and a cubic foot of brine weighs
4200 j j j >
4C 1196.9
s P E r 57
Specific 1196.9 ounces avoirdupois. Alio 5027: 1256.75 =:
Giavi;y- 1196.9 • 299.28. Therefore a cubic foot of this brine
contains 299.28 ounces of perfeftly dry fait.
The fubfequent Heps of the procefs are reprefented as
follows.
Salt.
Brine.
Water.
S)1256.75
157.I
7)1099.6
157.I
8)5027
628.4
4398.6
5274
7)4926.0
7°3-7
942.5
I57-1
7854
I57a
628.3
I57-1
471.2
I57-1
SM-1
I57<1
4222.3
604.7
6)4827,0
804.5
4022. c
706.5
5)4729-0
946
3783
847
4)4630
H57-5
3472.5
1054-5
3)4527
1509
3018
1405
2)4423
2212
2211
2102
157-0
4313
Wt. of
Cub. Ft.
Salt in
Cub. Ft.
3770.25
= g- of brine.
Remains.
Water to fill
it again.
2d Brine.
4 taken out.
Wateradded.
3d Brine.
Taken out.
Remains.
Wateradded.
4th Brine.
Taken out.
Remains.
Wateradded.
5th Brine.
Taken out.
Remains.
Wateradded.
6th Brine.
Taken out.
Remains.
Wateradded
7th Brine.
Taken out.
Remains.
Wateradded.
1196.9
1172.7
H49-3
1125.9
1102.3
1077.9
l053-3
8tli Brine. (1027.9
299.28
3 74 ii
261.87
37-4i
224.46
187.05
149.64
112.23
74.82
37 41
o ] S P £
cubic foot are made the abfcifiae, and the weights of the Specific
cubic foot of brine are the correfponding ordinates, the
curve will be found to be extremely regular, refembling v
a hyperbolic arch vvhofe affymptote makes an angle of
30° with the axis. Ordinates were then interpolated
analytically for every 10 ounces of contained fait, and
thus the table was contlru&ed. We did not, however,
reft it on one feries alone •, but made others, in which
one-fourth of the fait was repeatedly abftracted. They
agreed, in the cafe of common fait, with great exadtnefs,
and in fome others there were fome very inconfiderable
irregularities.
To Ihow the authority of the tables of ftrength was
by no means our only motive for giving an example of
the procefs. It may be of ufe as a pattern for fimilar
experiments. But, befides, it is very inftru£five. We
fee, in the firft place, that there is a very fenfible change
of denfity in one or both of the ingredients. For the
feries is of that nature (as we have formerly explained),
that if the ingredients retained their denfities in every
proportion of commixture, the fpecific gravities would
have been in arithmetical progreffion ; whereas we fee
that their differences continually diminifti as the brines
grow more denfe. We can form fome notion of this
by comparing the different brines. Thus in the firft brine,
weighing 5027 grains, there are 3770 grains of water
in a veffel holding 4200. If the denfity of the water
remains the fame, there is left for the fait only as much
fpace as would hold 430 grains of water. In this
fpace are lodged 1257 grains of fait, and its fpecific
gravity, in its liquid form, is — 2.8907 very near¬
ly. But in the 8th brine the quantity of water is
4156, the fpace left for 157 grains of fait is only the
bulk of 44 grains of water, and the denfity of the fait is
£57 _
44
3.568, confiderably greater than before. This
induced us to continue the dilution of the brine as fol¬
lows, beginning with thd' Sth brine.
Thus, by repeated abftra£b’on of brine, fo as always
to take out ^-th of the fait contained in one conftant bulk,
we have obtained a brine confifting of 157 grains of fait
united with 4313—157, or 4156 grains of water.
Its fpecific gravity is 1,0279, anc* 3 cubic foot
of it weighs 1028 ounces, and contains 37^ ounces of
dry fait. In like manner may the fpecific gravity, the
weight of a cubic foot, and the fait it contains, be efti-
mated for the intermediate brines.
When thefe eight quantities of fait contained in a
157
78-5
78-5
39-7
39-7
19.8
2)4313 8th brine
2156.5
2156.5
2105.5
2)4262.0 9th brine
2131
2102
2)4233
2116.5
2116.5
2102
1 Oth brine
4218 nth brine.
This laft brine contains 4198.2 grains of water, lea¬
ving only the bulk of 1.8 grains of water to contain
19,8 of fait, fo that the fait is ten times denfer than
water. This will make the llrength 243 inftead of
210 indicated by the fpecific gravity. But we do not
pretend to meafure the denfities with accuracy in thefe
diluted brines. It is evident from the procefs that a
fingle
S P E
[ S71 3
S P E
Specific fingle grain of excefs or defeft in taking out the.brine
Gravity. anci rej)lacing it with wate1- has a fenfible proportion to
—'v the whole variation. But we Tee with fufficient evi¬
dence, that from the ftrong to the weak brines the
fpace left for the portion of fait is continually diminifh-
ing. In the firft dilution 527-i grains of water were
added to fill up the veflel j but one-eighth of its contents
of pure water is only 5 25 : fo that here is a diminution
of two grains and a half in the fpace occupied by the re¬
maining fait. The fubfequent additions are 604.7 ?
706.5-847; 1054.5; 1405; 2102; 2105.5; 2102;
2102; initead of 600 ; 700 ; 840 ; 1050; 1400 ;
2100; 2100; 2100; 2100. Nothing can more plain¬
ly (how the condenfation in general, though we do not
learn whether it happens in one or both of the ingredi¬
ents ; nor do the experiments Ihow with fufficient ac¬
curacy the progreffion of this diminution. The exceffes
of the added water being only fix or feven grains, we
cannot expeft a nice repartition. When the brine is
taken out, the upper part of the veffel remains lined
with a briny film containing a portion of fait and water,
perhaps equal or fuperior to the differences. Had our
time permitted, we ffiould have examined this matter
with fcrupulous attention, ufing a veffel with a ftill nar¬
rower neck, and in each dilution abdrafring one half of
the brine. The curve, whofe abfeiffi-e and ordinates
reprefent the weight of the contained fait and the
weight of a conftant bulk of the brine, exhibits the belt
and moft fynoptical view of the law of condenfation,
becaufe the pofition of the tangent in any point, or the
value of the fymbol always ffiows the rate at which
y
the fpecific gravity increafes or diminiffies. We are
inclined to think that the curve in all cafes is of the hy¬
perbolic kind, and complete ; that is, having the tan¬
gent perpendicular to the axis at the beginning of the
curve. The mathematical reader will eafily guefs the
phyfical notions which incline us to this opinion ; and
will alfo fee that it is hardly poffible to difeover this ex¬
perimentally, becaufe the millake of a fingle grain in
the very fmall ordinates will change the pofition of the
tangent many degrees. It was for this reafon that we
thought it ufelefs to profecute the dilution any farther.
But we think that it may be profecuted much farther
in Dr Watfon’s or Mr Achard’s method, viz. by dif-
folving equal weights of fait in two veffels, of very dif¬
ferent capacities, having tubular necks, in which the
change of bulk may be very accurately obferved. We
can only conclude, that the condenfation is greateft in
the flrongeft brines, and probably attains its maximum
when the quantities of true faline matter and water are
nearly equal, as in the cafe of vitriolic acid, &c.
We confider thefe experiments as abundantly fuffici¬
ent for deciding the queftion “ Whether the fait can be
received into the pores of the water, or the water into
the pores of the fait, fo as to increafe its weight without
increafing its bulk ? and we muff grant that it may.
We do not mean that it is {imply lodged in the pores as
fand is lodged in the interftices of fmall ffiot; but the
two together occupy lefs room than when feparate. The
experiments of Mr Achard were infufficient for a deci-
lion, becaufe made on fo frnall a quantity as 600 grains
of water. Dr Watfon’s experiments have, for the moft
part, the fame defeat. Some of them, however, are of
preat value in this queftion; anti *44 very fit fox afcert
taming the fpecinc gravity of diffolved falls. In one of
them (not particularly narrated) he found that a quan¬
tity of diffolved fait occupied the fame bulk in two very
different {fates of dilution. We cannot pretend to re¬
concile this with our experiments. We have given thefe
as they flood ; and we think them conclufive, becaufe
they were fo numerous and fo perfe£tly confiilent with
each other ; and their refult is fo general, that wTe have
not found an exception. Common fait is by no means
the mofl remarkable inftance of condenfation. Vege¬
table alkali, fal ammoniac, and fome others, exhibit much
condenfation.
We thought this a proper opportunity of confidering
this queftion, which is intimately connefied with the
principles of chemical folution, and was not perhaps con-
lidered in fufficient detail under the article Chemistry.
We learn from it in general, that the quantities of fait
in brines increafe at fomewhat a greater rate than
their fpecific gravities. This difference is in many cafes
of fenfible importance in a commercial view. Thus an
alkaline lixivium for the purpofes of bleaching or foap-
making, whofe fpecific gravity is 1.234, or exceeds that
of water by 234, contains 361 ounces of fait in a cubic
foot; a ley, which exceeds the weight of ivater twice as
much, or 468 ounces per cubic foot, contains 777 ounces
of fait, which exceeds the double of 361 by 55 ounces
more that feven per cent. Hence we learn, that hy¬
drometers for difeovering the ftrength of brines, having,
equal divifions on a cylindrical flem, are very errone¬
ous ; for even if the increments of fpecific gravity were
proportional to the quantities of fait in a gallon of brine,
the divifions at the bottom of the ftem ought to be fmall-
er than thofe above.
The conftruftion of the following table of ffrengthb
from the above narrated feries of brines is fufficiently
obvious. Column ift is the fpecific gravity as difeover-
ed by the balance or hydrometer, and alfo is the number
of ounces in a cubic foot of the brine. Col. 2d is the
ounces of the dry fait contained in it.
TABLE of Brines of Common Salt.
Weight
Cub Ft.
Brine.
I.OOO
I.O08
I.015
1.022
1.029
I. C36
J. OCO
1.057
1.064
1.070
1.077
1-083
1.090
1.096
1.103
1.109
Salt
lub.Ft.
Weight
Cub. Fi.
Brine.
O
10
20
3°
40
50
60
70
80
90
ICO
no
I 20
13°
140
^o
160
1.115
1.122
1.128
I-I34
1.140
1.147
I-I53
i«i59
1.165
1.172
1.178
1.184
1.190
1.197
1.203
1.206
Salt
in
Cub.Ft.
170
180
190
200
210
220
23O
24O
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
3j6
1.208
320
Specific
Gravity.
c z
The
Specific
Gravity.
S P E [572
The table differs confiderably from Mr Lambert’s.
1 he quantities of fait correfponding to any fpecific gra¬
vity are about TVth lefs than in his table. But the
reader will lee that they correfpond with the feries of
experiments above narrated } and thefe were but a few
of many which all correfponded within an hundredth
part. The caufe of the difference feems to be, that
moft kinds of common fait contain magnelian falts, which
contain a very great proportion of water neceffary for
their cryftallization. The fait wdiich we ufed w’as of
the pureft kind, but fuch as may be had from every fait
work, by Lord Dundonald’s very eafy procefs, viz. by
pafling through it a faturated folution boiling hot, which
carries off with it about four fifths of all the bitter falts.
Our aim being to ascertain the quantities of pure fea-
falt, and to learn by the bye its relation to water in
refpeft of denfity, we thought it neceflary to ufe the
pureft fait. We alfo dried it for feveral days in a ftove,
fo that it contained no w’ater not abfolutely neceflary
for its cryftallization. An ounce of fuch fait will com¬
municate a greater fpecific gravity to water than an
ounce of a fait that is lefs pure, or that contains extra¬
neous water.
The fpecific gravity 1.090 is that of ordinary pickles,
which are eftimated as to lirength by floating an egg.
We cannot raife the fpecific gravity higher than
1.206 by limply diffolving fait in cold wTater. But it
will become much denfer, and will even attain the fpe¬
cific gravity 1.240 by boiling, then holding about 366
ounces in the cubic foot of hot brine. But it will de-
polit by cooling, and wflien of the temperature 53° or
6o°, hardly exceeds 1,206. We obtained a brine by
boiling till the fait grained very rapidly. When it cool¬
ed to 6o°, its fpecific gravity was 1.2063 ; for a veffel
which held 3506 grains of diilillcd water held 4229 of
this brine. This was evaporated to drynefs, and there
were obtained 1344 grains of fait. By this was com¬
puted the number interpofed between 310 and 320 in
the table. We have, however, raifed the fpecific gra¬
vity to 1.217, by putting in no more fait than was ne¬
ceffary for this denfity, and ufing heat. It then cooled
down to 6o° without quitting any fait ; but if a few
grains of fait be thrown into this brine, it will quickly
depofit a great deal more, and its denfity will decreafe
to 1.206. We find this to hold in all falts ; and it is a
very inftruftive faft in the theory of cryftallization ; it
refembles the effeft which a magnet produces upon iron
filings in its neighbourhood. It makes them temporary
magnets, and caufes them to arrange themfelves as if
they had been really made permanent magnets. Juft fo
a cryftal already formed difpofes the reft to cryflallize.
We imagine that this analogy is complete, and that the
forces are fimilar in both cafes.
The above table is computed for the temperature 530 j
but in other temperatures the ftrength will be different
on two accounts, viz. the expanfion of the brine and the
diflblving power of the water. Water expands about
40 parts in icoo when heated from 6o° to 21 2°. Sa¬
turated brine expands about 48 parts, or one-fifth more
than wTater ; and this excefs of expanfion is nearly pro¬
portional to the quantity of fait in the brine. If there¬
fore any circumftance ftiould oblige us to examine a
brine in a temperature much above 6o°, allowance ftiould
be made for this. Thus, ftiould the fpecific gravity of
brTe of the temperature 130 (which is nearly half way
]
S P E
between 60 and 212) be 1.140, wre muft increafe it by
20 (half of 40) ; and having found the ftrength 240
correlponding to this correfted fpecific gravity, we mult
correct it again by adding 1 to the Ipecific gravity for
every 45 ounces of fait.
But a much greater and more uncertain correftion is
neceflary on account of the variation of the diffolving
power of water by heat, ff his indeed is very fmall in
the cafe of fea-falt in comparifon with other falts. We
prefume that our readers are apprifed of this peculiarity
of fea-falt, that it ciflolves nearly in equal quantities in
hot or in cold water. But although water of the tem¬
perature 60 will not diffolve more than 320 or 325
ounces of the pureft and dryeft fea-falt, it will take' up
above 20 ounces more by boiling on it. When thus
faturated to the utmoft, and allowed to cool, it does not
quit any of it till it is far cooled, viz. near to 6o°. It
then depofits this redundant fait, and holds the reft till
it is juft going to freeze, when it lets it go in the inftant
of freezing. If evaporated in the ftate in which it con¬
tinues to hold the ialt, it will yield above 400 ounces
per cubic foot of brine, in good cryftals, but rather over¬
charged with w^ater. And fince in this ftate the cubic
foot of brine weighs about 1220 ounces, it follows, that
820 ounces of water will, by boiling, diflblve 400 of
cryftallized fait.
The table fliows how much any brine muft be boiled
down in order to grain. Having obferved its fpecific gra¬
vity, find in the table the quantity of fait correfponding.
Cali this x. Then, fince a boiling hot graining or fatu¬
rated folution contains 340 ounces in the cubic foot of
brine, fay 340 : 1000 =,
340
x. This is the bulk
to which every cubic foot (valued at 1000) muft be
boiled down. Thus fuppofe the brine has the fpecific
gravity 1109. It holds 160 ounces per foot, and we
XOOO X160 .
>r 471 j that is, we
muft; boil it down to
34°
muft boil off • — ^ of every cubit foot or gallon.
1000
Thefe remarks are of importance in the manufa&ure
of common fait j they enable us to appretiate the va¬
lue of fait fprings, and to know how far it may be pru¬
dent to engage in the manufacture. For the doCtrine
of latent heat allures us, that in order to boil off a cer¬
tain quantity of water, a certain quantity of heat is in-
difpcnfably neceflary. After the moft judicious appli¬
cation of this heat, the confumption of fuel may be too
expenfive.
The fpecific gravity of lea water in thefe climates does
not exceed 1.03, or the cubic foot weighs 1030 ouncesj
and it contains about 41 ounces of fait. The brine-pits
in England are vaftly richer 5 but in many parts of
the world brines are boiled for fait which do not contain
above iq or 20 ounces in the cubic foot.
In buying fait by weight, it is of importance to know
the degree of humidity. A fait will appear pretty dry
(if free from magnefian falts) though moillened with one
per cent, of water 5 and it is found that incipient humi¬
dity expofes it much to farther deliquefcence. A much
fmaller degree of humidity may be difcovered by the
fpecific gravity of a brine made with a few7 ounces of
the fait. And the infpeflion of the table informs us,
that
Specific
Gravity.
S P E [ 573 ] S P E
Specific that the brine (hould be weak ; for the differences of
Gravity. {pecJfic gravity go on dimini thing in the ftronger brines :
~00 0Unces of dry fait diitolved in 897 ounces of water
fhould give the fpecific gravity T197. Suppofe it be
but 1190, the quantity of fait correfponding is only
200 ; but when mixed with 897 ounces of water, the
weight is 1197, although the weight of the cubic foot
is only 1190. There is therefore more than a cubic
foot of the brine, and there is as much fait as will make
more than a cubic foot of the weight 1190. There is
2QO X -1—or 2914 ounces, and there is 8j ounces of
y 1190
water attached to the hilt.
The various informations wrhich we have pointed out
as deducible from a knowledge of the fpecific gravity of
the brines of common fait, will ferve to firggelf fevet al
advantages of the knowledge or this circumftance in
other lixivia. We (hall not therefore refume them, but
limply give another table or two of fuch as are moft in-
terelling. Of thofe, alkaline leys are the chief, being of
extenfive ule in bleaching, foap-making, glah-making,
&c.
We therefore made a very ftrong ley of the purell:
vegetable alkali that is ever ufed in the manufactories,
not thinking it neceffary, or even proper, to take it in
its ftale of utmoft purity, as obtained from cubic nitre Specific
and the like. We took fait of tartar from the apothe-, Gravny.
cary, perfectly dry, of which 3983 grains were diffolved
in 3540 grains of diftilled water ; and after agitation for
feveral days, and then Handing to depofit fediment, the
clear ley was decanted. It was again agitated ; be-
caufe, when of this ftrength, it becomes, in a very fliort
time, rarer above and denfer at the bottom. A flalk
containing 4200 grains of water held 6165 of this ley
when of the temperature 550. Its fpecific gravity was
therefore 1.4678, and the 6165 grains of ley contained
3264 grains of fait. We examined its fpecific gravity
in different Hates of dilution, till we came to a brine
containing 51 grains of fait, and 4189 grains of wrater,
and the contents of the flalk weighed 4240 grains: its
fpecific gravity was therefore 1.0095. In this train of
experiments the progreffion was molt regular and fatil-
fatffory; fo that when we cenffru&ed the curve of fpe¬
cific gravities geometrically, none of the points deviated
from a moff regular curve. It wras confiderably more
incurvated near its commencement than the curve for
fea-falt, indicating a much greater condenfation in the
diluted brines. We think that the following table, con-
Hrufled in the fame manner as that for common lalt,
may be depended on as very exaft.
Weight of
Cub. Foot.
IOOO
IOl6
102 1
1045
1085
107 I
1084
1098
I I I 2
II25
II38
H50
1X62
Salt
cont.
07..
O
20
4°
60
80
100
1 20
I40
160
180
200
2 20
24O
Weight of
Cub. Foot
II74
1187
I 200
X 2 I 2
12 24
1236
1248
1259
I 270
I 28l
1293
1305
JS1?
Salt
rout
260
280
300
3 20
340
360
380
400
420
44O
460
480
500
Weight of
ub. Foot
1329
I35r
1 362
hi/2
i384
1395
X406
14x7
1428
M38
1449
1460
Salt
coot.
oz.
Weight of
Cub. Foot
520
540
360
580
600
620
640
660
680
700
720
74O
760
1471
1482
M93
1526
1537
1557
*367
I577
1586
Salt
cont.
oz.
780
800
820
840
860
880
900
920
940
960
980
1000
We fee the fame augmentation of the den/ity of the
fait in the diluted brines here as in the cafe of common
fait. Thus a brine, of which the cubit foot weighs
1482 ounces, or which has the fpecific gravity 1.482,
contains 800 ounces of dry alkali and 682 of w^ater.
Therefore, if we fuppofe the denfity of the wrater un¬
changed, there remains the bulk of 318 ounces of water
to receive 840 ounces of fait: its denfity is therefore —
3x8
“ 2.5x2 nearly. But in the brine wbofe weight per
foot is only 1016 there are 20 ounces of fait, and there¬
fore 996 of water •, and there is only four ounce-mea-
fures of v/ater, that is, the bulk of four ounces of water,
to receive 20 ounces of fait. Its fpecific gravity there-
. 20 ’
fore is —, m 5, almoft twice as great as in the Hrong
brine. Accordingly Mr Achard is difpofed to admit the
abforption (as it is carelefsly termed) in the cafe of fal
tart. But it is a general (wre think an univ'erfal) fadt
in the folution of falts. It muH be carefully dhlin-
guifhed from the firH contrablion of bulk which falts
undergo in paffing from a folid to a fluid form. The
contradlion now under confideration is analogous to the
contradb’on of oil of vitriol when diluted with water4
for oil of vitriol muff; be confidered as a very ftrong
brine which wre cannot dephlegmate by diftillation, and
therefore cannot obtain the dry faline ingredient in a
feparate form, fo as to obferve its folid denfity, and fay
how much it contrails in firft becoming fluid. The way
of conceiving the firft contradlion in the aft of folution
as a lodging of the particles of the one ingredient on the
interftices of theo ther, “ yu1 ils fe nichent, en augmentant
le poids fans affecier le volume de la faumuref as Euler
and Lambert exprefs themfelves, is impoflible here, w’hen
both are fluids. Indeed it is but a flovenly w^ay of
thinking
S P E
Specific
Oravity.
S P E t 57+ 3
thinking in either cafe, and fliould be avoided, becaufe
inadvertent perfons are apt to ufe as a phyfical principle
what is merely a mode of fpeech.
We learn from the table, that a hydrometer with
equi-diftant divifions on a cylindrical or prifmatical Item
is ftill more erroneous than in the brines of common
fait.
We learn from the experiments of Kirwan, Lavoifier,
and others, that dry fait of tartar contains about one-
fourth of its weight of fixed air. In many applications
of this fait to the purpofes of manufafture, this ingredi¬
ent is of no ufe. In fome it is hurtful, and muft be ab-
itradled by lime. Soap-maker’s ley confifts of the pure
alkaline fait diffolved in wTater. It is therefore of im¬
portance to afcertain its quantity by means of the fpeci-
fic gravity of the brine. For this purpofe we took a ley
of fal tart, whofe fpecific gravity was 1.20417, con¬
taining 314 ounces of mild alkali in a cubic foot of ley,
and ws rendered it nearly caullic by lime. The fpecific
gravity was then 1.1897. This is a very unexpedted
refult. Nothing is employed with more fuccefs than
quicklime for dephlegmating any watery fluid. We
Ihould rather have expedled an increafe of fpecific gra¬
vity by the abllradlion of fome of the water of the men-
ftruum, and perhaps the water of the cryftallization, and
the aerial part of the fait. But we muft afcribe this to
the great denfity in which the fixed air exifts in the mild
St. lies.
Weight of brine,
After taking out
After taking out
After taking out
After taking out
3 >
I
T|
Brine.
ly?, 1698
2</, 1676
3^ 16 53
4//*, 1630
5^/2,1616
6t/it 1610
7//2, 1605
Sp. Gr.
Oz. Salt
This feries is extremely regular, and the progrefs of
denfity may be confidently deduced from it.
From the whole of this difquifition on the relation be¬
tween the fpecific gravities of brines and the quantities of
fait contained, we fee in general that it may be guefifed
at, with a ufeful degree of precifion, from the denfity or
fpecific gravity of faturated folutions. We therefore
conclude with a lift of the fpecific gravities of feveral
faturated folutions, made with great care by the bifhop
of Landaff.—The temperature was 420. The firft nu¬
merical column is the denfity of faturated brine, and the
next is the denfity of a brine confiding of 1 2 parts (by-
weight) ot water and one of fait. From this may be
inferred the quantity in the faturated folution, and from
this again may be inferred the quantity correfponding
to inferior denfities.
alkali.
It is unneceffary to give fimilar tables for all the falts,
unlefs wTe were waiting a difiertation on the theory of
their folution. We lhall only obferve, that we examin¬
ed with particular attention fal ammoniac, becaufe Mr
Achard, who denies what is called the abforption of
falts, finds himfelf obliged to allow fomething like it in
this fait. It does not, however, differ from thofe of
which we have given an account in detail in any other
refpect than this, that the changes of fluid denfity are
much lefs than in others (inftead of being greater, as
Achard’s experiments feem to indicate) in all brines of
moderate ftrength, But in the very weak brines there
is indeed a remarkable difference ; and if we have not
committed an error in our examination, the addition of
one part of fal ammoniac to 64 of water occupies left
room than the water alone. We think that we have met
with this as an accidental remark by fome author, whofe
work we do not recolleft. But we do not choofe to
reft fo much on our form of the experiment in fuch weak
brines. The following mixtures will abundantly ferve
for conftru&ing the table of its ftrength : Sal ammoniac
~ 960 grains was diffolved in 3506 grains of water,
making a brine of 4466 grains. A phial which held
1600 grains water held 1698 of this brine. It contained
1698 X 960
4466
, or 365 grains of fait. The fpecific gra¬
vity was
1698
1600’
1.061, and the cubic foot weighed
1061 ounces.
It alfo contained
xo6i x 365
1698 ’
or 288
ounces of fait. By repeated abftra£lion of brine, and
replacing with water, we had the following feries :
Borax,
Cor. Sublim.
Alum,
Glaub. fait,
Common fait,
Sa). cath. amar.
Sal ammon.
Vol. alk. mite,
Nitre,
Rochelle fait,
Blue vitriol,
Green vitriol,
White vitriol,
Pearl afh,
1.910
X.054 1.029
1.198 1.039
1.232 1.039
1.072 1.026
1.087
1.095 1.050
i. 114
1.150 1.052
1.157 1.043
1.386 1.045
*•534
SPECTACLES, in Dioptrics, a machine confiiling
of two lenies fet in filver, horn, &c. to afiift the de-
fe£is of the organ of fight. Old people, and others who
have flat eyes, ufe convex fpe&acles, which caufe the
rays of light to converge fo as to meet upon the retina :
whereas myopes, or ihort-fighted people, ufe concave
lenfes for fpedlacles, which caufe the rays to diverge,
and prevent their meeting ere they reach the retina.
See Optics.
Some cafes of a peculiar nature have been met with
where the fight receives no afliftance from the ufe of
either convex or concave glaffes. To remedy this, the
following method was contrived and fucceftfully adopt¬
ed. A man about fixty years of age having almoft en¬
tirely loft his fight, could fee nothing but a kind of
thick mift with little black fpecks in it which feemed to
float in the air. He could neither read, walk the ftreets,
nor diftinguifti his friends who were moft familiar to
him. In this deplorable fituation he procured fome
fpe&acles with large rings j and having taken out the
glafies,
3
Spectre.
S P E
Spectacles glaffes, he fubflit'iited for them a conic tube
Spanilh copper. Looking through the large end of the
cone he could read the fmalieft print placed at its other
extremity. Thefe tubes were of different lengths, and
the openings at the end were alio of different lizes 5 the
fmaller the aperture the better could he diflinguiffi the
fmalieft letters; the larger the aperture the more words
or lines it commanded ; and confequently the lefs occa-
fion was there for moving the head and the hand in
reading. Sometimes he ufed one eye, fometimes the
other, alternately relieving each, for the rays of the two
eyes could not unite upon the fame object when thus fe-
parated by two opaque tubes. The thinner thefe tubes,
the lefs troublefome are they. They muft be totally
blackened within fa as to prevent all ftiining, and they
ftiould be made to lengthen or contract, and enlarge or
reduce the aperture at pleafure.
When he placed convex glaffes in thefe tubes, the
letters indeed appeared larger, but not fo clear and di-
ftinft as through the empty tube : he alfo found the
tubes more convenient wken not fixed in the fpectacle
rings ; for when they hung loofely they could be raifed
or lowered with the hand, and one or both might be
ufed as occafion required. It is almoft needlefs to add,
that the material of the tubes is of no importance, and
that they may be made of iron or tin as vccll as of cop¬
per, provided the infides of them be fufticientJy black¬
ened *.
Ocular SPECTRA, images prefented to the eye
after removing them from a bright object, or clofing
Phil, /raw/them. When any one has long and attentively looked
* Monthly
Mag. 1799
17S(Ji at a bright objedt, as at the fetting fun, on clofing his
eyes, or removing them, an image, which refembles in
form the object he was attending to, continues feme
time to be vilible. This appearance in the eye we ftiail
call the ocular fpeclrum of that objeft.
Thefe ocular fpedlra are of four kinds : ift, Such as
are owing to a lefs fenfibility of a defined part of the
retina, or fpedtra from defedt of fenfibility. 2d, Such
as are owing to a greater fenfibility cf a defined part of
the retina, or fpettra from excefs of fenfibility. 3d, Such
as refemble their cbjeift in its colour as well as foim ;
which may be termed diredt ocular fpedtra. 4th, Such
as are of a colour contrary to that of their object, which
may be termed reverfe ocular fpeftra.
SPECTRE, an apparition, or fometbing fuppofed to
be preternaturally vifible to human fight, whether the
ghofts of dead men or beings fuperior to man.
A belief that fupernatural beings fometimes make
themfelves vifible, and that the dead fometimes revifit
the living, has prevailed among molt nations, efpecially
in the rudelt ftages of fociety. It was common among
the Jews, among the Greeks, and among the Romans,
as we find from the Sciiptures, and from the pcems of
Homer and Virgil. Celeftial appearances w’ere indeed
fo often exhibited to the Jews, that the origin of their
belief is not difficult to be explained.—The Divine Be¬
ing manifefted himfelf to each of the patriarchs by fome
fenfible fign, generally by a flame of fire, as he did to
Mofes. Under this femblance alfo did he appear to the
Ifraelites during their abode in the defert, and after
they obtained a fettlement in the land of Canaan. Nor
did they believe that heavenly beings alone affuroed a
fenfible appearance : They believed that deceafed men
alfq fometimes revifited this world. When Saul went
I 575 1 S I> E
of black to confult the witch at Endor, he afked her to bring Spe&re.
up the perfon whom he flrould name unto her ; a proof ——
that he confidered his demand as eafy to be performed,
and therefore that he probably a£ted under the influence
of popular opinion. The fame opinions had been gene¬
rally entertained at a much earlier period} for necro¬
mancy and witchcraft, the arts by which the dead were
fuppofed to be raifed, had been prohibited while the If¬
raelites were in the wildernefs, and yet untainted with
the vices of the Canaanitcs. They muft therefore have
derived them from Egypt, the cradle of fuperftition, as
well as of the arts and fciences.
Among the Greeks and Romans the apparition of
fpedlres was generally believed. On innumerable ccca-
ftons the gods are faid to have difeovered themfelves to
the eyes of mortals, to have held conferences, and to
have interpofed their aid. The ghofts of the dead, too,
are faid to have appeared. When fEneas, amidtt the
diftraClion and confufion of his mind in flying from the
deftruflion of Troy, had loft his wife by the way, he
returned in fearch of her. Her (hade appeared to him
(for the herfelf had been flain) with the fame afpedl as
before, but her figure was larger. She endeavoured to
affuage the grief of her unhappy hufband, by aferibing
her death to the appointment of the gods, and by fore¬
telling the illuftrious honours wdiich yet awaited him.
But when /Eneas attempted to clafp her in his arms, the
phantom immediately vaniftied into air. From this ftory
rve may obferve, that the ancients believed that the um¬
brae or ftiades, retained nearly the fame appearance after
death as before ; that they had fo far the refemblance of
a body as to be vifible ; that they could think and fpeak
as formerly, but could not be touched. This defciip-
lion applies equally well to thofe fhades which had
palled the river Styx, and taken up their refidence in
the infernal regions. Such were the ftiadcs of Dido, of
Deiphobus, and all thofe which /Eneas met with in his
journey through the fubterraneous world.
It appears from the writings of modern travellers who
have vifited rude and favage nations, that the belief of
fpe&res is no lefs common among them. Mr Bruce
tells us, that the prieft of the Nile affirmed, that he had
more than once feen the fpirit cf the river in the form
of an old man with a white beard. Among the Maho¬
metans the dotftrine of fpeiftres feems to be reduced to
a regular fyftem, by the accounts which they give of
genii. Whoever has read the Arabian Nights Enter¬
tainments muft have furniffied his memory with a thou-
fand inftances of this kind. Their opinions concerning
genii feem to be a corrupted mixture of the doftrines of
the Jews and ancient Perfians. In Ghriftian countries,
too, notwithilanding the additional light which their re¬
ligion has fpread, and the great improvement in the
fciences to which it has been fubfervient, the belief of
ghofts and apparitions is very general, cfpecially. among
the lower ranks. They believe that evil fpirits feme-
times make their appearance in order to terrify wicked
men, efpecially thofe who have committed murder.—-
They fuppofe that the fpirits of dead men affume a cor¬
poreal appearance, hover about church-yards and the
houfes of the deceafed, or haunt the places where mur¬
ders have been committed. (See Ghost.) In fome
places it is believed that beings have been feen bearing
a perfefl refemblance to men alive. In the Highlands .
of Scotland, what is called the fecond fight is ftill be-.
lifcvedj
. s p e r 5
lieved by many (fee SECOND Sight); viz. that future
~v events are foretold by certain individuals by means of
Ipeftral reprefentation.
So general has the belief of fpe£lres been, that this
circumltance alone may be thought by fume fufRcient to
prove that it mult have its foundation in human nature,
or mult reft upon rational evidence. When any doc¬
trine has been univerfally received by ail nations, by
generations living feveral thoufand years from one an¬
other, and by people in all the different Itages of focie-
ty, there is certainly the ftrongeft prefumption to con¬
clude that fuch a do£tnne has its foundation in reafon
and in truth. In this way we argue in favour of the
exiftence of a God, concerning moral diitinbtion, and
tne doftnne of a future Hate : and certainly fo far we
argue well. But if the fame argument be applied to
idolatry, to facrifices, or to apparitions, we fhall find
that it is applied improperly. Idolatry was very general
among ancient^ nations j fo was the offering of facrifices,
fe> was polytheifm : but they were by no means univer-
fal. Should we allow, for the fake of fhortening the
argument, that all ancient nations were polytheifts and
idolaters, and prefented oblations to their imaginary
deities, all that could be concluded from this concelffon
is, that they fell into thefe miftakes from their igno¬
rance and from the rude Hate of fociety, from which
their imperfedl knowledge of theology and moral philo-
fophy was never able to refeue them. I hefe erroneous
notions tied before the brightnefs of the Chriftian fyftem;
while the doftrines of the exiflence of God, of moral
diftindlion, and of a future Hate, have been more
thoroughly confirmed and afeertained. The fame thing
may be faid of the belief of fpedlres. However gene¬
rally it has been adopted in the firft Itages of fociety, or
by civilized nations who had made but little progrefs in
the ftudy of divine things, it has been rejedted, we may
fay invariably, wherever theology and philofophy have
gone hand in hand.
As all popular and long eftablilhed opinions are ob-
jedts of curiofity and refearch for the philofopher, we
think the belief of fpedtres worthy of fome attention
even in this light. It will therefore, we hope, give
fome fatisfadtion to the philofophical reader to fee a
fhort account of the fources or principles from which
this belief is derived. But as the belief of fpedtres is
connedted with other opinions which appear to us high¬
ly injurious to religion ; opinions which have been fup-
ported by many learned men, and which are Hill be¬
lieved by fome men of literary education—it will alfo
be proper, in the firfl place, to confider the evidence on
which this belief reHs, in which we mufl confider both
their probability and credibility.
In the prefent inveftigation we mean to fet afide al¬
together the celeflial appearances recorded in Scripture,
as being founded on unqueflionable evidence, and per-
fedtly agreeable to thofe rules by which the Deity adts
in the ufual courfe of his Providence. The Ifraelites,
during the exiflence of their Hate, w^ere immediately
under the authority of God, not only as the moral go¬
vernor of the world, but as the king of Ifrael. In the
infancy of the world, while men w:ere rude and unen¬
lightened, and entirely under the influence of idolatry,
many revelations were neceffary to preferve in their
minds pure ideas of the nature o"f God, and of the wmr-
fliip due to Him. They wTere neceffary alfo to pave the
4
>6 ] S P E
way for that illufliious difpenlation which the Lord Je- Speelre.
fus came from Heaven to diffufe over the world. livery ■—■■■ y———
celeflial appearance recorded in Scripture was exhibited
for lome wile and important purpole, which mufl be ap¬
parent to every perfon who confiders thefe appearances
with attention. But when the Scriptures were written
<ina publilhed, and the Chriftian religion fully eftablilh¬
ed, revelation ceafed, and miracles and heavenly mef-
fages ivere no longer requifite. What credit then ought
we to give to thofe marvellous ftories related in ancient
authors concerning prodigies in the heavens, and the ap¬
parition of angels both good and bad ?
It is not pretended that any of thofe prodigies and
appearances were exhibited for purpofes equally great
and important with thofe which are deferibed in Scrip¬
ture : And can we fuppofe that the all-wife Governor of
the world would permit his angels to render themfelves
vifible to the eye of man for no purpofe at all, or for a
purpofe which might have been equally well accomplifti-
ed without their interpofition ? Would this be confident
with perfefl wifdom, or would it be confiftent even with
the excellence and fuperiority of underftanding which
we are taught to aferibe to thefe elevated beings ? The
whole will of God is revealed to us in the Scriptures ;
what further ule for the vifible interpofition of angels ?
It may be objefled, Are they not all miniftering fpirits,
fent forth to minifler for them who ftrall be heirs of
falvation * ? We anfwer, That angels may animate and *Heb j
fupport good men by an invifible interpofition. But r4.
the pottle is not fpeaking of celeftial fpirits. The
word uyysXos fignifies “ a meffenger and in Scripture
often refers to men. In the paffage which we are now
reviewing it certainly is applied with much more pro¬
priety to men than to angels : for the Apoftle is ftating
a comparifon between the Prophets, by whom God, at
fundry times and in divers manners, fpake in time paft
to the fathers, and the Son, by whom he hath fpoken
in thefe la ft days.
And if God has given no commiflion to his angels to
deliver t© men fince the publication of the Chriftian re¬
ligion, is there any probability that he would give any
commiflion or any licence to evil fpirits ? It will be
faid, that this do&rine is clearly taught in the New Tef-
tament, in thefe words, “ The devil goeth about as a
roaring lion feeking whom he may devour.” We will
not avail ourfelves of the interpretation of fome, who
fay that the word devil, which in the Greek language
fignifies an adverfanj, or Jlanderer, refers here to fome
human being, who was a violent enemy of the Chri-
ftians. All that can be deduced from thefe words, upon
the fuppofition that they refer to a malignant fpirit, is
merely that he goeth about feducing men to vice. But
it is not by affuming a hideous form, and prefenting
himfelf to the midnight traveller, that fuch a purpofe is
to be accomplifhed. A fpirit may probably have direft
accefs to our minds without the intervention of any
thing corporeal ; and by exciting our paflions may
plunge us into vice, which is the only objeft fuch a be¬
ing is fuppofed to have in view. None of the marvel¬
lous ftories which we have heard concerning the appari¬
tion of evil fpirits lead us to conclude that they appear
to entice men to commit crimes. We never heard of
any evil fpirits that required men to Heal, to perpetrate
robbery or murder. They only appeared to terrify fome
crazy timorous individuals, who have whims and fancies
enow
s P E [ 577 ] S P E
Spe&re. enow of their own to agitate their minds, though no pre-
—v—— ternatural vifion fliould ever appear to them. It is not
confident, therefore, with the chara&er of God, and
what he has revealed to us of his will, to believe that
he would comniiffion good angels, or permit evil angels,
to appear to men fince the propagation of the gofpel,
or indeed at any former period of the w’orld, unlefs
fome great and mighty purpofe was to be fulfilled. It
is not confident with what we know of the nature of
good or bad angels to fuppofe, that though permiffion
were granted them occafionally to (how themfelves to
men, that they would appear in that way which dory-
tellers defcribe.
It is equally improbable that the fpirits of the dead
who have removed from this world fhould again be per¬
mitted to vifit it. At death men undergo as great,
perhaps a greater change, than when they came fird in¬
to the light of the fun. Is it not therefore as impro¬
bable that a man fliould return in a vifible corporeal
form after death, as that, after having arrived at man¬
hood, he fhould return to the date in which he was be¬
fore his birth ? Such changes as thefe are evidently
made permanent by the invariable laws of nature. But
fuppofe it were podible, for what purpofe drould they
return ? To defcribe to us what is paffing in the other
world, to animate us to virtue, by informing us of the
rewards which there await the good ; or to alarm us,
by deferibing the punidrment of the wicked. Thefe
feem important reafons. But Divine Providence has
wifely thrown a veil over futurity. We know every
thing of the other world from the feripture which it
is proper for us at prefent to know. And as to incen¬
tives to virtue, we are already bleffed with a number
fufficiently great and powerful for moral beings, who
are to aft from rational motives, and not from com-
pulfion. “ He that will not hear Mofes and the pro¬
phets, will not be perfuaded though one rofe from the
dead.”
There is one drong objeftion againd the probability
of fpeftres, which is fufficient to prove that they are
not intelligent creatures j or at lead that they poflefs
fo fmall a degree of intelligence, that they are unquali¬
fied to aft with prudence, to propofe any end to them¬
felves, or ufe the proper means to accomplifh that end.
Ghods often appear in order to difeover fome crime
that has been committed : but they never appear to a
magidrate, or perfon in authority, but to fome illiterate
clown, who happens to live near the place where the
crime was perpetrated ; to fome perfon who has no con-
neftion with the affair at all, and who in general is the
mod improper in the wmrld for making the difeevery.
For indance, in Glanville’s Saducifmus triumphatus (a
book written in the lad century by a chaplain of Charles
II. in fupport of the common opinions refpefting witch¬
craft and apparitions), we have the following dory:
James Haddock, a farmer, was married to Elenor
Welfh, by whom he had a fon. After the death of
Haddock, his wife married one Davis ; and both agreed
to defraud the fon by the former marriage of a leafe be¬
queathed to him by his father. Upon this the ghod of
Haddock appeared to one Francis Taverner the fervant
of Lord Chicheder, and defired him to go to Elenor
Welfh, and to inform her that it was the will of her
former hufband that their fon fliould enjoy the leafe.
Taverner did not at fird execute this commiflion; but
Vol. XIX. Part II.
he was continually haunted by the apparition in the
mod hideous drapes, wdrich even threatened to tear him
in pieces, till at lad he delivered the meffage. Now,
had this fpeftre had the lead common fenfe, it would
have appeared fird to Elenor Wellh and her hufband
Davis, and frightened them into compliance at once,
and not have kept poor Taverner in fuch condant dif-
quietude, who had no concern in the matter.
Another very odd circumdance refpefting apparitions
in general mud not be omitted, wdrich is, that they have
no powrer to fpeak till they are addreffed. In the 27th
of Glanville’s Relations we read of an old woman that
appeared often to David Hunter, a neat-herd, at the
houfe of the bifhop of Dowm and Conners. \\ hen-
ever (he appeared, he found himfelf obliged to follow
her ; and for three quarters of a year poor David fpent
the whole of almod every night in fcampering up and
dow-n through the wmods after this old woman. How
long this extraordinary employment might have conti¬
nued, it is impoffible to guefs, had not David’s violent
fatigue made him one night exclaim, “ Lord bless me !
wmuld I were dead !—fhall I never be delivered from
this mifery !” On which the phantom replied, “ Lord
blefs me too ! It was happy you fpoke firft, for till then
I had no pow’er to fpeak, though I have followed you
fo long.” Then (he gave him a meffage to her two
fons, though David told her he remembered nothing
about her. David, it feeins, neglefted to deliver the
meffage j at which the old beldam was fo much provoked,
that Ihe returned and hit him a hearty blow on the
flioulder, which made him cry out, and then fpeak to
her. Now if the could not fpeak till David addreffed
her, why might flie not have applied this oratorial me¬
dicine the firff time flie appeared to him ? It would
have faved both herfelf and him many a weary journey j
and certainly David would much rather have had even
half a dozen of blows from her choppy fills than have
wanted fo many nights fleep. To complete the ftory,
we tnufl: add, that when David’s wife found it impofli-
ble to keep him from following the troublefome vili-
tor, flie trudged after him, but never was gratified with
a fight of the enchantrefs. David’s little dog too was
a dutiful attendant on his mafter during his pilgri¬
mage.
It is remarked by Glanville, that ghofts are generally
very eager to be gone. Indeed they are often fo much
fo, that they do not flay to tell their errand. One
would be induced from this, as well as the circumftan-
ces already mentioned, to think that they are the flu-
pideft and dulleft of the dead that affume the appear¬
ance of ghofts; unlefs we adopt the ingenious folution
of Glanville, “ that it is a very hard and painful thing
for them to force their thin and tenuious bodies into a
vifible confidence ; that their bodies muft needs be ex¬
ceedingly compreffed ; and that therefore they muft be
in hafte to be delivered from the unnatural preffure.”
With refpeft to the evidence in favour of fpeftres, if
examined ever fo flightly, it will be found very de¬
fective. They only appear to one perfon at a time ;
they are feen only in the night ; they are vifible only
to ignorant, illiterate, and credulous perfons, and never
prefent themfelves before men of education and learning.
That fpeftres only appear to one perfon at a time,
even though there are more in company, is an objeftion
againfl: the credibility of their appearance quite infur-
4 D - mountable.
Speftre.
s P E l 57 S ] S P E
apecVe. mountable. How is it poflible that two" men of eye-
light equally good, dire&ing their eyes to the fame fpst,
Ihould not fee io large an obje.61 as that of a man or
woman at a frnall distance equally well ? Some will tell
us that a milt is call over the eyes of the one, while the
view of the other is free from obftruftion. But how is
this to be proved ? and belides, what purpofe would it
ferve ? Ghofts have feldom any fecrets to difclofe ; they
might be proclaimed to a multitude with as much pro¬
priety as confined to one perfon. Shall we be told, that
the fpeftre has the power of becoming vifible to fome,
and of remaining inviiible to others ? This cannot be
allowed without adopting opinions delirudlive to reveal¬
ed rehgion ; for it would be a miracle : and we cannot
be perfuaded, without evidence, that God would em¬
power any inferior being to controul at pleafure the wife
laws which he has ordained for governing the world.
To hira who is of a different opinion, we would recom¬
mend Farmer on Miracles; a book in which this ques¬
tion is fully examined.
Spectres appear only in the night. But why fiiould
they fhun the light of the fun ? Thofe mifchievous
ghofts that Glanville mentions might indeed have fome
reafon to choofe midnight for the execution of their
pranks, as they would be more eafily detected in open
day. Such was the roguifh drummer that haunted Mr
Mompeffon’s houfe, who beat his drum all night, threw
the old gentlewoman’s clothes about’lhe room, hid her
Bible in the allies, plucked the clothes off the bed, and
amufed himfelf with tcfling about Mr Mompeffon’s
ihoes. But why ftiould a grave ferious ghofl appear at
midnight ? Might it not deliver its meffage with as
much eafe and more fuccefs in the day-time ? In the
day-time it would not excite much fear j it would be
liftened to therefore with more attention •, and did it
choofe to exhibit itfelf before a number of witneffes, its
grievances would be more fpeedily redrefled, becaufe
more perfons would intereft themfelves in feeing juftice
done to the injured ghoft.
Speftres not only choofe the moft improper time, but
the moft improper perfons. To render the teftimony of
any perfon credible, he muft not only be a man of vera¬
city, but he muft have fufficient ability to judge of the
iubjedt to which he is to bear witnefs. It is not on the
evidence of an ignorant illiterate perfon, who has more
fancy and fear than judgement, that we are to reft our
belief of what is fupernatural. It is alfo worthy of re- v
mark, that we have never heard of a ghoft appearing to
any perfon who did not previoufly believe their exift-
ence. A man muft be prejudiced in favour of this opi¬
nion, or he will never fee a ghoft. But fenfible men
know, that he who has been accuftomed to hear fright¬
ful ftories of ghofts and apparitions gliding through a
churchyard, or haunting fome particular place, can
fcarcely pafs through a churchyard, or haunted fpot
without conjuring up in his imagination the hideous
phantoms which he has been accuftomed to affociate
with fuch places. Is it ftrange, then, that an ignorant
man, with a mind uncultivated and uninformed, with
all the prejudifces of the nurfery about him, ftiould ima¬
gine he fees ghofts in thofe places where he believes
they hover, efpecially in tiie dead hour of midnight,
when, with the flighteft aid of the imagination, a cow
may be turned into a monftrous phantom, and the re¬
flection of the beams of the moon from a little water be
converted into a ghoft with a winding-ftieet ? But why
ftiould apparitions fhun men of underftanding and learn¬
ing ? Why ftiould learning be formidable to them (a) ?
It was not fo with the celeftial meffengers mentioned in
the Scriptures : they appeared to the patriarchs and pro¬
phets ; and the miracles there recorded were performed
in the moft public places, before* the eyes of Rabbles,
of Scribes, and Pharifees. Indeed this circumftance is
fufficient to deftroy the evidence of fpedtres. They
have never been feen by any but men of weak ordiftem-
pered minds, or by men ivho have previoufly believed
in them.
Having now confidered the evidence on which the
belief of fpeftres refts, we will endeavour to give fome
account of the foundation of it. To trace an opinion
that has prevailed fo generally in the world to its
fource, is a labour not unworthy of the philofopher,
even though the opinion be falfe. It is always gratify¬
ing to detedf: the caufes ol error : it is no lefs ufeful; for
in order to refute error, it is often fufficient to point out
the fources from which it has fprung. To reach the
origin of the belief of fpedlres is not more difficult than,
to account for idolatry or polytheifm. In the infant
ftate of the intelleflual powers every thing is confidered
as poffeffing life and intelligence. The child beats the
ftool
Spetflr
(a) The celebrated hiftorian De Thou had a very fingular adventure at Saumur, in the year 1598. One
night, having retired to reft very much fatigued, while he was enjoying a found fleep, he felt a very extraordi¬
nary weight upon his feet, -which, having made him turn fuddenly, fell down and awakened him. At firft he
imagined that it had been only a dream, but hearing foon after fome noife in his chamber, he drew afide the cur¬
tains and faW, by help of the moon, which at that time ffione very bright, a large white figure walking up and
down, and at the fame time obferved upon a chair fome rags, which he thought belonged to thieves who had
come to rob him. The figure then approaching his bed, he had the courage to alk it what it was. “ I am
(fa;d it) the Queen of Heaven.” Had fuch a figure appeared to any credulous ignorant man in the dead of
night, and made fuch a fpeech, would he not have trembled with fear, and have frightened the whole neighbour¬
hood with a marvellous defeription of it ? But De Thou had too much underftanding to be fo impofed upon.
Upon hearing the words which dropped from the figure, he immediately concluded that it was fome mad wo¬
man, got up, called his fervants, and ordered them to turn her out of doors •, after which he returned to bed and
fell afleep. Next morning he found that he had not been deceived in his conjefture, and that having forgot to
ftut his door, this female figure had efcaped from her keepers, and entered his apartment. The brave Scbom-
fcerg, to whom De Thou related his adventure fome days after, confeffed that in fuch a cafe he would not have
ffiown fo much courage. The king alfo, who was informed of it by Schomberg, made the fame acknowledge¬
ment.
S P E
[ 579 3
S P E
ftool over which he has fallen with the fame paiTion that
he would treat his companion : The young girl talks to
her doll as if it underftood her : The favages afcnbe
every change which they obferve on the face of nature
to the action of fome animated being. As knowledge
advances, they Angle out thofe beings which feem to
produce the moft llriking eftbas, arrange them into
i'ome kind of order, and divide the government of the
world among them. Unable, at the fame time, to con¬
ceive any notion of a pure fpirit, they imagine thofe di¬
vinities are corporeal beings. 1 his is the foundation of
idolatry. The belief of fpeftres is but another ftep.
That thefe animated corporeal beings, to wThom they
addrefs their prayers, and who prefide over the world,
fliould on particular occaAons difplay themfelves to the
human eye, is what they muft be previouAy difpofed to
ecpeft. Hence the numberlefs appearances of the hea-
then gods, of the PerAan and Mahometan genii. The
belief of ghoAs may be eaAly deduced from the opi-
nions entertained refpefting a future ftate. Tnefe opi-
nions are founded on that effential doftrine of natural
religion, that there is another world in which men fhall
exift when death has removed them hence. This doc¬
trine has been univerfally received both by favage and
civilized nations j but, as might be expefted, men have
formed very different fentiments concerning the nature
of a future ftate, of the Atuation and employments of
departed fpirits, according to the degree of knowledge
which they poffeffed. But the general opinion in an¬
cient and rude nations wras, that departed fpirits retain¬
ed the fame external appearance, the fame paflions and
principles as before. Nothing therefore was more na¬
tural than the opinion, that they might occaAonally re-
viAt this world, from an anxious deAre to alleviate the
fufferings of thofe beloved friends and relations whom
they had left behind them, or to communicate from the
unfeen world what might be important to their welfare.
Upon fuch an errand did Creiifa appear to /Eneas.
The apparition of the ghofts of murderers is eaAly ex¬
plained upon the fame general principles. The remorie
and horror of mind which the murderer feels are fuppc-
fed to haunt him in the other world, and to render his
Situation there intolerable (efpecially if the murder was
never detefted and punifhed), till he return and give in-
Awmation againft himfelf. In this way, then, wTe
think it highly probable the belief of fpeftres has origi¬
nated. But many other caufes concur to conArm and
propagate this belief. Ihefe are, imperfeft viAon uni¬
ted with fear, dreams, opium, difeafes, drunkennefs, and
opium. . .
i. Indiftintft viAon is one fource of apparitions, efpe-
cially when the mind is under the influence of fear. It
is w’ell known, that the fenfe of feeing conveys no idea
of diftance till improved by experience and obfervation j
and how wre come at length to diftinguifti objefts at a
diftance from thofe that are near, has been explained in
another place (fee Metaphysics, N° 5o0*
In the daytime we feldom commit miftakes, becaufe
we know the objeft at which we look j but at night,
when we fee obje&s obfcurely, and know not what they Spectre,
are, we have no diftinft idea either of their diftances or "v*'
of their magnitude. We may miftake a bulb that is
near us for a tree at a diftance *, or if the imagination be
under the influence of fear, it will eaAly convert it into
a gigantic figure. “ It is generally aflerted (fays Buf-
fon) that thele figures exift only in the imagination; yet
they may have a real exiftence in the eye j for whenever
we have no other mode of judging of an unknown ob-
jeft but by the angle it forms in the eye, its magnitude
will uniformly increafe in proportion to its propinquity.
If it appears, when at the diftance of 20 or 30 paces,
to be only a few feet high, its height, when within two
or three feet of the eye, will be many fathoms. An ob-
je£t of this kind muft naturally excite terror and afio-
niftiment in the fpeiftator, till he approaches and recog-
nifes it by a&ual feeling; for the moment a man knows
an ohjeft, the gigantic appearance it affumed in the eye
inftantly diminifhes, and its apparent magnitude is redu¬
ced to its real dimenfions. But if, inftead of approach¬
ing fuch an objeft, the fpe&ator flies from it, he can
have no other idea of it but from the image which it
formed in his eye j and, in this cafe, he may affirm with,
truth that he law an objedt terrible in its aipect, and
enormous in its fize. Thus the notions concerning Ipec-
tres is founded in nature, and depend not, as lome pn>
lofophers affirm, upon the imagination alone.”
In addition to thefe obfervations of Buffon, we may
take notice, that obje&s are always magnified in a fog ;
fo that when a fog happens in the night-time, objects
may be magnified to an enormous Aze. But, at any
rate, whether there be fog in the night or not, there is
fuch a great analogy between darknefs and a fog, that
if the latter deceive us with refpedt to the Aze of objedis,
the former will alfo deceive us. The writer of this ar¬
ticle was palling the frith of Forth at Oueensferry, near
Edinburgh, one morning which was extremely foggy.
Though the water be only two miles broad, the boat
did not get within Aght of the fouthern fhore till it ap¬
proached very near it. He then faw7 to his great fur-
prife a large perpendicular rock, where he knew the
Ihore was low and almoft flat. As the boat advanced a
little nearer, the rock feemed to fplit perpendicularly
into portions, which feparated at a little diftance from
one another. He next faw thefe perpendicular diviflonst.
move j and upon approaching a little nearer, found it
was a number of people Handing on the beach, waiting
the arrival of the ferry-boat.
2. Dreams are another fertile fource of apparitions.
It is well known to every perfon, that while the mind
is under the influence of a dream it conAders it as
much a reality as it does any particular adtion while
awake. Now if a perfon of a weak fuperftitious mind
fhould have a very lively dream, which interefts his paid
Aons, particularly the paAion of fear, it may make fb
deep an impreflion, that he may be Armly convinced that
he has adlually feen with his eyes what has only palled
before his imagination (fee Apparition) (b). We
fliall here tell a ftory, by way of illuftration, which we
a D 2 have
(B) When the thoughts are much troubled, and when a perfon fleeps without the circumftances of going to bed,
or putting oA: bis clothes, as when he nods in his chair, it is very diAicult, as Hobbes remarks, to 1 ungui 1 a
dream from a reality. On the contrary, he that compofes himfelf to fleep, m cafe of any uncouth or abiurd fancy,
eaAly fufpedts it to have been a dream.—Leviathan, par. i. c. 1. ,
S P E
Speclre. have received on unqueftionable authority.
India captain had an honeft faithful fervant named
John, for whom he had a great regard. John died, if
we recolleft right, on a voyage from England to the
Eaft Indies during a French war. As the fhip ap¬
proached the place of its deftination the captain had a
dream, in which John appeared to him, and earneftly
befought him not to fail to the port for which he was
bound, as it was in the hands of the French. The cap¬
tain, though not addifted to fuperftition, thought it
prudent to follow this admonition j and after landing at
a different port, he was informed that the place to which
he had intended to fleer was, according to the informa¬
tion of the dream, captured by the French. On the
voyage home, the captain had a fecond dream, in which
John again appeared to him, and gave him notice that
he fhould foon die, and that the ihip fhould be taken in
the mouth of the Channel by the French. Next morn¬
ing the captain called his firfl mate, told him his dream,
which he believed was prophetic, and delivered his pa¬
pers, that he might take proper care of them after his
deceafe. Every thing happened exaftly as the dream
had foretold ; the captain died, and the veffel was taken
by a French man of war in the mouth of the Channel.
This dream, wonderful as it appears, is eafily explained.
In the voyage out to India, nothing was more natural
than that the captain fhould fomelimes be thinking, that
amidft the various chances of war, the port to which he
was bound might be taken ; perhaps it was a place of
confequence, which the French might be eager to pof-
fefs. The captain being accuflomed to revolve thefe
thoughts in the day-time, they would naturally return
at night 5 the regret which he felt for the lofs of a faith¬
ful fervant might mingle with his apprehenfions, and
thus produce the dream. Perhaps the advice was fuch
as John would have given had he been alive. It is
equally eafy to explain the caufe of the dream In the
paffage home. The captain, we are told, was very ill,
and thought himfelf dying, at the very time he had the
fecond dream, and therefore did not expe£t to reach
England. This part of the dream, then, was only his
own thoughts, delivered by his fervant. As to the
other part, that his fhip fhould be taken in the mouth of
the Channel, it may be thought unaccountable how the
very place fhould be forefeen. But wTe muff recollect,
that the mouth of the Channel, being over again!! the
coaft of France, was by far the moft dangerous place in
the whole paffage ; and that, therefore, the captain had
more reafon to be afraid of lofing his fhip there than in
any other place. The ufe which we mean to make of
this flory is this: Had the captain been a man of a weak
mind, he would certainly have confidered the dream as
a reality, and believed that, inflead of having dreamed
of the things on which his imagination had dwelt, he
had aftually feen his fervant return from the dead, and
heard him deliver the meffage. But, on the other hand,
the captain, though he believed the dream was prophe¬
tic, mentioned it without any figns of fear ; and no man
of courage and refleftion ever fees an apparition. This
fight is referved for the weak, the timid, and the fuper-
flitious. Of this many inftances might be mentioned.
3. Speftres are alfo fometimes occafioned by opium.
Gaffendi the philofopher found a number of people go-
ing to put a man to death for having intercourfe with
the devil ^ a crime which the poor wretch readily ac-
f 5»o 1 S P E
An Eaft knowledged. Gaffendi begged of the people that they
would permit him firft to examine the wdzard before put¬
ting him to death. They did fo 5 and Gaffendi, upon
examination, found that the man firmly believed himlelf
guilty ot this impoffible crime. He even offered to Gaf¬
fendi to introduce him to the devil. The philofopher
agreed ; and wrhen midnight came, the man gave him a
pill, which he laid it was neceffary to fwallow before
letting off. Gaffendi took the pill, but gave it to his
dog. I he man having fwallowed his, fell into a pro¬
found fleep } during which he leemed much agitated by
dreams. 1 he dog was affedted in a fimilar manner.
When the man awoke, he congratulated Gaffendi on
the favourable reception he had met with from his fable
highnefs. It was with difficulty Gaffendi convinced
him that the whole was a dream, the effedt of foporific
medicines, and that he had never ftirred from one fpot
during the whole night.
4. That difeafes, efpecially the night-mare, the hy¬
pochondria, hyfteric paffion, and madnefs, are another
fburce of fpedtres, we have the flrongeft reafon to affirm.
Perfons fubjedt to the night-mare often imagine that
they fee fpedtres. This is ftill more the cafe with hy¬
pochondriac and hyfteric perfons, and thofe who are in
any degree deranged in their intelledts. A fadt which
fell within the obfervation of the writer of this article
will both prove and illuftrate this affertion. In a vil¬
lage in one of the midland counties of Scotland, lived a
widow diflinguiffied among her neighbours for decency
of manners, integrity, and refpedt for religion. She af¬
firmed, that for feveral nights together the had heard a
fupernatural voice exclaiming aloud, Murder! murder!
This was immediately reported through the neighbour¬
hood all were alarmed, and looked around them with
folicitude for the detedtion of the murder which they
fuppofed to have been committed ; and it was not long
till a difeovery feemed adtually to be made. It was re¬
ported, that a gentleman, who had relations at ne great
diftance, and had been refiding in the Weft Indies, had
lately arrived with a confiderable fortune ; that he had
lodged in an inn about three miles off 5 and that he had
afterwards been feen entering a houfe in the village
where the widow lived, from which he had never re¬
turned. It was next affirmed, that a tradefman paffing
the churchyard about twelve at midnight had feen four
men carry a dead corpfe into that cemetery. Thefe three
fadts being joined together feemed perfectly to agree and
to confirm one another, and all believed fome horrible
murder had been committed. The relations of the gen¬
tleman thought they w^ere called upon to make inquiry
into the truth of thefe allegations : they accordingly
came firft to the churchyard, where, in company with
the fexton, they examined all the graves with great
care, in order to difeover whether any of them had
been lately dug, or had the appearance of containing
more than one coffin. But this fearch was to no pur-
pofe, for no alteration had been made upon the graves.
It was next reported that the murdered man had been
buried in a plantation about a mile diftant from the vil¬
lage. As the alarm was now very general, a number of
the inhabitants propofed of their own accord to explore
it. They accordingly fpread themfelves over the wood,
and fearched it with care, but no grave nor new dug
earth was found. The writer of this article, who was
then a boy at fchool, was along with them. The mat¬
ter
Speetrs.
S P E [58
Speftre. ter did not reft here : The perfon who was faid to have
“-Y—' feen four men carry a dead corpfe into the churchyard at
midnight was fummoned to appear before a meeting of
the juftices of the peace. Upon examination he denied
any knowledge of the affair, but referred the court to
another perfon from whom he had received his informa¬
tion. This perfon was examined, and the refult was
the fame as the former. In fhort, one perfon had heard
it from another, who had received it from a third, who
had heard it from a fourth •, but it had received a little
embellfthment from every perfon who repeated it. It
turned out to be the fame with Smollet’s ftory of the
three black crows, which fome body was faid to have
vomited.
Upon inquiry at the inn where the Weft Indian gen¬
tleman had lodged, no fuch gentleman had been feen
there. It was found afterwards he had never lelt the
Weft Indies. Still, however, the veracity of the wi¬
dow was not difputed j and fome dark and fecret tranl-
a£tion was fufpefted. But the whole affair was at
length explained by difcovering that (he was fomewhat
deranged by melancholy. And the cries which (lie
had at firft imagined (he had heard were afterwards
imitated by fome roguilh perfon, who was highly amufed
with fpreading terror among the credulous.
5. Drunkennefs alfo has the power of creating fpe£tres.
Its natural effeft in moft cafes is to derange the under-
ftanding, to throw it off its guard, and to give full (cope
to that paffion which has a natural difpofition to gain
an afcendancy } and fometimes it excites paflions which
fcarcely feem to exift at any other time. It makes
fome men licentious, fome furious, fome all benevolence
and kindnefs, fome from being cowards it renders un¬
daunted heroes. It feldom, if ever, excites fear ; and
therefore it may be thought ftrange that men flhould
imagine they fee ghofts when intoxicated. But it inuft
be remarked, that the ghofts which the drunkard fees,
he fees not with the fame alarm and terror as men who
are fober. He is not afraid of them. He has the cou¬
rage to converfe with them, and even to fight with
them, if they give him provocation. A man returning
home intoxicated, affirmed that he had met with the devil;
and that after a fevere encounter he had vanquifhed him
and brought him to the ground, to which he had nailed
him faft by driving his ftaff through his body. Next
morning the ftaff was found ftuck with great violence
into a heap of turfs !
6. Many apparitions of fpeftres have no other origin
than the artifices of the waggifh or felf-interefted- Dr
Plot, in his Natural Hiftory of Oxfordftiire, relates a
marvellous ftory, which will illuftrate this affertion.
Soon after the murder of King Charles I. a commiflion
was appointed to furvey the king’s houfe at Wood-
ftock, with the manor, park, woods, and other de-
mefnes to that manor belonging ; and one Collins, under
a feigned name, hired himfelf as fecretary to the com-
miffioners, who, upon the 13th of Offober 1649, met,
and took up their refidence in the king’s own rooms.
Plis majefty’s bed-chamber they made their kitchen, the
council hall their pantry, and the prefence-chamber was
the place where they fat for the difpatch of bufinefs.
His majefty’s dining-room they made their wood yard,
and ftored it with the wood of the famous royal-oak
from the High Park, which, that nothing might be
left with the name of king about it, they had dug up
1 ] s p E
by the roots, and fplit and bundled up into faggots for Spedtre.
their firing. Things being thus prepared, they fat on ~=*
the 16th of the lame month for the difpatch of bulinefs;
and in the midil of their firft debate there entered a
large black dog (as they thought, which made a dread¬
ful howling, overturned two or three of their chairs,
and then crept under a bed and vanhhed. This gave
them the greater furpriie, as the doors were kept con-
ftantly locked, fo that no real dog could get in or out.
The next day their lurpriie was increafed, when fitting
at dinner in a lower room, they heard plainly the noiie
of perfons walking over their heads, though they well
knew the doors were ail locked, and there could be no
body there. Prefently after they heard alfo all the wood
of the king’s oak brought by parcels from the dining¬
room, and thrown with great violence into the pretence
chamber ; as alfo all the chairs, (tools, tables, and other
furniture, forcibly hurried about the room; their papers,
containing the minutes of their tranfa&ions were
torn, and the ink-glafs broken. When all this noifa
had ceafed, Giles Sharp, their fecretary, propoled to
enter firft into thefe rooms; and in prefence of the com*
miflioners, from whom he received the key, he opened
the doors, and found the wood fpread about the room,
the chairs toffed about and broken, the papers torn, the
ink-glafs broken (as has been faid), but not the leaft
track of any human creature, nor the leaft reafon to
fufpedft one, as the doors were all faft, and the keys in
the cuftody of the commiflioners. It was therefore una-
nimoufiy agreed, that the power who did this mifchief
muft have entered the room at the key-hole. The
night following, Sharp the fecretary, with two of the
commiflioners fervants, as they were in bed in the lame
room, which room was contiguous to that where the
commiflioners lay, had their bed’s feet lifted up fo much
higher than their heads, that they expedted to have
their necks broken, and then they were let fall at once
with fo much violence as (hook the whole houle, and
more than ever terrified the commiffioners. On the
night of the 19th, as all were in bed in the fame room
for greater fafety, and lights burning by them, the can¬
dles in an inftant went out with a fulphureous fmell,
and that moment many trenchers of wood were hurled
about the room, which next morning were found to be the
fame their honours had eaten on the day before, which
were all removed from the pantry, though not a lock
ivas found opened in the whole houfe. I he next night
they fared dill worfe ; the candles went out as before,
the curtains of their honours beds were rattled to and
fro with great violence; their honours received many
cruel blows and bruifes, by eight great pewter-difties
and a number of wooden trenchers being thrown on
their beds, which being heaved off, were heard rolling
about the room, though in the morning none of thefe
were to be feen. This night likewife they were alarm¬
ed with the tumbling down of oaken billets about their
beds, and other frightful noife ; but all was clear in the
morning, as if no fuch thing happened. The next
night the keeper of the king’s houfe and his dog lay in
the commiflioners room, and then they had no diitur-
bance. But on the night of the 22d, though the dog
lay in the room as before, yet the candles went out, a
number of brick-bats fell from the chimney into the
room, the dog howled -piteoufly, their bed clothes were
all ft ripped off, and their terror increafed. On the
24 th
[ 582 ] S P E
;Spcftre, 24th they thought all the wood of the king’s oak was
violently thrown down by their bed fides ^ they counted
64 billets that fell, and ibme hit and Ihook the beds in
which they lay ; but in the morning none were found
there, nor had the door been opened where the billet
wood was kept. The next night the candles were put
out, the curtains rattled, and a dreadful crack like thun¬
der was heard; and one of the fervants running in hade,
thinking his mailer was killed, found three dozen of
trenchers laid fmoothly under the quilt by him. But all
this was nothing to what fucceeded afterwards : The
29th, about midnight, the candles went out, fomething
walked majeitically through the room, and opened and
ihut the windows ”, great Hones were thrown violently
into the room, fome of which fell on the beds, otheis
tm the floor; and at about a quarter after one a noife
Was heard as of forty cannon difcharged together,
and again repeated at about eight minutes diftance.
This alarmed and raifed all the neighbourhood, who
coming into their honours room, gathered up the great
ftones, fourfcore in number, and laid them by in the
corner of a field, where, in Dr Plot’s time, who reports
this ftory, they were to be feen. This noife, like the
difcharge of cannon, was heard through all the country
for 16 miles round. During thefe noifes, which were
heard in both rooms together, the commiffioners and
their fervants gave one another over for loft, and cried
out for help ; and Giles Sharp, fnatching up a fword,
had well nigh killed one of their honours, miftaking
him for the ipirit, as he came in his Hurt from his own
room to theirs. While they were together, the noife
was continued, and part of the tiling of the houfe was
llript off, and all the windows of an upper room were
taken away with it. On the 30th at midnight fome¬
thing walked into the chamber treading like a bear 5 it
walked many times about, then threw the warming-pan
violently on the floor 5 at the fame time a large quantity
of broken glafs, accompanied with great ftones and
horfes bones, came pouring into the room with uncom¬
mon force. Thefe were all found in the morning to the
aftonifhment and terror of the commiflioners, who were
yet determined to go on with their bnfinefs. But on
the firft of November the moft dreadful fcene of all en-
lued : Candles in every part of the room were lighted
up, and a great fire made ; at midnight, the candles
all yet burning, a noife like the burfting of a cannon
was heard in the room, and the burning billets were
toffed about by it even into their honours beds j who
called Giles and his companions to their relief, other-
wife the houfe had been burnt to the ground; about
an hour after the candles went out as ufual, the crack
as if many cannon was heard, and many pailfuls of
green ftinking water were thrown upon their honours
beds; great ftones were alfo thrown in as before, the
bed curtains and bedfteads torn and broken, the win¬
dows fhattered, and the whole neighbourhood alarmed
with the moft dreadful noifes j nay, the very rabbit-
ftealers that were abroad that night in the warren were
fo terrified, that they fled for fear and left their ferrets
behind them. One of their honours this night fpoke,
and, in the name of God, ajked what it was, and why it
dijhirhed them fo ? No anfwer was given to this 5 but
the noife ceafed for a while, when the fpirit came again *,
and, as they all agreed, brought with it/even devils\worfe
than itfelf. One of the fervants now lighted a large
I
candle, and fet it in the door-way between the two Speglre,
chambers, to fee wrhat paffed ; and as he watched it,
he plainly law a hoof linking the candle and candle-
flick into the middle of the room, and afterwards ma¬
king three fcrapes over the fnuff, leraped it out. Up¬
on this the fame perfon was fo bold as to draw a fworcl*
but he had fcarcc got it out when he felt another in-
vilible hand holding it too, and pulling it from him j
and at length prevailing, ftruck him lo violently on
the head with the pummel, that befell down for dead with
the blow. At this inftant was heard another burft like
the dilcharge oi the broadlide of a Ihip of war, and at
about a minute or two’s diftance each no lei's than 19
more fuch : thele ihook the houle lo Violently, that they
expefted every moment it would fall upon "their heads.
The neighbours, on this, as has been faid, being all
alarmed, Hocked to the houfe in great numbers, and all
joined in prayer and pfalm finging 5 during which the
noife ftill continued in the other rooms, and the dif¬
charge of cannons was heard as from without, though
no vilible agent was feen to difcharge them. But
what was the moft alarming of all, and put an end to
their proceedings effeftually, happened the next day as
they were all at dinner, when a paper, in which they
had figned a mutual agreement to referve a part of the
premiles out of the general furvey, and afterwards to lhare
it equally amongft themfelves, (which paper they had hid
for the prefent under the earth in a pot in one corner
of the room, and in which an orange-tree grew), was
confumed in a w'onderful manner, by the earth’s taking
fire with which the pot was filled, and burning violent¬
ly with a blue fume, and an intolerable ftench ; fo that
they were all driven out of the houfe, to which they
could never again be prevailed upon to return.
This wonderful contrivance was all the invention of
the memorable Jofeph Collins of Oxford, otherwife
called Funny Joe, who having hired himfelf as fecreta-
ry, under the name of Giles Sharp, by knowing the pri¬
vate traps belonging to the houfe, and the help of
pulvis fu/minans and other chemical preparations, and
letting his fellow-fervants into the fcheme, carried on
the deceit without difeovery to the very laft ; infomuch
that the Dr Plot, in his Natural Hiftory, relates the
whole for faff, and concludes in this grave manner,
“ That though tricks have been often played in affairs of
this kind, many of the things above related are not re-
concileable with juggling; fuch as the loud noifes, be¬
yond the power of man to make without fuch inftru-
ments as wTere not there $ the tearing and breaking the
beds ; the throwing about the fire ; tire hoof treading
out the candle j and the ftriving for the fword, and the
blow the man received from the pummel of it.”
SPECTRE'of the Broken, a Angular phenomenon ob-
ferved on the top of the Broken, one of the Hartz
mountains in Hanover, of which M. Haue has given
the following account. “ After having been here (fays
he) for the thirtieth time, and having procured informa¬
tion refpedling the above-mentioned atmofpheric pheno¬
menon, I was at length, on the 23d of May 1797, fo
fortunate as to have the pleafure of feeing it ; and per¬
haps my defeription may afford fotisfafHon to others who
vilit the Broken through cufiofity. The fun rofe about
four o’clock, and, the atmofphere being quite lerene to¬
wards the eaft, his rays could pafs without any obftruc-
tion over the Heinrichlhohe. In the fouth-weft, how¬
ever,
Spe&re
ll
Spetulum,
S P E [ 583 ] S P E
a brifk weft wind car- for difclofing it to tlie public, was publiftred in the Speruluai.
Nautical Almanack for 1787, and is as follows: Melt
the copper in a large crucible, employing feme black
flux, compofed of two parts of tartar and one of nitre :
when melted, add to it the brafs and the filver. Let
the pure tin be melted in another crucible, alfo ■with
fome black flux. Take them both from the lire, and
pour the melted tin into the fufed mafs in the large CS^e^t s
ever, towards Achtermannfhbhe,
ried before it thin tranfparent vapours, which were not
yet condenfed into thick heavy clouds.
“ About a quarter paft four I went towards the inn,
and looked round to fee whether the atmofphere would
permit me to have a free profpeft to the fouth-weft j
when I obferved, at a very great diftance towards Ach-
termannthbhe, a human figure of a monftrous fize. A
violent guft of wind having almoft carried away my
hat, I clapped my hand to it by moving my arm to¬
wards my head, and the coloffal figure did the fame.
“ The pleafure which I felt on this difeovery can
hardly be deferibed} for I had already walked many a
weary ftep in the hopes of feeing this fhadowy image,
without being able to gratify ray curiofity. I imme¬
diately made another movement by bending my body,
and the coloffal figure before me repeated it. I was
defirous of doing the fame thing once more—but my
coloffus had vanifhed. I remained in the lame pofiEon,
waiting to fee whether it would return •, and in a few
minutes it again made its appearance on the Achter¬
mannfhbhe. I paid my refpe£ts to it a fecond time,
and it did the fame to me. I then called the landlord
of the Broken •, and having both taken the fame pofi-
tion which I had taken alone, we looked towards the
Achtermannftibhe, but faw nothing. We had not,
however, flood long, when two fuch coloffal figures
were formed over the above eminence, which repeated
our compliments by bending their bodies as we did ;
after which they vaniihed. We retained our pofition 5
kept our eyes fixed on the fame fpot, and in a little the
two figures again flood before us, and were joined by a
third. Every movement that we made by bending our
bodies thefe figures imitated—but withj this difference,
that the phenomenon was fometimes weak and faint,
fometimes flrong and well defined. Having thus had
an opportunity of difeoveripg the whole fecret of this
phenomenon, I can give the following information to
fuch of my readers as may be defirous of feeing it them-
felves. When the rifing fun, and according to analogy
the cafe will be the fame at the fetting fun, throws his
rays over the Broken upon the body of a man ftanding
oppofite to fine light clouds floating around or hover¬
ing paft him, he needs only fix his eyes ftedfaftly upon
them, and, in all probability, he will fee the lingular
fpeftacle of his own fliadow extending to the length of
five or fix hundred feet, at the dillance of about two
miles before him.”
SPECULARIS Lapis, compofed of large plates of
extreme thinnefs. (See Talc, Mineralogy Index).
The white variety with large and broad leaves, com¬
monly called ijinglafs and Mufcovy glafi, is imported
in great quantities \ the miniature-painters cover their
piffares with it j the lantern-makers fometimes ufe it
inftead of horn ; and minute objefts are ufually pre-
ferved between two plates of it, for examination by the
microfcope.
SPECULATIVE, fomething relating to the the¬
ory of fome art or fcience, in contradiftimftion to prac¬
tical.
SPECULUM for refleffing telefcopes, is made of
a kind of white copper confifting of 32 parts fine red
copper, one of brafs, 15 of grain-tin, and three of
white arfenic. The procefs given by the late J. Ed¬
wards, who was rewarded by the Board of Longitude
crucible. Stir the whole well with a dry fpatula
of birch, and pour off the fufed metal immediately in- p. 712,
to a large quantity of cold walei-. The hidden chill of
the water will caufe the fluid metal to divide into an
infinite number of fmail particles, which will cool in-
ftantly.
If the copper be completely falurated, the frafture
of one piece of this mixed metal will appear bright,
and of a glcffy look, refembling the face ot pure quick-
filver. But if it is of a brown reddilh colour, it wants
a little more tin. To afeertain the required proportion,
melt a fmall quantity, known by weighs of the mixed
metal, with a known very fmall part of tin; and, if
neceffary, repeat the trial with different doles, till the
fracture of the new mixture looks as already deferibed.
Having now afeertained the neceffary addition of tin
that is required, proceed to the laft melting of the
whole metal, together with the additional proportional
dole of tin ; fule the whole, obferving the fame cau¬
tions as before ; and you will find that the mixture will
melt wdth a much lefs heat than that for the firit fufion.
Have ready as many ounces of white arfenic in coarfe
powder as there are pounds in the weight of the metal $
wx-ap up the arfenic in a fmall paper, and put it,
with a pair of tongs, into the crucible j ftir it well
with the fpatula, retaining the breath to avoid the ar-
fenical fumes or vapours (which howrever are not found
to be hurtful to the lungs) till they difappear; take the.
crucible off the fire, clear away the drois from the top
of the metal, pour in about one ounce of powdered ro-
fin, with as much nitre, in order to give the metal a
clean furface, and pour out the metal into the moulded
flafks.
The fpeculum fhould be moulded with the con¬
cave furface downwards, and many imall holes ffrould
be made through the fand upwards, to diicharge the
air. The moulding fand from Higbgate near London,
ufed by the founders, is as good as any for carting
thefe metallic mirrors. The call metal ffiould be taken
out from the fand of the ffafks wbilft it is hot, or elfe it
may happen to crack if left to cool within. See Te¬
lescope.
But in addition to what has now been faid, we muff
notice fome other information relative to the grinding,
poliffring, and other important circumffances connefted
with the method of preparing the moll perfect fpeculum
for telefcopes. The metal being taken out of the flalk,
as already noticed, and this Ihould be done as foon as it
has become folid, and while it is yet red hot, care mult
be taken to keep the face downwards to prevent it from
finking. Holding it in that pofition by the git, force
out the fand from the hole in the middle of the mirror
with a piece of wood or iron, and place the fpeculum in
an iron pot, with a large quantity of hot afhes or fmalL
coals, fo as to bury the fpeculum in them a fufficient
depth. If the fand is not forced out of the hole in the
manner above dire&ed, the metal, by linking as it cools*
will:
S P E [ 584 ] S P E
Speculum, -will embrace the fand in the middle of the fpeculum fo
tight, as to caufe it to crack before it becomes entirely
cold. And if the metal be not taken out of the fand,
and put in a pot with hot allies or coals to anneal it, the
moifture from the fand will always break the metal. Let
the fpeculum remain in the afhes till the whole is be¬
come quite cold. The git may be eafily taken off by
marking it round with a common fine half round file,
and giving it then a gentle blow. The metal is then to
be rough ground and figured.
But before we proceed to defcribe that procefs,
it may be proper to give an account of another com-
.polition for the fpeculum of a reflefting telefcope,
which has been employed with great iuccefs, by Rochon
direftor of the marine obfervatory at Breft. Of this
compofition the principal ingredient is platina; which,
in grains, muff be purified in a ftrong fire by means of
nitre and the fait of glafs, or that flux which in the
Englilh glafs-houfes is called by the workmen fandifer.
To the platina, when purified, add the eighth part
of the metal employed in the compofition of common
fpecula $ for tin without red copper would not produce
a good effedl. This mixture is then to be expofed to
the moft violent heat, which muft be ftill excited by
the oxygen gas that difengages itfelf from nitre when
throwm into the fire. One melting would be infuffi-
cient : five or fix are requifite to bring the mixture to
perfe&ion. It is neceffary that the metal fhould be in
a ftate of complete fufion at the moment when it is
poured into the mould. By this procefs I have been
enabled (fays the author) to conftrudl a telefcope with
platina, which magnifies the diameters of obje&s five
hundred times, with a degree of clearnefs and diftinft-
nefs requifite for the niceft obfervations. The large fpe¬
culum of platina weighs fourteen pounds : it is eight
inches in diameter, and its focus is fix feet. Though
the high price of platina will, in all probability, for
ever prevent it from coming into general ufe for the
fpeculums of telefcopes, we thought it proper to notice
this difcovery, and (hall now proceed to the grinding of
the fpeculum.
For accomplifhing this objeft, a very complicated
procefs is recommended in Smith’s Optics, and one not
much more fimple, by Mr Mudge in the 67th volume
of the Philofophical Tranfaffions; but according to
Mr Edwards, whofe fpeculums are confeffedly the bed,
neither of thefe is neceffary. Befides a common grind-
ftone, all the tools that he made ufe of are a rough
grinder, which ferves alfo as a polilher, and a bed of
hones. When the fpeculum was cold, he ground its
furface bright on a common grindftone, previoufly
brought to the form of the gage} and then took it to
the rough grinder.
The tool is compofed of a mixture of lead and tin,
or of pewter, and is made of an elliptical form, of fuch
dimenfions, that the ftiorteft diameter of the ellipfe is
.equal to the diameter of the mirror or fpeculum, and
the longeft diameter is to the fliorteft in the proportion
of ten to nine. This rough grinder may be fixed upon
a block of wood, in order to raife it higher from the
bench j and as the metal is ground upon it with fine
emery, Mr Mudge, with whom, in this particular, Mr
Edwards agrees, diredts a hole or pit to be made in
the middle of it as a lodgement for the emery, and deep
grooves to be cut out acrofs its furface with a graver
2
for the fame purpofe. By means of a handle, fixed on Speculum,
the back of the metal with foft cement, the fpeculum
can be whirled round upon this grinder fo rapidly, that
a common labourer has been known to give a piece of
metal, four inches in diameter, fo good a face and figure
as to fit it for the hones in the fpace of tw o hours. The
emery, however fine, will break up the metal very much j
but that is remedied by the fubfequent proceffes of hon¬
ing and polifhing.
When the metal is brought to a true figure, it muff
be taken to a convex tool, formed of fome Hones from
a place called Edgedon in Shropfhire, fituated between
Ludlow and Biihop’s Caffle. The common blue hones,
ufed by many opticians for this purpole, will fcarcely
touch the metal of Mr Edwards’s fpeculums •, but where
they muff be employed far want of the others, as little
water fhould be ufed as poflible w'hen the metal is put
upon them ; becaufe it is found by experience that they
cut better when but barely wet, than when drenched
with water. The Hones, however, from Edgedon are
greatly preferable; for they cut the metal more eafily,
and having a very fine grain, they bring it to a fmooth
face. Thefe Hones are diredled by Mr Mudge to be
cemented in fmall pieces upon a thick round piece of
marble, or of metal made of tin and lead like the former
compofition, in fuch a manner, that the lines between
the Hones may run flraight from one fide to the other j
fo that placing the teeth of a very fine faw in each of
thefe divifions, they may be cleared from one end to
the other of the cement which rifes between the Hones.
As foon as the hones are cemented down, this tool
muff be fixed in the lathe, and turned af exadtly true
to the gage as poflible. It fhould be of a circular fi¬
gure, and but very little larger than the metal intended
to be figure^ upon it. If it be made confiderably lar¬
ger, it will grind the metal into a larger fphere and a
bad figure ; and if it be made exa£Uy of the fame fize,
it will work the metal indeed into a figure truly fphe-
rical, but will be apt to fliorten its focus, unlefs the me¬
tal and tool be worked alternately upwards. On thefe
accounts, Mr Edwards recommends it to be made about
one twentieth part longer in diameter than the fpeculum,
becaufe he has found that it does not then alter its fo¬
cus •, and he earneffly diffuades the ufe of much water on
the hone pavement at the time of ufing it, otherwife, he
fays, that the metal in different parts of it will be of dif¬
ferent degrees of brightnefs.
The metal being brought to a very fine face and
figure by the bed of Hones, is ready to receive a polifh,
which is given to it by the elliptical rough grinder co¬
vered with pitch. With refpeft to the confiflency of
this pitch, Mr Mudge and Mr Edwards give very dif¬
ferent diredlions. Whilff the former fays that it fhould
be neither too hard nor too foft, the latter affirms that
the harder the pitch is, the better figure it will give
to the metal. Pitch may be eafily made of a fufficient
hardnefs by adding a proper quantity of rofin ; and
when it is hardened in this way, it is not fo brittle as
pitch alone, which is hardened by boiling. Mr Ed¬
wards advifes to make the mixture juff fo hard as to
receive, when cold, an impreflion from a moderate pref-
fure of the nail of one’s finger. When the elliptical
tool is to be covered w'ith this mixture, it muff be made
pretty warm, and in that Hate have the mixture poured
upon it when beginning to cool in the crucible. Our
author
s p E [ 585 ] - S P E
SpeculuTi.
author recommends this coating to be made everywhere
of about the thicknefs of half a crown ; and to give it
the proper form, it muft, when fomewhat cool, be
preffed upon the face of the mirror, which has firft been
dipped in cold water, or covered over with very fine
writing paper. If it be not found to have taken the
exaft figure from the firft preffure, the furface of the
pitch mull be gently warmed, and the operation repeat¬
ed as before. All the fuperfluous pitch is now to be
taken away from the edge of the polilher with a pen
knife, and a hole to be made in the middle, accurately
round, with a conical piece of wood. This hole ihould
go quite through the tool, and fiiould be made of the
fame fize, or fomewhat lefs than the hole in the middle
of the fpeculum. Mr Edwards fays, that he has always
found that fmall mirrors, though without any hole in
the middle, poliih much better, and take a more cor¬
rect figure, for the polifiier’s having a hole in the mid¬
dle of it.
The polifher being thus formed, it muft he very
gently warmed at the fire, and divided into feveral
iquares by the edge of a knife. Thefe, by receiving the
fmall portion of metal that works off in polishing, will
caufe the figure of the fpeculum to be more correft
than if no fuch fquares had been made. Mr Mudge
directs the polilher to be ftrewed over with very fine
putty ; but Mr Edw’ards prefers Colcothar of vitriol.
Putty (fays he) gives to metals a white luftre, or, as
workmen call it, a filver hue ; but good colcothar of
vitriol will polifti with a very fine and high black luftre,
fo as to give the metal finished with it the complexion
of polished fteel. To know if the colcothar of vitriol is
good, put fome of it into your mouth, and if you find
it diflblves away it is good \ but if you find it hard, and
crunch between your teeth, then it is bad, and not well
burned. Good colcothar of vitriol is of a deep red, or
of a deep purple colour, and is foft and oily when rub¬
bed between the fingers; bad colcothar of vitriol is of a
light red colour, and feels harftr and gritty. The col¬
cothar of vitriol fhould be levigated between two fur
faces of poliftied fteel, and wrought with a little water;
when it is worked dry, you may add a little more wa¬
ter, to carry it lower down to what degree you pleafe.
Wh en the colcothar of vitriol has been wrought dry
three or four times, it will acquire a black colour, and
will be low enough, or fufficiently fine, to give an ex-
quifite luftre. This levigated colcothar of vitriol muft
be put into a fmall phial, and kept with fome water up¬
on it. When it is to be ufed, every part of the pitch-
polilher muft be firft brufhed over with a fine camel’s
hair brufh, which has been dipped in pure water, and
rubbed gently over a piece of dry clean foap. The
wathed colcothar of vitriol is then to be put upon the
poliftier ; and Mr Edwards diredls a large quantity of it
to be put on at once, fo as to faturate the pitch, and
form a fine coating. If a fecond or third application of
this powder be found neceffary,it muft be ufed very fpa-
ringly, or the polifti will be deftroyed which has been
already attained. When the metal is nearly polished,
there will always appear fome black mud upon its fur-
face, as well as upon the tool. Part of this muft be
wiped away with fome very foft wafti leather ; but if the
whole of it be taken away, the poliftiing will not be fo
well completed.
With refpeft to the parabolic f pure to be given to
Vol. XIX. Part II.
the mirror, Mr Edwards aSTures us, that a very little ex- Speculum
perience in thefe matters will enable any one to give it ii
with certainty, by polishing the fpeculum in the com- L Spc!l' ,
mon manner, only with crois Strokes in every diredtion,
upon an elliptical tool of the proper dimenfions.
Speculum, a looking giafs or mirror, capable of re¬
flecting the rays of the fun.
Speculum, in Surgery, an inftrument for dilating a
wound, or the like, in order to examine it attentively.
See Surgery.
SPEECH, in general, the art or ad! of exprefting a
per fon’s thoughts by means of articulate founds, which we
call words. See Language, Grammar, Reading,
and Oratory, Part IV.
SPEED, John, an English hiftorian, was born at
Farington, in Chefliire, in the year 1542. He was by
profeflion a taylor, and freeman of the company of mer¬
chant taylors in the city of London. In 1626, he pub¬
lished his Theatre of Great Britain, which was after¬
wards reprinted in folio, under the title of the Theatre
of the Umpire of Great Britain. His Genealogies of
Scripture were firft: bound up with the Bible in 1611,
when the firft edition of the prefent translation was
printed. In 1614 appeared his Hifory of Great Bri¬
tain, which has been translated into Latin ; and in
1616 he published his Cloud ofWitneffes, \x\ odfavo. He
lived in marriage 57 years with his wife, by whom he
had twelve fons and fix daughters ; and died in 1629.
He was interred in the church of St Giles’s, Cripple-
gate, London, where a monument was eredfed to his
memory.
SPEEDWELL. See Veronica, Botany Index.
SPELL, a charm confifting of fome words of oc¬
cult power, generally attended with fome ceremony.—
In order to explain it, we will produce a fewr examples.
On St Agnes’s night, 21ft of January, take a row of
pins, and pull out every one, one after another, faying
a Pater-nofter on flicking a pin in your Sleeve, and you
will dream of him or her you Shall marry.
Another method to fee a future fpoufe in a dream. Grofe's Prc-
The party inquiring muft lie in a different county hom wicml
that in which he commonly refides, and On going to GloJJary.
bed muft knit the left garter about the right-legged
flocking, letting the other garter and flocking alone ;
and as he rehearfes the following verfes, at every comma
knit a knot:
This knot I knit,
To know the thing I know not yet;
That I may fee
The man (woman) that Shall my hulband (wife) be ;
How he goes, and what he wears,
And what he does all days and years.
Accordingly, in a dream, he will appear with the infig-
nia of his trade or profeflion.
Another, performed by charming the moon, thus :
At the firft appearance of the new moon, immediately
after the newr year’s day, (though fome fay any other
new moon is as good), go out in the evening, and fland
over the fpars of a gate or ftile, and, looking on the
moon, repeat the following lines:
All hail to the moon ! all hail to thee !
I prithee, good moon, reveal to me
This night who my hufhand (wife) muft be.
4 E Immediately
t/VM
S P E
[ 586 ]
S P E
peeing, Immediately after you muft to bed, when you will
^ peiman. Gf perfon deltined tor your future hufband or
" * tvife.
SPELLING, in Grammar, that part of orthography
which teaches the true manner of relolving words into
their fyllables.
All words are either fimple or compound, as ufe,
difife ; done, undone; and the rules for dividing each
mull be fuch as are derived from the analogy of lan¬
guage in general, or from the eftablilhed cuftom of
fpaaking ; which, for the Englith language, are re¬
duced to the following rules : 1. A confonant between
two vowels mull be joined wTith the latter in fpelling,
as na-ture, ve-ri-ly, gc-ne-rous; except, however, the
letter x, which is joined to the firil, as in fiax-en, ox¬
en, &c. and compound w’ords, as in up-on, un-ufed, &c.
2. A double confonant muft be divided, as in let-ter,
man-ner, &c. 3. Thofe confonants which can begin
a word muft not be parted in fpelling, as in de-fraud,
re-prove, di-JUnB; however, this rule is found fome-
times to fail j for though gn begins a word, as gnaw,
gnat, &c. yet it muft be divided in fpelling, as in cog-
m-taance, ma-lig-ni-ty, &i.c. 4. i'hofe confonants which
cannot begin a wJord muft be divided, as /d in fcldom. It
in mul-ti-tude, mp in temper, rd in ar-dent; but in final
fyllables there are exceptions, as tl in ti-tle, dl in han¬
dle, &c. 5. When twm vowels come together, and are
both of them diftinaiy founded, they muft be feparated
in fpelling, as in co-e-val, mu-tu-al, &.c. 6. I he gram¬
matical terminations or endings muft be feparated
in fpelling, as ed in wing-ed, edjl in de-h-ver-edjl, ing
in hear-ing, mice in de-h-ver-ance, &c. 7. Compound
words muft be refolved into their fimple or component
words, as up-on, in-to, ne-vcr-the-lcfs, not-with-Jland-wg,
&c.
SPELMAN, Sir Henry, an eminent Englifh an¬
tiquarian, was defcended from an ancient family, and
born at Cengham, near Lynn in Norfolk, about the
year 1561. He wTas knighted by King James I. who
had a particular efteem for him on account of his known
capacity for bufinefs j and he employed him feveral
times in Ireland on public affairs. When he was
about i;o years of age, he went to refide in London j
where falling into a ftudy to wdiich his own genius had
always inclined him, he collefled all fuch books and
MSS. as concerned the fubjeft of antiquities, either fo¬
reign or domfeftic. In 1626, he publiftied the firft part
of his well-known Gloflary, which he never carried be¬
yond the letter L ; becaufe, as fome have fuggefted, he
had faid things under “ Magna charta,” and “ Maxi¬
mum confilium,” that could not then have appeared
without giving offence. Upon his death all his papers
came into the hands of his fon Sir John Spelman, a gen¬
tleman who had abilities to have completed his father’s
deftgn, if death had not prevented him. The fecond
part was afterwards publifhed by Sir William Dugdale 5
but with all the marks of a fcanty unfinifhed perform¬
ance. The next work he entered upon w^as an edition
of the Engliih Councils, of which he publifhed the firft
volume about two years before his death, leaving the
fecond volume, as well of this as of his Glcffary, to be
publithed by Sir William Dugdale. Sir Henry wrote
feveral other things, all relating to ancient laws and
cuftoms, and died in 1641. His Pofthumous Works
■were publifhed in folio, 1698, under the infpeclion of
Mr Gibfon, afterwards bifliop of London.
SPELTER, in Metallurgy, the lame with ZlNC.
SPENCE, Joseph, an eminent writer, was fellow of
NewT College, Oxford, where he took the degree of A. M.
in 1727- About that time he became firft known as an
author, by an EJfay on Pope's Odyjfey, in which Jome
particular beauties and blemijhes oj that work are conji-.
dered; a work of great merit, and which for found criti-
cifm and candid dilquifition is almolt without a parallel.
He w'as elected profeffor of poetry by the univerlity
in 1728, and held that office ten years, which is as
long as the ftatutes will allow. His Hiftory of Stephen
Duck was firft publiffied in 17315 but it was afterwards
much altered, and prefixed to an edition of Duck’s
poems.
About this time he travelled into Italy as tutor to
the earl of Lincoln, afterwards duke of Newcaftle.—
In 1736 he republilhed Gorboduc, at Mr Pope’s de¬
fire, with a preface giving an account of the author, the
earl of Dorfet. He quitted his fellowffiip in 1742, up¬
on being prefented by the Society of New College to
the redory of Great Harwood in Buckinghamffiire.—-
He never refided in his living 5 but paid it an annual vi-
fit, diftributing large fums of money among the poor,
and providing for many of their children. The fame
year he was made profellor of modern hiftory at Ox¬
ford. In 1747 he publiffied Polymetis; or an inquiry
concerning the agreement between the works of the
Roman poets and the remains of ancient artifts, being
an attempt to illuftrate them mutually from each other.
This work was treated by Gray with a contempt which
it did not deferve. He raifes objedions becaufe the au¬
thor did not illuftrate his fubjed from Greek writers j
that is, becaufe he failed to execute what he never un¬
dertook. He was inftalled prebendary of the feventh
ftall at Durham the 24th May 1754. He publiffied
the fame year, u An Account of the Life, Charader,
and Poems, of Mr Blacklock, ftudent of philofophy at
Edinburgh j” which was afterwards prefixed to his
Poems. The profe pieces which he printed in the Mu-
feum he colleded and publiffied, together with fome
others, in a pamphlet called Moralities, by Sir Harry
Beaumont. Under the fame name he publiffied “ Crito,
or a Dialogue on Beauty,’* and “ A particular Account
of the emperor of China’s Gardens near Pekin, in a let¬
ter from F. Attiret, a French miffionary now employed
by that emperor to paint the apartments in thofe gar¬
dens, to his friend at Paris.” Both thefe treatifes axe
printed in Dodfley’s fugitive pieces, as is alfo “ A Let¬
ter from a Swifs Officer to his friend at Rome 5 which
Mr Spence firft publiftied in the Mufeum. In 1758
he publiffied “ A Parallel, in the Manner of Plutarch,
between a moft celebrated man of Florence and one
fcarce ever heard of in England.” This was alfo in-
ferted in the fugitive pieces. The fame year he made a
journey into Scotland, which he deferibed in an affec¬
tionate letter to Mr Shenftone, publiflied in Hall’s Col-
leftion of Letters, 1778. In 1764 he was very well
deferibed by Mr James Ridley, in his admirable Tales
of the Genii, under the name of Phefoi Ecncps (his
name read backwards), dervife of the groves. A letter
from Mr Spence to that ingenious moralift, under the
farce fignature, is preferved in the 3d volume of “ Let¬
ters
s p E [ 587 ] ' s P E
Spence ters of Eminent Perfons.” In 1768 he publiftied “ Re-
s )c>||fer marks and Differtations on Virgil, with fome other claf-
"!>r“ "r'_. fical obfervations, by the late Mr Holdfworth.” On
the 20th of Anguil; the fame year he was unfortunately
drowned in a canal in his garden at Byfleet in Surrey.
He was found flat upon his face at the edge of the ca¬
nal, where the water was fo {hallow as not even to cover
his head. The accident, it wras fuppofed, for he was
<juite alone, was owing to a fit.
I he duke of Newcaftle pofleffes fome manufcript vo¬
lumes of anecdotes collefled by Mr Spence, from which
Hr Johnfon was permitted to infert many extracts in his
Lives of the Poets.
SPENCER, Dr John, an eminent divine, was born
in Kent in 1630, and educated at Cambridge. He was
chofen fellow of his college, and took a doftor’s degree
in 1663. j667 he was chofen mafter of Corpus
Chrifti College, and preferred to the deanery of Ely in
1677. on 20th of May 1695. His works
are, 1. The Righteous Ruler; a fermon on Proverbs
xxix. 2. preached June 28. 1660. 2. A Difcourfe con¬
cerning Prodigies, wherein the vanity of prefages by
them is reprehended, and their true and proper ends af-
ferted and vindicated. To this excellent work was af¬
terwards added, A Difcourfe concerning vulgar prophe¬
cies, wherein the vanity of receiving them as the certain
indications of any future event is expofed ; and fome
marks of diftinftion between true and pretended pro¬
phets are laid down. 3. A Latin Differtation concern¬
ing Urim and Thummim. 4. His famous treatife De
legibus Hebrcxorum ritunlibus et earum rationibus. The
intention of this book, as he informs us himfelf, was to
vindicate the Deity from the imputation of afting from
arbitrary and fantaftical motives. It has been highly
and juftly efteemed both for the elegance of ftyle and
the uncommon erudition and found fenfe which it dif-
plays. It has, however, (that part of it particularly
which endeavours to deduce fome of the Jewilh ceremo¬
nies from the pra&ices of their heathen neighbours),
alarmed many perfons, as if fuch a dottrine, if it could
be proved, would derogate from the Divine wifdom,
and undermine revelation. But this is fo far from being
the cafe, that Dr Spencer’s attempt, whether fuccefsful
or not, deferves the gratitude of Chriftians, becaufe it
has a tendency to throw light on an important and dif¬
ficult fubjeft.
SPENSER, Edmund, the poet, was born in London
in the year 1553’ an^ defeended from an ancient family
of the Spenfers in Northamptonfliire. All we know
concerning his education is, that he was admitted a
fizer of Pembroke-hall in Cambridge, and matriculated
in 1569* At this time began his intimacy with Mr
Gabriel Harvey, a man of genius and a poet. In 1576,
having completed his degrees in arts, he left the univer-
iity, as it is conje&ured, for want of fubfiftence, and
retired to the north of England. Here he had the
misfortune to become enamoured of his Rofalind, who,
after flattering his paflion for a time, at length prefer¬
red his happier rival. Spenfer" continued in the country Spe
till the year 1578, when at the perfuafion of his friend stier
Mr Harvey he removed to London, where that gentle-
man introduced him to Mr Sidney (afterwards Sir Philip
Sidney). Concerning his firfl: introdu&ion to Sir Phi¬
lip, there is indeed a different flory, which was firlt
told by the writer of his life, prefixed to his works in
1679, and tranferibed by Hughes, Cibber, and feveral
others $ which, neverthelefs, is certainly not true. The
purport of it is, that Spenfer, being unknown to this
Mecaenas of the age, went to Leicefler-houfe, and lent
in the 9th canto of the firft book of the Fairy Queen ;
that, on reading part of it, Sir Philip ordered his Rew¬
ard to give the bearer 50I.; on reading a little farther
50I. more; then 200I. bidding him to make hafte and
pay the money, left he (hould give the poet his whole
eftate. The ftory tells prettily enough ; but it is very
certain, that the Fairy Queen was begun long after his
acquaintance with Sir Philip. By this univerfal patron
of genius, however, he was prefented to Queen Eliza¬
beth, who honoured him with the place of poet-laureat.
About this time he finifhed his Shepherd’s Calendar,
which was firft printed in 1579*, and in the following
year, being recommended by his patron to the earl of
Leicefter, he went to Ireland as fecrelary to the lord
Grey of Wilton, then appointed lord-lieutenant of
that kingdom. Lord Grey was recalled in 1582, and
with him Spenfer returned to London, where he conti¬
nued till after the death of Sir Philip Sidney in 1586 ;
a lofs which he bewailed to the end of his life. The
following year, our poet, having obtained a royal grant
of 3000 acres of forfeited lands in the county of Cork
in Ireland, fet out for that kingdom, took pofieflion of
his eftate, and fixed his refidence in the caftle of Kil-
colman, which had belonged to the earl of Defmond.
In this retirement he refumed his great work of the
Fairy Queen j and continued in Ireland till, being vi-
fited by his old friend Sir Walter Raleigh in 1589, he
came over with him to England, but returned to Ire¬
land the year following, where he fell in love with a
country girl, and married her. Soon after his mar¬
riage, he paid another vifit to his native country, where
we alfo find him in 1596. In the following year he re¬
turned once more to Kilcolman ; but on the rebellion
of Lord Tyrone, who ravaged the whole county of
Cork, he was obliged to fly for fafety with his family
to England, where, in the year 1599, he died in ex¬
treme poverty (a). He was buried in Weftminfter
Abbey, according to his requeft, near Chaucer. A
monument was ere&ed to his memory by Ann countefs
of Dorfet. We know but little of his character as a
man ; as a poet, confidering the age in which he lived,
he deferves our utmoft veneration. He wrote various
pieces befides thofe above mentioned. His whole works,
with his life by Hughes, were publifhed in fix volumes
i2mo, in 1715 and 1750.
SPERGULA, Spurrey, a genus of plants belong¬
ing to the clafs of decandria 5 and in the natural fyflem
4 E 2 arranged
(A) Ehis is Camden’s account, and it has been generally believed •, but Mr Malone, the laft editor of
-Shakefpeare’s works, by examining the patent roll, 33 Eliz. p. 3. has difcoveied, that in February 1690-?;
.Spenfer obtained frqm Queen Elizabeth an annuity or penfion of col. during his life : a fum equivalent to 200k
at prefent.
S P E [ 588 ] S P H
Sperm, arranged under the 22d order, caruopJiyllect, See Bo-
Suem.Hceti.TANY Jn^ex^
SPERM, the feed whereof an animal is formed. See
Ppjysioi.ogy.
SPERMACETI, a whitith, unctuous, flaky fubftance,
prepared from oil, but chiefly from the brains of a fpecies
of whale called plnjfcter macrocephalus.
The method of preparing fpermaceti skept a fecret;
but the procefs is faid to be this : The brains being
taken out of the animal, are then, as fome fay, melted
over a gentle fire, poured into moulds, and when cold
melted again} and this procefs is continued till they are
purified. Others fay, that after being preffed and drain¬
ed they are more thoroughly purified by fteeping them
in a ley of alkaline fait and quicklime. The brains are
then walked, and cut into thin flakes or llices with
wooken knives. One filh is faid to afford fome tons of
brains. Good fpermaceti is glofly and femitranfparent,
in fine white flakes \ foft and undfuous to the touch, yet
dry and friable } in tafle, fomewhat like butter, and of
a faint fmell like that of tallorv. Some adulterate it
with wax •, but the deceit is difcovered, either by the
fmell of the wax or by the dulnefs of the colour. Some
alfo fell a preparation of oil taken from the tail of the
whale inftead of that from the brain ; but this kind
turns yellow as foon as expofed to the air. Indeed it is
apt in general to grow yellowilh, and to contradf a ran¬
cid fishy fmell if not carefully fecured from the air.
The more perfedfly it has been purified at firlt, the
lefs fufceptible it is of thefe alterations ; and after it
has been changed, it may be rendered white and fweet
again by fieeping it afrelh in a ley of alkaline fait and
^quicklime. It melts in a fmall degree of heat, and
congeals again as it cools.
Spermaceti is of ufe in medicine. Quincy fays it is
a noble remedy in the afthma, Sec. though chiefly ufed
in bruifes, inward hurts, and after delivery. For inter¬
nal ufe, it may be diflblved in aqueous liquors into the
form of an emulfion, by trituration with almonds, the
yolk or white of an egg, and more elegantly by muci¬
lages ; or made into a lohoch, by mixing two drams of
it with a fuitable quantity of yolk of egg, then adding
half an ounce of frelh drawn oil of almonds, and an
ounce of balfamic fyrun. Spermaceti is not capable of
being dilTolved by caultic alkalies, and of forming foaps,
like other oily matters : but it is altogether foluble in
oils, and unites by liquefaftion with wax and refins j
and in thefe forms is applied externally. But it is cer¬
tain, its greateft property, and that which makes it
fo much in vogue in many places, is its foftening the
Ikin. Whence it comes to be ufed by the ladies in paftes,
waflies, &c.
Spermaceti candles are of modern manufadlure : they
are made fmooth, wuth a fine glofs, free from rings and
fears, fuperior to the fineft wax candles in colour and
luftre; and, when genuine, leave no fpot or ftain on the
fineft filk, cloth, or linen.
v A method has been lately propofed by Dr Smith
Gibbes of Briftol, to convert animal mufcle into a fub¬
ftance- much refembling fpermaceti. The procefs is re-
PA/. Trfltt/niarkably Ample: Nothing more is needfary than to
1794- take a dead carcafe and expofe it to a ftream of running
water: it will in a Ihort time be changed to a mafs of
fatty matter. To remove the offenfive imell, a quantity
Spliserflii-
thuu
of nitrous acid may then be poured upon it, which unit- Spermaceti
ing with the fetid matter, the fat is feparated in a pure
ftate. This acid indeed turns it yellow, but it may be
rendered white and pure by the a ft ion of the oxygena¬
ted muriatic acid. Mr Gibbes brought about the lame
change in a much ftiorter time. He took three lean
pieces of mutton and poured on them the three mineral
acids, and he perceived that at the end of three days
each was much altered ; that in the nitrous acid was
much foftened, and on feparating the acid from it, he
found it to be exaftly the fame with that which he had
before got from the water 5 that in the muriatic acid
was not in that time fo much altered ; the vitriolic acid
had turned the other black.
SPERM ACOCE, Button-wood, a genus of plants
belonging to the clafs of tetrandria 5 and in the natural
lyftem arranged under the 47th ox&zx, Jle//aue. See
Botany Index.
SPERMATIC, in Anatomy, fomething belonging to
the (perm or feed.
SPEUSIPPUS, an Athenian philofopher, the ne¬
phew and fucceffor of Plato. Contrary to the praftice of
Plats, Speufippus required from his pupils a ftated gra¬
tuity. He placed ftatues of the Graces in the Ichool
which Plato had built. On account of his infirm ftate
of health, he was commonly carried to and from the aca¬
demy in a vehicle. On his way thither he one day met
Diogenes, and fainted him 5 the furly philolopher re¬
futed to return the falute, and told him, that luch a tec¬
hie wretch ought to be alhamed to live ; to which
Speufippus replied, that he lived not in his limbs, but
in his mind. At length, being wholly incapacitated, by
a paralytic ftroke, for the duties of the chair, he refign-
ed it to Xenocrates. He is laid to have been of a vio¬
lent temper, fond of pleafure, and exceedingly avarici¬
ous. Speufippus wrote many philofophical works,
which are now loft, but which Ariftorle thought fufli-
ciently valuable to purchafe at the expence of three
talents. From the few fragments which remain of his
philofophy, it appears that lie adhered very ftriftly to
the doftrine of his mafter.
SPE T, a river of Scotland, riling from a lake of the
fame name in Badenoch, and, after a ferpentine courfe
of 76 miles, paffes by Rothes caftie, and falls into the
German fea at Garnoch near Elgin. Mr Pennant tells
us, that the Spey is a dangerous neighbour to Caftie
Gordon, overflowing frequently in a dreadful manner,
as appears by its ravages far beyond its banks. The
bed of the river is wide and full of gravel, and the chan¬
nel very (hitting. In 1746 the duke of Cumberland
pafled this river at Belly church, near Cattle Gordon,
when the channel was fo deep as to take an officer, from
whom Mr Pennant had the account, and who was fix
feet four inches high, up to the bread. The banks are
here very high and deep j fo that had not the rebels
been infatuated in fuch a manner as to negleft oppofi-
tion, the paffage muft have been attended with confi-
derable lofs. On this river there is a great falmon-
filhery ; about 1700 barrels full are caught in the feafon,
and the (bore was formerly rented for about 1200I. per
annum : now it is probably doubled,
SPHACELUS, in Surgery and Medicine, an abfolute
and perfeft corruption or death of the parts.
SPHiDRANTHUS, a genus of plants belonging to
the
S P H [ 589 ] S P I
Sphagnum tlie clafs of fyngenefla, and to the oraer of polygamia
il fegregata •, and in the natural fyflem arranged under the
, SP1"1^'- order, Compo/itce. See Botany Index.
v ’ SPHAGNUM, Bog-moss, a genus of plants be¬
longing to the clafs of cryptogamia and order of mufci.
See Botany Index.
Os-SPHENQIDES, the feventh bone of the crani¬
um or fkull. See Anatomy, N° ii.
SPHERE, is a iolid contained under one uniform
round furface, every point of which is equally diiiant
from a certain point in the middle called its centre ; and
is formed by the revolution of a fendcircle about its dia¬
meter. See Geometry.
Prejection of the Sphere. See Projection.
Sphere, in AJlronomy, that concave orb or expanfe
which invefts our globe, and in which the heavenly bo¬
dies appear to be fixed, and at an equal diidance from
the eye.
'The better to determine the places ©f the heavenly
bodies in the fphere, feveral circles are fuppofed to be
deferibed on the furface thereof, hence called the circles
of the fphere : of thefe fome are called great circles, as
the equinoftial, ecliptic, meridian, &c. and others finall
circles, as the tropics, parallels, &c. See Geography j
and Astronomy, paffm.
Armillary SPHERE. See GEOGRAPHY.
Sphere of Activity of a Body, is that determinate
fpace or extent to which, and no farther, the effluvia
continually emitted from that body reach ; and where
they operate according to their nature.
SPHERES, in Optics, the fame with metalline mir¬
rors, for telefcopes or other purpofes. See Mirror.
SPHEROID, in Geometry, a folid approaching to
the figure of a fphere. It is generated by the entire
revolution of a femi-ellipfis about its axis. When the
revolution is made round the largeft axis, the fpheroid
is called prolate; and when round the fflorteft, oblate.
This laft is the figure of the earth, and probably of all
the planets.
SPHEX, Ichneumon Wasp, or Savage; a genus
of infeds belonging to the order of hymenopterce. See
Entomology Index.
SPHINCTER, in Anatomy, a term applied to a
kind of circular mufcles, or mufcles in form of rings,
which ferve to clofe and draw up feveral orifices of the
body, and prevent the excretion of the contents,
SPHINX, in fabulous hiftory, a monfter which had
the head and breads of a woman, the body of a dog, the
tail of a ferpent, the wings of a bird, the paws of a lion,
and a human voice. It fprang from the union of Orthos
with the Chimaera, or of Typhon with Echidna. The
Sphinx had been fent into the neighbourhood of
Thebes by Juno, who wiffled to punifh the family of
Cadmus, which (he perfecuted with immortal hatred,
and it laid this part of Boeotia under continual alarms,
by propofing enigmas, and devouring the inhabitants if
unable to explain them. In the midft of their confter-
nation the Thebans were told by the oracle, that the
fphinx would deftroy herfelf as foon as one of the en¬
igmas Hie propofed was explained. In this enigma fiie
j ^ wiffled to know what animal walked on four legs in the
priere's 2?/-morning, two at noon, and three in the evening. Upon
bliotheca this Creon king of Thebes promifed his crown and his
Clajjica. filter Jocafta in marriage to him who could deliver his
country from the monfter by a fuccefsful explanation Sphinx,
of tbe enigma. It was at laft happily explained by Spigelia.
Oedipus, who obferved, that man xvalked on his hands 'v"
and feet when young, or in the morning of life ; at the
noon of life he walked ere£t j and in the evening of his
days he fupported his infirmities Upon a flick. (Vid.
Oedipus'). The fphinx no fooner hear this explanation
than fhe dallied her head againft a rock, and immedi¬
ately expired. Some mythologifts with to unriddle the
fabulous traditions about the fpbinx by the fuppofition
that one of the daughters of Cadmus, or Laius, infeft-
ed the country of Thebes by her continual depreda¬
tions, becaufe ffle had been refufed a pari, of her fatherV
pofleffions. The lion’s paw expreffed, Us they obferve,
her cruelty, the body of the dog her lafeivioufnefs,
her enigmas the fnares (lie laid for ftrangers and tra¬
vellers, and her wings the difpatch (lie uled in her ex¬
peditions.
Among the Egyptians the fphinx was the fymbol.
of religion, by reaton of the obfeurity of its myfteries ;
and on the fame account the Romans placed a fphinx.
in the pronaos or porch of their temples. Sphinxes
were ufed by the Egyptians to fflow the beginning of
the water’s rifing in the Nile : with this view, as it had
the head of a woman and body of a lion, it fignified.
that the Nile began to fwell in the months of July and
Auguft, when the fun paffes through the figns of Leo
and Virgo. There are feveral of thefe fiill to be feen ;
one in particular, near the pyramids, much fpoken of
by the ancients *, being of a prodigious fize, and cut out
of the rock ; the head and neck appear only at prefent,.
the reft of the body being hid in the fand. This, accord¬
ing to Thevenot, is 26 feet high, and 15 feet from the
ear to the chin : but Pliny affures us, the head was no
lefs than 102 feet in circumference, and 62 feet high
from the belly, and that the body wTas 143 feet long,
and was thought to be theTepulchre of King Amafis.
The learned Mr Bryant * obferves, that the fphinx * Ancient
feems to have been originally a vaft rock of different ■
ftrata ; which, from a fflapelefs mafs, the Egyptians fa- 'ol‘
fflioned into an objetf of beauty and veneration. The ’
Egyptians ufed this figure in their building ; from them
the Greeks derived it, and afterwards improved it into
an elegant ornament. It is allb frequently ufed in mo¬
dern archxtecfure.
It is proper to obferve, that the fphinx of the Egyp¬
tians is faid in the Afiatic Refearches f to have been
found in India. Colonel Pearfe was told by Murari j. y0j ^
Pandit, a man of learning among the Hindoos, that thep, 334.
fphinx, there calledfngh, is to appear at the end of the
world, and as foon as he is born will prey on an ele¬
phant : lie is therefore figured feizing an elephant in his
claws •, and the elephant is made fmall, to ftioxv that the
fngh, even a moment after his birth, will be very large
in proportion to it. But in oppofition to this account
given by Murari Pandit, the late Sir William Jones, the
learned and illuftrious prefident of the Afiatic Society, ,
was affured by feveral Brahmans, that the figure taken
for a fphinx was a reprefentation of a lion feizing a
young elephant. This point therefore requires farther
inveftigation.
SPHINX, HAWK-Moth, a genus of infefts belonging
to the order of lepidopterce. See ENTOMOLOGY Index.
SPIGELIA,. Worm-grass, a genus of plants be-
belonging
•s P I
longing to the clafs of pentandria 5 and in the natural
fvitera arranged under the 471)1 order, Stellatee. See
Botany and Materia Mkdica Index.
SPICE, any kind of aromatic drug that has hot and
pungent qualities: fuch are pepper, nutmeg, ginger,
cinnamon, cloves, &c.
SPICE-Iflands, in the Eaft Indies. See Banda, MO¬
LUCCA-IJlands, and Ceylon.
SPIDER. See Aranea, Entomology Index.
SPIDERWORT. See Phalangium, 7 Botany In-
SPIGNEL. See Athamanta, dex.
SPIKE, or Oil of SPIKE, a name given to an effen-
tial oil diftilled from lavender, and much ufed by the
varnilh-makers and the painters in enamel.
SPIKENARD. See Nardus, Botany Index.
SPILANTHUS, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs of fyngenelia. See Botany Index.
SPINA cervina, an old name for rhamnus cathar-
ticus. See Rhamnus, Botany Index.
■S’PINA- Vent of a, in Surgery, that fpecies of corruption
of the bones which takes its rife in the internal parts,
and by degrees enlarges the bone, and raifes it into a
tumor. See Surgery.
SPINACIA, Spinage, a genus of plants belonging
to the clafs of dioecia ; and in the natural lyftem arran¬
ged under the 12th order, Holsracece. See Botany
Index ; and for an account of the method of cultivating
ipinage in the garden, fee Gardening.
SPINAGE, or Spinach. See Spinacia.
SPINiE, in Botany, thorns, rigid prickles: a fpecies
of arma, growing on various parts of certain plants for
their defence 5 fpince ramorum arcent pecora. On the
branches we find examples in the pyrus, prunus, citrus,
hippophaes, gmelina, rhamnus, lycium, &c. 5 on the
leaves, in the aloe, agave, yucca, ilex, hippomane, theo-
phrafla, carlina, &c.; on the calyx, in the carduus
cnicus, centaurea, moluccella, galeopfis, &c. ; on the
fruit, in the trapa, tribulus, murex, fpinacia, agrimo-
nia, datura, &c.
SPINAL marrow. See Anatomy Index.
SPINALIS, in Anatomy, the name of feveral mufcles.
&c. of the fpine.
SPINDLE, in Geometry, a folid body generated by
the revolution of fome curve line about its bafe or double
ordinate; in oppofition to a conoid, which is generated
By the rotation of the curve about its axis or abfeifs,
perpendicular to its ordinate. The fpindle is denomina¬
ted circular, elliptic, hyperbolic, or parabolic, according
to the figure of its generating curve.
SPINDLE-tree. See Euonymus, Botany Index.
SPINE, Spina dorsi. See Anatomy, N° 30.
Spine. See Spina:.
SPINET, or Spinnet, a mufical inftrument ranked
in the fecond or third place among harmonious inftru-
ments. It confifts of a cheit or belly made of the moll
porous and refinous wood to be found, and a table of
fir glued on flips of wood called fummers, which bear
on the fides. On the table are raifed two little promi¬
nences or bridges, wherein are placed fo many pins as
there are chords or firings to the inftrument. It is
played on by two ranges of continued keys, the former
range being the order of the diatonic fcale, and that be¬
hind the order of the artificial nottfs or femitones. The
keys are fo many fiat pieces of wood, which, touched
preffed down at the end, make the other raife a
1
C 59° 1
S P I
jack which flrikes and founds the firings by means of the
end of a crow’s quill. Wherewith it is armed. The 30
firfl firings are of brafs, the other more delicate ones of
iteel or iron-wire ; they are all ftretched over the two
bridges already mentioned. The figure of the fpinet is
a long fquare or parallelogram ; fome call it an harp
couched, and the harp an invertedfpinet. See the article
Harp.
This inftrument is generally tuned by the ear, which
method of the praftical muficians is founded on a fup-
pofition that the ear is a perfedl judge of an odlave and-,
a fifth, I he general rule is to begin at a certain note,
as C, taken towards the middle of the inftrument, and
tuning all the oftaves up and down, and alfo the fifths,,
reckoning feven femi tones to each fifth, by which means
the whole is tuned. Sometimes to the common or fun¬
damental play of the fpinet is added another fimilar one
in uniion, and a third in oftave to the firft, to make the
harmony the fuller ; they are either played feparately
or together by means of a flop : thefe are called double
or triple fpinets; fometimes a play of violins is added,
by means of a bow, or a few wheels parallel to the keys,
which prefs the firings and make the found laft as long
as the mufician pleales, and heighten and foften them,
more or lefs, as they are more or lefs prefled. The
harpfichord is a kind of fpinet, only with another dif-
pofition of the keys (fee the article Harpsichord).
The inftrument takes its name from the fmall quill ends
which touch the firings, refembling^/«<r or thorns.
SPINiFEX, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs
ef polygamia. See Botany Index.
SPINNING, in Commerce, the a£t or artofredu-.
ting filk, flax, hemp, wool, hair, or other matters, into
thread. Spinning is either performed on the wheel, or
with a diftaff and fpindle, or with other machines pro¬
per for the feveral kinds of working. Hemp, flax,
nettle-thread, and other like vegetable matters, are to
be wetted in fpinning : filks, wools, &c. are fpun dry,
and do not need water j yet there is a way of fpinning
or reeling filk as it comes off the cafes or balls, where
hot and even boiling water is to be ufed (fee Silk).
The vaft Variety, and the importance of thofe branches
of our manufadlures, which are produced from cotton,
wool, and flax, fpun into yarn, together with the cheap-
nefs of provifions, and the low price of labour in many
foreign countries, which are our rivals in trade, have oc-
cafioncd many attempts at home to render fpinning more
eafy, cheap, and expeditious j for W'hich fee COTTON-
Spinning and COTTON MILLS.
To give an intelligible and accurate defeription of a
cotton mill wTould be abundant employment for a vo¬
lume. Our limits admit of nothing like this; but as
we are certain that many of our readers have viewed a
cotton mill with wonder, but not with intelligence, or
with leifure to trace the Heps by which the wool from
the bag ultimately aflumes the form of a very fine thread.
Bewildered by fuch a complication of machinery, all in
rapid motion, very few, we imagine, are able to recolleft
with diftindlnefs and intelligence the effential part of
the progrefs by which the form of the cotton is fo won¬
derfully changed. Such readers will not think a page
or two mifemployed, if they are thereby able to under.
Hand this particular, to which all the reft of the procefs
is fubfervient.
We pals over the operation of carding, by which all
tl e
Spinet
. H
Spinning,
 I
S P I t 591
Spinning, the dc^s and inequalities of the cotton wool are remo-
1 v  ved, and the whole is reduced to an uniform thin fleece,
about 20 inches broad. This is gradually detached
from the finifhing card, and, if allowed to hang down
from it, would pile up on the floor as long as the mill
continues to work; but it is guided off from the card,
very tenderly, in a horizontal direflion, by laying its
detached end over a roller, which is flowly turned round
by the machine. Another roller lies above the fleece,
prefling it down by its wTeight. By this preffure, 3
gentle hold is taken of the fleece, and therefore the flow
motion of the rollers draws it gently from the card at
the fame rate as it is difengaged by the comb j but be¬
tween the card and the rollers a fet of fmooth pins are
placed in trvo rows, leading from the card to the rollers,
and gradually approaching each other as we approach
the rollers. By thefe pins the broad fleece is hemmed
in on both fides, and gradually contrafled to a thick roll;
and in this flate pafies between the rollers, and is com-
preffed into a pretty firm flat riband, about two inches
broad, which falls off from the rollers, and piles up in
deep tinplate cans fet below to receive it.
It is upon this flripe or riband of cotton wool that
the operation of fpinning begins. The general effeft
of the fpinning procefs is to draw out this maflive roll,
and to twift it as it is drawn out. But this is not to
be done by the fingers, pulling out as many cotton fibres
-at once as are neceffary for compoflng a thread of the
intended finenefs, and continuing this manipulation regu¬
larly acrofc the whole end of the riband, and thus, as it
were, nibbling the whole of it away. The fingers mull;
be directed, for this purpofe, by an attentive eye. But
in performing this by machinery, the whole riband muft
be drawn out together, and twifted as it is drawn. This
requires great art, and very delicate management. It
cannot be done at once ; that is, the cotton roll cannot
firfi: be ftretched or drawn out to the length that is ul¬
timately produced from a tenth of an inch of the roll,
and then be twilled. There is not coheflon enough for
this purpofe ; we fhould only break off a bit of the roll,
and could make no farther ufe of it. The fibres of cot¬
ton are very little implicated among each other in the
roll, becaufe the operation of carding has laid them al-
inoft parallel in the roll} and though comprefied a little
by its contraction from a fleece of 20 inches to a ri¬
band of only two, and afterwards comprefled between
the difcharging rollers of the carding machine, yet they
cohere fo flightly, that a few fibres may be drawn out
without bringing many others along with them. For
thefe reafons, the whole thicknefs and breadth of two or
three inches of the riband is ftretched to a very minute
quantity, and then a very flight degree of twill is given
it, viz. about three turns in the inch •, fo that it fliall
now compofe an extremely foft and fpungy cylinder,
which cannot be called a thread or cord, becaufe it has
fcarcely any firmnefs, and is merely rounder and much
flenderer than before, being ftretched to about thrice its
former length. It is now called flab, or roove.
Although it be ftill extremely tender, and will not
carry a weight of two ounces, it is much more cohefive
than before, becaufe the twift given to it makes all the
longitudinal fibres bind each other together, and com-
prefs thofe which lie athwart; therefore it will require
more force to pull a fibre from among the reft, but ftill
aot nearly enough to break it. In drawing out a fingle
] S P I
fibre, others are drawn out along with it j and if we Spinning
take hold of the whole affemblage, in two places, about' ' » f
an inch or two inches afunder, we (hall find that we
may draw it to near twice its length without any rifk.
of its feparating in any intermediate part, or becoming
much fmaller in one part than another. It feems to
yield equably over all.
Such is the ftate of the flab or roove of the firft for¬
mation. It is ufually called the preparation ; and the
operation of fpinning is confidered as not yet begun.
This preparation is the moft tedious, and requires more
attendance and hand labour than any fubfequent part of
the procefs. For the ftripes or ribands from which it
is made are fo light and bulky, that a few yards only
can be piled up in the cans fet to receive them. A per-
fon muft therefore attend each thread of flab, to join
ffeth ftripes as they are expended. It is alfo the molt
important in the manufaffure : for as every inch of the
flab meets with precifely the fame drawing and the fame
twilling in the fubfequent parts of the procefs, therefore-
every inequality and fault in the flab (indeed in the
fleece as it quits the finiftiing card) will continue through
the wliole manufacture. The fpinning of cotton yam
now divides into two branches. The firft, performed
by what are called jennies^ perfectly relembles the an¬
cient fpinning with the diftaff and fpindle j the other,
called fpinning of twifl, is an imitation of the fpinning
with the fly-wheel. They ditfer in the fame manner as
the fpinning with the old wool or cotton wheel differs
from the fpinning with the flax-wheel. Mr Arkwright’s
chief invention, the fubftitution of machinery for the im¬
mediate rvork of the human finger, is feen only in the
manufacture of twift. We fhall therefore confine our
attention to this.
The reft of the procefs is little more than a repeti¬
tion of that gone through in making the firft flab or
roove. It is formed on bobins. Thefe are fet on the
beck part of the drawing frame ; and the end of the
flab is brought forwards toward the attending work-
As it comes fonvard, it is ftretched or drawn to^
about four-thirds of its former length, or lengthened one-
third ; and is then twifted about twice as much as be¬
fore, and in this ftate wound up on another bobin. In
forne mills two rooves, after having been properly drawn,,
are brought together through one hole, and twifted into
but we believe that, in the greater number of
mills, this is deferred to the fecond drawing. It is on¬
ly after the firft drawing that the produce of the opera¬
tion gets the name of fab ; before this it is called pre~
paration, or roove, or by ferae other name. The flab is
is ftill a very feeble, foft, and delicate yarn, and will not
carry much more weight than it did before in the form
of roove. The perfeCiion of the ultimate thread or yarn
depends on this extreme foftnefs ; for it is this only
which makes it fufceptible of an equable ftretching •, all
the fibres yielding and feparating alike.
The next operation is the fecond drawing, which no
way differs from the firft, except in the different pro-
portionings of the lengthening, and the proportion be¬
tween the lengthening and the fubfequent twift. On
thefe points we cannot give any very diftinCt infor¬
mation. It is different in different mills, and with dif¬
ferent fpecies of cotton wool, as may be eafily imagin¬
ed. The immediate mechanifm or manipulation muft.
be Ikilfully accommodated to the nature of that friCtien
which
... s p 1 is
Spuming, which the fibres of cotton exert on each other, ena-
v bling one of them to pull others along with it. This
is greatly aided by the contorted curled form of a cot¬
ton fibre, and a confiderable degree of elafticity which
it poffefies. In this refpeft it greatly refembles woollen
fibres, and differs exceedingly from thofe of flax : and
it is for this reafon that it is fcarcely poffible to fpin
flax in this way : its fibres become lank, and take any
fhape by the flighteft compreflion, elpecialiy when
damp in the flightefl degree. But befides this, "the fur-
face of a cotton fibre has a harflmefs or roughnefs, which
greatly augments their mutual fridtion. This is pro¬
bably the reafon why it is fo unfit for tents and other
dreflings for wounds, and is refufed by the furgeon
even in the meaneft hofpitals. But this harflmefs and
its elafticity fit it admirably for the manufacture of
yarn. Even the ftiortnefs of the fibre is favourable;
and the manufadlure would hardly be poflible if the
fibre were thrice as long as it generally is. If it be
juft fo long that in the finifhed thread a fibre will rather
break than come out from among the reft, it is plain
that no additional length can make the yarn any ftrong-
er with the fame degree of comprefiion by twining. A
longer fibre will indeed give the fame firmnefs of adhe¬
rence with a fmaller compreflion. This would be an
advantage in any other yarn ; but in cotton yarn the
compreflion is already as flight as can be allowed; were
it lefs, it would become woolly and rough by the fmalleft
ufage, and is already too much difpofed to teazle out.
It can hardly be ufed as fewing thread. Now fuppofe
the fibres much longer; fome of them may chance to
be ftretched along the flab through their w'hole length.
If the flab is pulled in oppofite dire&ions, by pinching
it at each end of fuch fibres, it is plain that it will not
ftretch till this fibre be broken or drawn cut; and that
while it is in its extended ftate, it is afting on the other
fibres in a very unequal manner, according to their
pofitions, and renders the whole apt to feparate more
irregularly. This is one great obftacle to the fpinning
of flax by fimilar machinery ; and it has hitherto pre¬
vented (we believe) the working up of any thing but
the ft arts or tow, which is feparated from the long fine
flax in the operation of hatcheling.
A third, and fometimes even a fourth, drawing is
given to the flab formed on the bobins of this fecond
operation. The flab produced is now' a flender, but ftill
extremely foft cord, fufceptible of confiderable extenfion,
without rifle of feparation, and without the fmalleft
chance of breaking a Angle fibre in the attempt. In
one or more of the preparatory drawings now deferibed,
two, and fometimes three (labs, of a former drawing, are
united before the twift is given them. The pradlice is
different in different mills. It is plain, that unlefs great
care be taken to preferve the flab extremely foft and
comprefiible during the whole procefs, the fubfequent
drawing becomes more precarious, and we run a rifk of
at laft making a bad loofe thread inftead of a uniform
and Ample yarn. Such a thread will have very little
lateral connexion, and will not bear much handling
•without feparating into ftrands. Tire perfeftion of the
yarn depends on having the laft fiab as free of all ap¬
pearance of ftrands as poffible.
The laft operation is the fpinning this flab. This
hardly differs from the foregoing drawings in any thing
but the twift that is given it after the laft firetching in
2
S2 ] _ S P I
its length. This is much greater than any of the pre- Spinning,
ceding, being intended to give the yarn hardnefs and
firmnefs, fo that it will now' break rather than ftretch
any more.
Ihe reader, moderately acquainted with mechanics,
cannot but perceive that each of the operations now
deicribed, by which the roove is changed into the foft
flab, and each of thele into one flenderer and fomewhat
firmer, by alternately teazling out and twining the foft
cord, is a lubftitute for a Angle pull of the finger and
thumb of the ipinfter, which ftie accommodates prerile-
ly to the peculiar condition of the lock of wool which
Ihe touches at the moment. She can follow- this through
all its irregularities ; and perhaps no two fucceeding
plucks are alike. But when we cannot give this mo¬
mentary attention to every minute portion, we muft be
careful to introduce the roove in a ftate of perfect uni¬
formity ; and then every inch being treated in the fame
manner, the final refult will be equable—the yarn will
be uniform.
We are now to deferibe the mechanifra by which all
this is effected. But we do not mean to deferibe a cot¬
ton mill; we only mean to deferibe what comes into
immediate contaft with the thread \ and in fo doing,
to confine ourfelves to what is neceffary for making the
reader perceive its ability to perform the required talk.
We fee many cafes where individuals can apply this
knowledge to u’feful purpofes. More than this would,
we think, be improper, in a national point of view.
Let ABC reprefent the feftion of a roller, whofe PIate
pivot D does not turn in a pivot hole, but in the CCCCXCIX
bottom of a long narrow notch DE, cut in an iron
ftandard. abc \s the fedlion of another iron roller,
whofe pivot d is in the fame notches at each end, while
the roller itfelf lies or refts on the roller ABC below
it. The furfaces of thele rollers are fluted lengthwife
like a column ; only the flutings are very fmall and
lharp, like deep ftrokes of engraving very clofe toge¬
ther. It is plain, that if the roller ABC be made to
turn flowly round its axis by machinery, in the direc¬
tion ABC (as expreffed by the dart), the roughnefs of
the flutings will take hold of the fimilar roughnefs of
the upper roller a be, and carry it round alfo in the
dire&ion of the dart, while its pivots are engaged in
the notches DE, which they cannot quit. If there¬
fore we introduce the end F of the cotton firing or ri¬
band, formed by the carding machine, it will be pulled
in by this motion, and will be delivered out on the other
fide at H, confiderably compreffed by the weight of the
upper roller, which is of iron, and is alfo preffed down
by a lever which refts on its pivots, or other proper
places, and is loaded with a weight- There is nothing
to hinder this motion of the riband thus compreffed
between the rollers, and it will therefore be drawn
through from the cans. The compreffed part at H
would hang down, and be piled up on the floor as it is
drawn through; but it is not permitted to hang down
in this manner, but is brought to another pair of fharp
fluted iron rollers K and L. Suppofing this pair of rollers
to be of the fame diameter, and to turn round in the
fame time, and in the fame direftion, with the rollers
ABC, abc; it is plain that K and L drag in the com-
preffed riband at I, and would deliver it on the other
fide at M, ftill more compreffed. But the roller K is
made (by the wheelwork) to turn round more fwiftly
than
S P I [ 593 1
than ABC. The difference of velocity at the furface frame
of the rollers is, however, very fmall, feldom exceeding
one part in I 2 or 15. But the confequence of this dif¬
ference is, that the them of cotton HI will be lengthen¬
ed in the fame proportion ; for the upper rollers pref-
jfing on the under ones with a conliderable force, their
{harp {lutings take good hold of the cotton between
them j and fince K and L take up the cotton taller
than ABC mA abc deliver it out, it mult either be for¬
cibly pulled through between the firft rollers, or it mult
be ftretched a little by the fibres flipping among each
other, or it muff break. When the extenfion is fo very
moderate as we have juft nowr faid, the only effect of it
is merely to begin to draw the fibres (which at prefent
are lying in every poflible direction) into a more favour¬
able polition for the lubfequent extenfions.
The fibres being thus drawn together into a more
favourable pofition, the cotton is introduced between a
third pair of rollers O, P, conftru&ed in the fame way,
but fo moved by the wheelwork that the furface of O
moves nearly or fully twice as fait as the furface of K.
The roller P being alfo well loaded, they take a firm
hold of the cotton, and the part between K and O is
nearly or fully doubled in its length, and now requires
a little twining to make it roundilh, and to confolidate
it a little.
It is therefore led floping downwards into a hole or
eye in the upper pivot of the firft fly, called &jack. Ibis
turns round an upright axis or tpindle ; the lower end
of which has a pulley on it to give it motion by means
of a band or belt, which paffes round a drum that is
turned by the machinery. This jack is of a very inge¬
nious and complicated conftru&ion. It is a fubftitute
for the fiy of the common fpinning wheel. If made
precifely in the form of that fly, the thread, being fo
very bulky and fpongy, and unable to bear clofe pack¬
ing on the bobin, would fwag out by the whirling of
the flv, and would never coil up. Ihe bobin therefore
is made to lie horizontally ; and this occafions the com¬
plication, by the difficulty of giving it a motion round
a horizontal axis, in order to coil up the twifted roove.
Mr Arkwright has accompliflied this in a very ingeni¬
ous manner $ the effential circumftances of which we fhall
here briefly deferibe. A is a roller of hard wood, ha¬
ving its furface cut into {harp flutes longitudinally. On
the axis, which projeffts through the fide of the gene¬
ral frame, there is a pulley P, conneffled by a band with
another pulley Q, turning with the horizontal axis
OR. This axis "is made to turn by a contrivance
-which is different in every different cotton mill. The
fimpleft of all is to place above the pulley C (which is
turned by the great band of the machinery, and thus
gives motion to the jack), a thin circular dife 13, loofe
upon the axis, fo as to turn round on it without ob-
•ftruclion. If this dife exceed the pulley in breadtn
about -rVth of an inch, the broad belt which turns the
pulley will alfo turn it} but as its diameter is greater
than that of the pulley, it will turn fomewhat flower,
and will therefore have a relative motion with refpecl
to the axis QR. This can be employed, in order to
give that axis a very flow motion, fuch as ©ne turn of
it for 20 or 30 of the jack. This we leave to the in¬
genuity of the reader. The bobin B, on which the
roove is to be coiled up, lies on this roller, its pivots
palling through upright flits-in the fides of the general
- VoL XIX. Part II.
S P I
It lies on A, and is moved round by it, in the Spinnihg.
fame manner as the uppermoft of a pair of drawing rol- v
lers lies on the under one, and receives motion from it.
It is evident that the fluted furface of A, by turning
flowly round, and carrying the weight of the bobin,
compreffes a little the cotton that is between them j
and its flutings, being {harp, take a flight hold of it,
and caufe it to turn round alio, and thus coil up t)ie
roove, pulling it in through the hole E in the upper
pivot (which refembles the fore pivot or eye of a {pin¬
ning wheel fly) in fo gentle a manner as to yield when¬
ever the motion of the bebin is too great for the {peed
with which the cotton Ikein is difeharged by the rollers
O and P.—-N. B. The axis OR below, alio gives mo¬
tion to a guide within the jack, which leads the roove
gradually from one end of the bobin to the ether, and
back again, fo as to coil it ivith regularity till the bo¬
bin is full. The whole of this internal mechanifm of
the jack is commonly (hut up in a tin cylinder. This
is particularly neceffary when the whirling motion muft
be rapid, as in the fecond and third drawings. If open,
the jacks would meet with much refiftance from the air,
which would load the mill with a great deal of ufelefs
work.
The reader is defired now to return to the beginning
of the procefs, and to confider it attentively in its differ¬
ent ftages. We apprehend that the defeription is fuffi-
clently perfpicuous to make him perceive the efficacy of
the mechanifm to execute all that is wanted, and prepare
a flab that is uniform, foft, and ftill very extenfible 5 in
fhort, fit for undergoing the laft treatment, by which it
is made a fine and firm yarn.
As this part of the procefs differs from each of the
former, merely by the degree of twill that is given to
the yarn, and as this is given by means of a fly, not ma¬
terially different from that of the fpinning wheel for flax,
we do not think it at all neceffary to fay any thing mort:
about it.
The intelligent reader is furely fenfible that the yarn
produced in this way muft be exceedingly uniform. The
uniformity really produced even exceeds all expeftation ;
for even although there be fome fmall inequalities in the
carded fleece, yet if tbefe are not matted clots, which
the card could not equalife, and only confift of a little
more thicknefs of cotton in fome places than in others,
when fuch a piece of the ftripe comes to the firft roller,
it will be rather more ftretched by the fecond, and again
by the bobin, after the firft very flight twining.. That
this may be done with greater certainly, the weights of
the firft rooving rollers are made very {mall, fo that the
middle part ol the Ikein can be drawn through, while
the cuter parts remain fall held.
It is faid that a pound of the fineft Bourbon cotton
has been fpun into a yarn extending a few yards beyond
119 miles !
Thefe contrivances have in fome parts of Scotland Tran fat-
been applied to the {pinning of flax. _ XciXfir
SPINNING Wheel. A very confiderable improvement,.^/^,
has been made by JVlr Antis of Fulneck near Feeds ragement
the common fpinning wheel. It is well known, that of An's.
hitherto much time has been loft by flopping the wheel
in order to (hift the thread from one ftaple on the flyer
to another ; but in Mr Antis’s wheel the bobbin is made
to move backwards and forwards, fo as to prevent the
neceflity of this perpetual interruption, as well as to .ob-
4 F viate
s P t t 594 1 S P I
Sp’Tv/ng viate tlie danger of breaking tlie tliread and lodng the
51 end. This is effected by the axis of the great wheel
b being extended througli the pillar next the {pinner, and
Plate formed into a pinion of one leaf A, which takes into a
CCCCXCIX wheel B, feven inches diameter, having on its periphery
97 teeth j fo that 97 revolutions of the great wheel caufe
one of the leffer wheel. On this leiTer wheel is fixed a
ring of wire c c c; which, being fupported on fix leg',
Hands obliquely to the wheel itfelf, touching it at one
part, and projecting nearly three quarters of an inch at
the oppofite one : near the fide of this wheel is an upright
lever C, about ij inches long, moving on a centre,
three inches from its lower extremity, and connected at
the top to a Hiding bar D ; from which rifes an upright
piece of brals E, which working in the notch of a pul¬
ley drives the bobin F backward and forward, according
as the oblique wire forces a pin G in or out, as the wheel
moves round. To regulate and afiilt the alternate mo¬
tion, a weight H hangs by a line to the Hiding bar, and
paHIng over a pulley I rifes and falls as the bobin ad¬
vances or recedes, and tends conftantly to keep the pin
in contaCt with the wire. It is evident, from this defcrip-
tion, that one flaple only is wanted to the flyer •, which,
being placed near the extremity K, the thread pafling
through it is by the motion of the bobin laid regularly
thereon. For this invention the Society inllituted at
Tondon for the Encouragement of Arts, See. gave the
author a premium of twenty guineas.
SPINOSUS CAULTS, in Botany, a Hem covered with
'"ftrong woody prickles, whofe roots are not fuperficial,
but proceeding from the body of the Hern. When ap¬
plied to a leaf, fpinofum folium, it indicates the margin
running out into rigid points or prickles, quod margine
exit in acujnina duriora, rigida, pungentia.
SPINOUS, in botany. See Spinosus..
SPINOUS Fi/hes, fiich as have fome of the rays of the
back fins running out into thorns or prickles, as the
perch, See.
SPINOZA, Benedict, was born at Amfierdam the
24th November 1632. His father was a Jew of Por¬
tugal, by profefiion a merchant. After being taught
Latin by a phyfician, he applied himfelf for many years
to the ftudy of theology, and afterwards devoted him¬
felf entirely to philofophy. He began very early to be
diffatisfied with the Jewifii religion ; and as his temper
was open, he did not conceal his doubts from the fyna-
gogue. The Jews, it is faid, offered to tolerate his in¬
fidelity, and even promifed him a penfion of a thoufand
dollars per annum, if he would remain in their focietv,
and continue outwardly to praClife th-ir ceremonies.
But if this offer was really made, he rejeCIed it, per-
liaps from his averfion to hypocrify, or rather hecaufe
he could not endure the reftraint which it would have
impofed. He alfo refufed being conftituted heir to an
independent fortune, to the prejudice of the natural
claimants; and he learned the art of polifhing glafs for
fpeClacles, that he might fubfiil independently of every
one.
He would probably have continued in the fynagogue
for fome time longer, had it not been for an accident.
As he was returning home one evening from the the¬
atre he was Habbed by a Jew : the wmund was fiight;
but the attempt naturally led Spinoza to conclude that
the J ws had formed the defign of affaflinating him.
After leaving the fynagogue, he became a Chriftian,
and frequented the churches of the Lutherans and Cal- Spinoza,
vinifis. He now devoted himfelf more than ever to his ~v-”“
favourite philofophical fpeculations ; and finding him¬
felf frequently interrupted by the vifits of his friends,
he left Amfterdam, and fettled at the Hague, where he
often continued for three months together without ever
ffirring from his lodging. During his refidence in that
city, his hoilefs, who was a Lutheran, aiked him one
day if (he could he faved while Ihe continued in her re¬
ligion ? “ Yes (replied Spinoza), provided you join to
your religion a peaceable and virtuous life.” From this
anfwer it has been concluded that he was a Chriftian
in appearance only, while in reality he regarded all re¬
ligions as indifferent. But this conclufion would be
too fevere, even if the woman had been a Mahometan.
H;s Tra&atus 1 heologico politicus, which was publilhed
about that time, is a better proof of his infincerity than
a thoufand fuch conclufions j for this*book contains all
thofe dotftrines in embryo which were afterwards unfold¬
ed in his Opera Pofhuma, and which are generally ccn-
fidered as a fyftem of atheifm.
Plis fame, which had now fpread far and wide, oblir
ged him fometimes to interrupt his philofophical reve¬
ries. Learned men vifited him from all quarters. While
the prince of Conde commanded the French army in
Utrecht, he intreated Spinoza to vifit him j and though
he was abfent when the philofopher arrived, he return¬
ed immediately, and fpent a confiderable time with Irina
in converfation. The eleblor Palatine offered to make
Spinoza profeffor of philofophy at Heidelberg ; which,
however, he declined.
He died of a confumption at the Hague on the 2irt
February 1677, at the age of 45. His life was a per¬
petual contradi£Hon to his opinions. He was tempe¬
rate, liberal, and remarkably difinterefted 5 he was fo»
ciable, affable, and friendly. His converfation was
agreeable and inftru&ive, and never deviated from the
ftrifteft propriety.
The only edition of the works of Spincza that we
have feen is in two volumes fmail 410; the former of
which was printed at Hamburg in the year 1670, and
the latter we know not where, in 1677, a few months
after his death. In the TraBatus Thcologico-polilicus,
already mentioned, he treats of prophecy and prophets ;
and of the call of the Hebrews, whom he affirms to have
been diftinguiffied from other nations only by the ad¬
mirable form of their government, and the fitnefs of
their laws for long preferving their political ftate. He
is likewife of opinion, or at leaft pretends to be fo, that
God may, in what we call a fupernatural way, have gi¬
ven political inftitutes to other nations as well as to the
Hebrews, who were, he fays, at no time a peculiar peo¬
ple to the Supreme Lord of heaven and earth •, for
according to him, all hiftory, facred and profane, tefti-
fies that every nation was bleffed with the light of pro¬
phecy. That light indeed, if his notions of it be juft,
was of very little value. He labours to prove, that the
prophets were diftinguiffied from other men only by their
piety and virtue ; that their revelations depended wholly
on their imaginations and the difpofitions of their minds j
that they were often grofsly ignorant and highly preju¬
diced ; that Le fpeculative opinions of one prophet are
feldom in unifon with thofe of another •, and that their
writings are valuable to us only for the excellent rules
which he acknowledges they contain refpe&ing the prac¬
tice
g p I
[ 595 ]
S P I
Spinnza. tice of piety and virtue. He then proceeds to treat of
the divine law and of miracles j and endeavours to prove
that no miracle, in the proper fenfe of the word, can
have been at any time performed ; becaufe every thing
happens by a neccflity of nature, the refult of the di¬
vine decrees, which are from all eternity neceflary
themfelves. He acknowledges, that in the Scriptures,
which he profeffes to admit as true hiflory, miracles are
often mentioned 5 but he fays that they were only fm-
gular events which the facred hiftorians imagined to be
miraculous : and he then gives fome very extraordinary
rules for interpreting the books of the Old and New
Teftaments where they treat of miracles, or appear to
foretel future events. See our articles Miracle and
Prophecy.
Having thus dlvefted the Scriptures of every thing
chara<5teriilic of a revelation from heaven, he next calls
in queltion their authenticity. He affirms, in contra-
diftion to the cleared interna.! evidence, that the Penta¬
teuch and all the other hiftorical books muff have been
written by one man •, and that man, he thinks, could
not have flourithed at a period earlier than that of Ezra.
The grounds of this opinion are unworthy of the ta¬
lents of Spinoza ; for that he had talents is incontro¬
vertible. His principal objection to the authenticity of
the Pentateuch is, that Mofes is made to fpeak of him-
felf in the third perfon, and to talk of the Canaanites
being then in the land 5 and becaufe he finds in his
writings, as well as in the books of Joihua, Judges,
Ruth, Samuel, &c. places defigned by names which he
fuppofes they had not in the early ages of which thefe
books contain the hiftory, he concludes that thefe wri¬
tings muff be one compilation from ancient records
made at a very late period ; more efpecially as the au¬
thor often fpeaks of things of great antiquity remaining
to this day. The books of Either, Ezra, Nehemiah,
and Chronicles, muff have been compiled, he thinks,
under the Maccabees; and he feems to confider as of
equal value with them the dory of Tobit, and the other
two apocryphal treatifes intitled the Wifdom of Solomon
and Ecclefiaflicus.
Thefe fenfelefs cavils, worthy only of one of thofe
modern freethinkers whofe learning, in the opinion of
Eifliop Warburton, is not fufficient to carry them even
to the confines of rational doubt, we have fufficiently
obviated in another place (fee Scripture, N° 8—31.)
Spinoza urges them againft the other books of the Old
Tefiament. The prophecies of Ifaiah, Jeremiah, Eze¬
kiel, Daniel, Hofea, and Jonah, are, as we have them,
only fragments, he fays, of the writings of thofe men
compiled by the Plmifees under the fecond temple from
ancient and voluminous records.
In the midft of this dogmatical fcepticifm, if we may
ufe fuch a phrafe, he bears fuch a teftimony to the lalt
chapters of the book of Daniel, as we fhould not have
looked for in the writings either of a Jew or of a Deiif.
After detailing the various hypothefes which in his time
were held refpefting the author and the intention of the
book of/o&; in which, he fays, Momus is called Sa¬
tan, he proceeds in thefe words: “ Tranfeo ad Da-
nielis librum j hie fine dubio ex cap. 8. ipfius Danielis
feripta continet. Undenam autem priora feptem capi¬
ta deferipta fuerint, nefcio * 5” thus admitting the fa¬
mous prophecy of the feventy weeks. The canon of
the Old Tefiament, he fays, was finally fettled by rab¬
* TraEla-
tus, cap. x
p. 130.
bins of the Pharifaical feci, who wilhed to exclude from Spinoza,
it the books of Proverbs, Ecclefiajies, and E%ekiel, as —v——
they had a£lually excluded others of equal value $ but
the three books in queftion were inferted by the influ¬
ence of two of the rabbis of greater wifdom and inte¬
grity than the reft.
That fo paradoxical a writer, who had been original¬
ly a Jew, and was now almoft a Deift, fhould have
treated the New Teftament with as little ceremony as
the Old, will not furprife the intelligent reader. He
begins his remarks, however, with affirming, that no
man can perufe the Chriftian Scriptures, and not ac¬
knowledge the apollles to have been prophets j but he
thinks that their mode of prophefying was altogether
different from that which prevailed under the Mofaic
difpenfation j and that the gift, whatever it was, for-
fook them the inftant that they left off preaching, as
their writings have to him every appearance of human
compofilions. This dillinilion between Chriftian and
Jewifh prophecy is the more wonderful, that he founds
it principally on the diffimilarity of Jiyle vifible in the
writings of the Old and New Teftaments; though, in
his fecond chapter, which treats of the works of the
Jewifh prophets, he fays exprefsly, “ Stylus deinde
prophetiae pro eloquentia cujufque prophetse variabat,
propheiise enim Ezekielis et Amofis non funt, ut Hire
Eiaue, Nachumi, elegant!, fed rudiore ftylo feriptse.”
That the Hebrew fcholar may be convinced of the
truth of this remark, he recommends to him to iludy
diligently the writings of thefe prophets, and to confi¬
der the occafions on which their prophecies were utter¬
ed : “ Quae fi omnia re£le perpendentur (fays he) fa¬
cile oftendant, Deum jnullum habere ftylum peculiarem
dicendi, fed tantum pro eruditione, et capacitate pro-
phetae eatenus effe elegantem, compendiofum, feverum,
rudem, prolixum, et obfeurum.” Another objeftion
brought by Spinoza againfl the prophecies of the New
Teftament arifes from the authors of them having been
at all times mafters of themfelves. This, fays he, was
peculiarly the cale of St Paul, who often confirms his
dodlrine by rcafoning, which the Jewifh prophets never
condefcended to do, as it would have fubmitted their
dogmas to the examination of private judgment. Yet,
with Angular inconfiflency, he affirms, that the Jewifh
prophets could not know that the impreffions made on
their imaginations proceeded from God, hut by a fign
given them, which by their own reafon ox judgment they
knew would never be vouchfafed to an impious or a
wicked man.
After thefe very free remarks on the Scriptures of
the Old and New Teftaments, he naturally enough ex-
preffes a fufpicion, that by thofe who confider the Bible
as the epiflle of God fent from heaven to men, he will
be thought to have finned againft the Holy Ghoft by
vilifying his diftates. This leads him to inquire in what
fenfe the Scriptures are the word of God; and he
gravely determines them to be fo only as they aSualhj
contribute to make men more virtuous and holy. It is
not enough that they are ca/culatcd to improve virtue
and holinefs: for fhould the words of the languages in
which they are written acquire in procefs of time a fig-
nification differentfrom what they had originally ; fliould
mankind lofe all knowledge of thefe languages; or even
fliould they agree to negleft the books, whether from
ignorance or from wilfulnefs—thofe books would ceafe
1 ~ 4 F * to
S P I [ .596 ]
Spinoza, to be the word of God, and become nothing better than that to thi
V ■ wafte paper and ink •, juft as the two tables, which P^Io-
fes broke on obferving the idolatry of his countrymen,
were not the covenant between Jehovah and the Ifrae-
lites, but merely two pieces of ftone ! The Scriptures,
however, are the word of God, becaufe they teach the
true religion of which God is the author; and they
have taught it in fuch a manner, he fays, that it can
never be loft or corrupted whatever become of the books
of the Old and New Teftaments, or of the languages in
which they are written. The whole of religion, as
the Scriptures themfelves teftify, confifts in the love of
God above all things, and of our neighbours as our-
felves : whence it follows, that wre muft believe that God
exifts, and watcheth over all things by his providence •,
that he is omnipotent, and has decreed the pious to be
ultimately happy, and the impious miferable •, and that
cur final falvation depends folely on His grace or favour.
Thefe truths, wuth their neceffary confequences, are the
word of God : they are clearly taught in the Scriptures,
and can never be corrupted j but every thing elfe in
thefe volumes is vain, he fays, and of no greater impor¬
tance to us than .faffs related in any other ancient and
authentic hiftory.
Such are the opinions which were entertained of re¬
velation by a man, whom a critic, wmiting in a Chriftian
country, and profefiing to be a zealous Chriftian him-
felf, has lately pronounced to have been a chofen vejjel.
For what purpofe he was chofen it is not eafy to con¬
ceive. His religion, as it appears in the TraBatus, is
the worft kind of Deifm •, and his politics are fuch as
our monthly critics are not wont to teach, and fuch as
we truft {hall never be ferioufly taught by any Britiih
fubjeff. By the law of nature, he fays, every man be¬
fore the formation of civil government has an unquef-
tionable right to whatever appears eligible either to his
reafon or to his appetites; and may get pofleffion of it
by intreaty, by violence, by fraud, or by any other means
attended with lefs trouble to himfelf (fve vi, five dolo,
five precibus, five quocunque demummodo faciliuspotent);
and may treat as an enemy every perfon who ftiall at¬
tempt to obftruff his purpofe. But when men agree
to devolve this right upon others, and to conftitute a
political ftate, which both reafon and appetite muft per-
fuade them to do, then are they in duty bound to obey
every mandate of the government, however abfurd it
may be {omnia mandata tametf abfurdifjimd), as long as
that government can enforce its ediffs, and no longer ;
for, according to him, right and power are fo infepa-
rably united, that when a government lofes its pow'er, it
has no longer the fmalleft claim to obedience. This
doffrine, he fays, is moft obvioufy juft when taught of
democratical governments ; but it is in faff equally true
of monarchies and ariftocracies : “ Nam quifquis fum-
mam habet poteftatem, five unus fit, five p&uci, five de-
nique omnes, certum eft ei fummum jus qiiicqu'd velit
imperandi, competere : et praeterea quifquis poteftatem fe
defendendi, five fponte, {vet vi coaBus, in alium tranf-
tuiit, eum iuo jure natural! plane cefliffe, et confequen-
ter eidem ad omnia abfolute parere decreviffe quod om¬
nia praeftare tenetur, quamdiu rex, five nobiles, five po-
* TraRa- pulus fummam, quam acceperunt, poteftatem, quae juris
tus, cap. transferendi fundamentum fuit, coniervant 5 nee his plu-
XVI.p. r8r. ra addere 0pUS eft*.” We heartily agree with him,
S P I
precious conclufion it is needlefs to add a Spinoza,
fingle word. -■—''v
Taking our leave therefore of his TraBatus Theolo-
gico-politicus, vet fhall now give our readers a ftiort ac¬
count of his Opera Pofhuma. Thefe confift of, 1. E-
THICA, more geometrico demonfrata; 1. P01.ITICA \
3. De Emendatione Intellectus 4. Epistol^e,
et ad eas Responsiones ; 5. Compendium Gramma-
TICES LlNGUiE HEBRiEiE.
The Ethica are divided into five parts, which treat
in order, de Deo ; de natura et origine mentis $ de ori-
gine et natura affectuum } de servitute humana,feu
de affectuum viribus ; de fotentia intellectus,
feu de libertate humana. As the author profeffes to
tread in the footfteps of the geometers, and to deduce
all his conclufions by rigid demonftration from a few
felRevident truths, he introduces his work, after the
manner of Euclid, with a collection of definitions and
axioms. Thefe are couched in terms generally ambi¬
guous ; and therefore the reader will do well to con-
lider attentively in what fenfe, if in any, they can be
admitted j for it will not be found eafy to grant his
premiles, and at the fame time refufe his conclufions.
His definition of fubftance, for inftance, is fo exprefled
as to admit-of two fenfes 3 in one of which it is juft,
whilft in the other it is the parent of the moft impious
abfurdity. We fhall give it in his own words : “ Per
fubftantiam intelligo id, quod in fe eft, et per fe conci-
pitur : hoc eft id, cujus conceptus non indiget concep-
tu alterius rei, a quo formari debeat.” If by this be
meant, that a fubftance is that which we can conceive
by itfelf without attending to any thing elfe, or thinking
of its formation, the definition, we believe, will be ad¬
mitted by every refledHng mind as fufficiently diftin-
guiftring the thing defined from an attribute, which, he
lays, is that which we perceive of a fubftance, and
which we certainly cannot conceive as exifting by it¬
felf. Thus the writer of this article can (hut his eyes
and contemplate in idea the fmall qto volume now be¬
fore him, without attending to any thing elfe, or think¬
ing of its paradoxical author, or even of the Great Being
who created the matter both of him and of it 3 but he
cannot for an inftant contemplate the yellow colour of
its vellum boards without thinking of triple extenfion,
or, in other words, of body. The book therefore is a
fubjiance, becaufe conceivable by itfelf 3 the colour is an
attribute or quality, becaufe it cannot be conceived by
itfelf, but neceftarily leads to the conception of fome-
thing elfe. But if Spinoza’s meaning be, that nothing
is a fubftance but what is conceived as exifting from
eternity, independent of every thing as a caufe, his de¬
finition cannot be admitted 3 for every man conceives
that which in himfelf thinks, and wills, and is con-
feious, as a fubftance 3 at the fame time that he has the
beft evidence poftible that he exifted not as a confcious,
thinking, and aftive being, from eternity.
His fourth axiom is thus exprefled : “ Effeflus cog-
nitio a cognitione caufae dependet, et eandem involvit 3”
and his fifth, “ Qom nihil commune cum fe invicem
habent, etiam per fe invicem intelligi non poflunt, five
conceptus unius alterius conceplum non involvit.” The
former of thefe propofitions, fo far from being felf-evi-
dent, is not even true 3 and the latter is capable of two
fenfes very different from each other. That every ef-
feft'
S P I
[. 597 ]
S P I
SpinoZa.
Herder's
Dialogues
concerning
God.
feft proceeds from a caufe, Is indeed an axiom 5 but
furely we may know the effect accurately, though we
be ignorant of the particula?' caufe from which it pro¬
ceed^ (fee Philosophy, N° 365 and Physics, N° 91,
&c.) 5 nor does the knowledge of the one by any means
involve the knowledge of the other. If different things
have nothing in common, it is indeed true that the
knowledge of one of them will not give us an adequate
conception of the other ; but it will in many cafes com¬
pel us to believe, that the other exijls or has exifted.
A parcel of gunpowder lying at reft has nothing in
common with the velocity of a cannon-ball; yet w'hen
we know that a ball has been driven with velocity
from a cannon, wTe infer with certainty that there has
been a parcel of powder at reft in the chamber of that
cannon.
It is upon fuch ambiguous definitions and axioms as
thefe that Spinoza has raifed his pretended demonltra-
tions, that one fubftance cannot produce another •, that
every lubftance muft neceilanly be infinite } that no
fubftance exifts or can be conceived befides God ; and
that extended fubftance or body is one of the infinite
attributes of God. We ftvall not wafte our own time
or the readers with a formal confutation of thefe im¬
pious abfurdities. V^e truft they are fufficiently con¬
futed in other articles of this work (fee Metaphysics,
Part III. Providence, and Theology, Part I.) ;_and
whoever willies for a more particular examination of the
author’s principles, may find it in Dr Clarke’s Demon-
ftration of the Being and Attributes of God. Ihe
truth, however, is, that no man will need the afliftance
of that eminent metaphyfician to difcover the fallacy of
the reafoning by which they are attempted to be pro¬
ved, if he affix any one precife meaning to the definitions
and axioms, and adhere to that meaning fteadily through
the whole procefs of the pretenoed demonftrations.
By way of apology for this jargon, it nas been late¬
ly faid, that u Spinoza takes the word JubJlance in its
moft fimple and perfect fenfe j which is necefiary, as ne
writes mathematically, and propofes a fimple idea as tne
foundation of his theory. What is the proper fignifi-
cation of a fubftance ? Is it not that which (lands aiotie,
which has the caufe of its exiftence within itfelf ? I
wifti that this fimple meaning of the word could be uni-
verfally admitted in philofophy. Striffly fpeaking, no
worldly thing is a (ubftance ; fince all mutually depend
on each other, and finally on God, who, in this exalted
fenfe, is the only jubftance. The word modification founds
harffi and improper, and therefore it cannot be expect¬
ed to gain a place in philofophy ■, but if the fchool of
Leibnitz may term matter the appearance offiibjiancesy
why may not Spinoza be allowed a bolder term ? World¬
ly fubftances are kept in union by divine power, as it
was by divine power that they had exiftence. ft hey
reprefent. alfo, if you pleafe, appearances of di¬
vine power •, each according to the ftation, the time,
and the organs, in and with which it appears. Ihe
phrafe ufed by Spinoza is concife, and it gives an unity Spinoza,
and fimplicity to his whole fyftetn, however ftrange it v—^
may found in our ears.”
From this account of Spinozifm, one who had never
looked into the works of the author would be led to
fuppofe that his fyftem is the fame with that of Berke¬
ley 5 which, denying the exiftence of material fubftance,
attributes all our perceptions of what we call the qua¬
lities of body to the immediate agency of the Deity on
our minds (fee Metaphysics, Part II. chap. 3.). But
Spinoza’s dodfrine is very different. According to him,
bodies are either attributes or affedlions of God 5 and as
he fays there is but one extended fubftance, he affirms
that fubftance to be indivifible, and employs a long
fcholium f to prove that thofe are miftaken who fup- f See his
pofe it finite and not effential to the Deity. That we do XY*
not mifreprefent his fentiments, the learned reader will
be convinced by the two following definitions, with
which he introduces that part of his ethics which treats
of the nature and origin of mind. I. “ Per corpus in-
telligo modum, qui Dei efientiam, quatenus, ut res ex-
tenia confideratur, certo et determinate modo expri-
mit.” 2. “ Ad effentiam alicujus rei id pertinere dico,
quo dato res neceffario ponitur, et quo fublato res necef-
fario tollitur 5 vel id, fine quo res, et vice verfa quod
fine re nec effe nec concipi poteft.” In conformity
with thefe definitions, he attempts to prove that God is
an extended as well as a thinking fubftance ; that as a
thinking fubftance he is the caufe of the idea of a circle, Prop. vii.
and as an extended fubftance of the circle itfelf j and xi> 1 art i!*
that the minds of men are not fubftances, but certain
modifications of the divine attributes; or, as he fome-
tirnes exprefles it. “ Quod hum an as mentis aftuale con-
fiituit, eft idea rei fingularis a61u exiftentis.” Hence,
he fays, it follows that the human mind is a part of the
intelleef of the infinite God ; fo that when we (peak of
the human mind perceiving this or that, we can only
mean that God, not as he is infinite, but as he appears
in the human mind or conftitutes its effence, has this or
that idea ; and when we fpeak of God’s having this or
that idea, we muft conceive of Him not only as confti-
tuting the human mind, but as, together with it, having
the idea of fomething elfe (a). In another place he
tells us, that the human mind is nothing but the idea
which God has of the human body as actually exifting j
that this idea of the body, and the body itfelf, are one
and the fame thing } and that thinking and extended
fubftances are in reality but one and the fame fubftance,
which is fometimes comprehended under one attribute of
the Deity, and fometimes under another*. * Prop. vii.
If this impious jargon be not Atheifm, or as it has
been fometimes called Pantheifm, we know not what it
is (See Pantheism). According to Spinofa, there is
but one fubftance, which is extended, infinite, and in¬
divifible. That fubftance indeed he calls God ; but he
labours to prove that it is corporeal j that there is no
difference between mind and matter j that both are at-
(A) Hinc fequitur mentem humanam partem effe infiniti intellecfus Dei j ac proinde cum dicimus, mentem hu-
manam hoc vel illud percipere, nihil aliud dicimus quara quod Deus, non quatenus infinitus eft, fed quatenus per
naturam humanae mentis explicatur, five quatenus humanae mentis effentiam conftituit, hanc vel illam habet ideam ,
et cum dicimus Deum hanc vel illam ideam habere, non tantum, quatenus naturam humanas mentis conftiunt \ fed
quatenus fimul cum mente humana alterius rei etisun habet ideam. Carol, prop. xi. part 2.
S P I
Spinoza.
* Prop,
xxxiii.
Part i.
tributes of tbe Deity varioufly confidered ; ibat the hu-
J man foul is a part of the intelleft of God ; that the
fame foul is nothing but the idea or the human body ^
that this idea of the body, and the body itfelf, are one
and the fame thing that God could not exiif, or be
conceived, were the vifible univerfe annihilated : and
therefore that the vifible univerfe is either the one fub-
flance, or at leaft an efiential attribute or modification
of that fubftance. He fometimes indeed fpeaks of the
power of this fubflance 5 but when he comes to explain
himfelf, we find that by power he means nothing but
blind neceffity * ; and though he frequently talks of
the wifdom of God, he feems to make ufe of the word
without meaning. This we think evident from the
long appendix to his 36th propofition j in which he
labours to prove that the notion of final caufes is an idle
figment of the imagination, fince, according to him,
nothing but the prejudices of education could have led
men to fancy that there is any real diftinftion between
good and evil, merit and demerit, praife and reproach, or¬
der and confujion ; that eyes were given them that they
might be enabled to fee ; teeth for the purpofe of chew¬
ing their/iW; herbs and animals for the matter of that
food; that the fun was formed to give light, or the ocean
to XiQmxffiJhes. If this be true, it is impoffible to dif-
cover wifdom in the operations of his onefubfance; fince,
in common apprehenfion, it is the very charadteriftic of
folly to aft without any end in view.
Such are the reveries of that writer, wdiofe works a
German philofopher of fome name has lately recom¬
mended to the public, as calculated to convey to the
mind more juft and fublime conceptions of God than
are to be found in moft other fyftems. The recommen¬
dation has had its effeft. A literary journalift of our
own, reviewing the volume in which it is given, feels a
peculiar fatisfaftion from the difcovery, that Spinoza,
inftead of a formidable enemy to the caufe of virtue and
religion, was indeed their warmeft friend; and pioufiy
hopes that we lhall become more cautious not to fuffer
ourfelves to be deceived by empty names, which thofe
who cannot reafon (Sir Ifaac Newton and Dr Clarke
perhaps) give to thofe who can (Hobbes, we fuppofe,
and Spinoza). But though we have the honour to
think on this queftion with our illuftrious countrymen,
we have no defire to depift Spinoza as a reprobate, which
the critic fays has often been done by ignorance and
enthufiafm. We admit that his conduft in aftive life
was irreproachable ; and for his fpeculative opinions, he
muft ftand or fall to his own Mafter. His Ethics ap¬
pear to us indeed a fyftem fhockingly impious; and in
the traft intitled Politica, power and right are con¬
founded as in the former volume ; but in the treatife
Be Intellectus Emendatione, are fcattered many
precepts of praftical wifdom, as well as fome judicious
rules for condufting philofophical inveftigation ; and we
only regret, that the reader muft wade to them through
pages of fatalifm, fcepticifm, and palpable contradic¬
tions. His Compendium Grammatices Linguae Hebrwec,
though left imperfeft, appears to have fo much merit,
tbat^ it is to be wifiied he had fulfilled his intention of
writing a philofophical grammar of that language, in¬
ftead of wafting his time on abftrufe fpeculations, wdrich
though they feem not to have been injurious to his own
virtue, are certainly not calculated to promote the vir-
r 598 i
S P I
tue of others, or to increafe the fum of human happi- Spfnea
nefs. jj
SlTRiE A, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs of Slil1 't'aouf‘;
xcolandria, and to the order of pentagynia ; and in the
natural fyftem arranged under the 26th order, Pomacece.
See Botany Index.
. SPIRAL, in Geometry, a curve line of the circular
kind, which in its progress recedes from its centre.
SPIRE, in ArchiteBure, was ufed by the ancients
for the bale of a column, and fometimes for the aftragal
or tore ; but among the moderns it denotes a fteeple
that continually diminifties as it afcends, whether coni¬
cally or pyramidally.
SPIRII, in Metaphyjics, an incorporeal being or
intelligence; in which fenfe God is faid to be a fpirit, as
are angels and the human foul. See Metaphysics
Part III.
Spirit, in Chemiftry and Pharmacy, a name applied
to every volatile liquid which is not infipid like phlegm
or water ; and hence the diftinftion into acid, alkaline,
and vinous fpirits.
Spirit of Wine. See Alcohol, Chemistry Index±
Distillation, and Materia Medic a Index.
SPIRITS, or Animal Spirits. See Anatomy,
Part V. n° 136.
SPIRITUAL, in general, fomething belonging to
or partaking of the nature of fpirit. See Spirit.
SPIRII UOUS liquors have in all nations been
confidered as a proper fubjeft of heavy taxation for the
fupport of the ftate. I his has naturally occafioned a
nice examination of their ftrength. It having been at
laft found that this w7as intimately connefted with the
fpecific gravity, this has been examined with the moft
fcrupulous attention to every circumftance which could
affeft it, fo that the duties might be exaftly proportion¬
ed to the quantity of fpirit in any ftrong liquor, inde¬
pendent on every other circumftance of flavour or tafte,
or other valued quality. The chemift at laft found
that the bafis of all ftrong liquors is the fame, produced
by the vinous fermentation of pure faccharine matter
diflblved in water. He alfo found, that whether this
vegetable fait be taken as it is fpontaneouily formed in
the juices of plants and fruits, or as it may be formed
or extricated from farinaceous fruits and roots by a cer¬
tain part of the procefs of vegetation, it produces the
fame ardent fpirit, which has always the fame denfity
in every mixture with water. The minute portions of
aromatic oils, which are in fome degree infeparable from
it, and give it a different flavour according to the fub¬
ftance from which it was obtained, are not found to
have any fenfible effeft on its denfity or fpecific gravity.
This feems very completely eftablifhed in confcquence
of the unwearied attempts of the manufafturers to leffen
the duties payable on their goods by mixtures of other
fubftances, which would increafe their denfity without
making them lefs palatable. The vigilance of the re¬
venue officers was no lefs employed to deleft every fuch
contrivance. In ftiort, it is now an acknowledged point,
that the fpecific gravity is an accurate teft of the
firength.
But though this is true in general, we cannot derive
much benefit from it, unlefs we know the precife rela¬
tion between the ftrength and the denfity of a fpiritu-
ous liquor. Do they increafe pari pajfu, or by what
law
S P I
[ 599 ]
S
Spiritnous. law are tfiey connected ? It was natural to expert that
' equal additions of ardent fpirits or alcohol to a given
quantity of water would produce equal diminutions of
denfity. Areometers were accordingly made on this
principle above 200 years ago, as may be feen in the
works of Gafpar Schocius, Sturmius, Agricola, and
other old authors. But when mathematical phyfics be¬
came more generally known, this wras eafily difcovered
to be erroneous j and it was Ihown (we think firit by
Mr Boyle) that equal additions to the fpecific gravity
would be produced by fucceffively taking out of any
veflel a certain meafure of alcohol and replacing it with
an equal meafure of water. This was the molt conve¬
nient difcovery for all parties, becaufe then the duties
payable on a calk of fpirits would be in the exaft pro¬
portion of the diminution of its denfity. But it was
foon found by thofe who were appointed guardians of
the revenue that this conclufion was erroneous, and
that a mixture which appeared by this rule to contain
3 5 gallons of alcohol, did really contain 35t- This they
found by actually making fuch a mixture : 18 gallons
of alcohol mixed with 18 of xvater produced only 35
gallons of fpirits. The revenue officers, finding that
this condenfation was moil remarkable in mixtures of
equal parts of water and the ftrongeft fpirits which could
then be procured, determined to levy the duties by this
mixture ; becaufe, whether the fpirituous liquor vras
ffronger or weaker than this, it would appear, by its
fpecific gravity, rather ftronger than it really was. This
fagacious obfervation, and the fimplicity of the compo-
fition, which could at all times be made for comparifon,
feem to be the reafons for our excife offices felefting
this mode of effimating the ffrengih and levying the
duties. A mixture of nearly equal meafures of water
and alcohol is called PROOF SPIRXT, and pays a certain
duty per gallon ; and the ftrength of a fpirituous liquor
is eftimated by the gallons, not of alcohol, but of proof
fpirit which the calk contains. But becaufe it might
be difficult to procure at all times this proof fpirit for
comparifon, fuch a mixture was made by order of the
board of excife : and it was found, that when fix gallons
of it was mixed with one gallon of water, a wine gal- Spirituous.
Ion of the mixture weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces avoir- ' 1 »
dupors. The board therefore declared, that the fpirituous
liquor of which the gallon weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces
(hould be reckoned 1 to 6 or 1 in 7 under proof. This
is but an aukward and complex formula y it was in
order to fuit matters to a mode of examination which
had by time obtained the famftion of the board. Mr
Clarke, an ingenious artiff: of that time, had made a
hydrometer incomparably more exa£t than any other,
and conffrudfed on mathematical principles fit for com¬
putation. 'I his had a fet of weights correfponding to
the additions of water or proof fpirit, and the mixture
1 to 6 or 1 in 7 was the only one which weighed an ex-
acl number of ounces per gallon without a fradfion.
Thus (lands the excife law ; and Clarke’s hydrometer
is ftill the inftrument of authority, although others have
been fince contlrudfed by Dicas, Quin, and others,
which are much more ingenious and convenient. The
mathematician who examines Dicas’s hydrometer, with
its Hiding fcale, by which it is adjufted to the different
temperatures, and points out the condenfations, will
perceive a beautiful and fagacious combination of quan¬
tities, which he will find it difficult to bring under any
analytical formula. Perhaps Quin’s may have fome
preference in refpecl of conveniency ; but facile inventis
addere. Mr Dicas’s was originak(A).
As naturalifts became more accuifomed to exadf ob-
fervations in every topic of inquiry, the condenfation
which obtains in the mixture of different fubffances be¬
came more familiarly known. This evidently affedfs
the prefent queftion ; and both the excife and the diflil-
lers are interelfed in its accurate decifion. This occa-
fioned an applica'ion to the Royal Society; and a molt
fcrupulous examination of the ffrength of fpirituous li¬
quors was made by Sir Charles Blagden and Mr Gil¬
pin, of which they have given a very particular account
in the Philofophical Tranfaftions for 1790 and 1792.
We have taken notice of this in the article Specific
Gravity, mentioning fuch circumffances of the refults
as fuited our purpofes of phyfical difcuffion. At pre¬
fent
(a) Among the various contrivances which have been thought of, among manufacturers and dealers, as well as.
for the purpofes of revenue, for afcertaining the fpecific gravity, and confequently the real ffrength and value of
high-priced and high-taxed liquids, we are perfuaded there is none equal, in point of accuracy, fimplicity, and fa¬
cility of application, to the areometrical beads lately announced to the public by Mrs Lovi of Edinburgh, under
the privilege of a patent ; and with this perfuafion we have no hefitation in recommending them to thofe to whom
the ufe of a fimple and accurate inffrument is of great importance in determining the value of high-priced fpirituous
liquors. Our recommendation reiis not folely on our own opinion, but is fupported by that of others who are well
acquainted with fuch fuhje&s. We know, too, that the beads have been examined and compared by feveral intel¬
ligent manufaflurers and dealers with fome of the moft accurate hydrometrical inffruments, and after a fair trial, a
decided preference has been given to the beads. The whole apparatus confirts of 30 beads, a Aiding rule, a ther¬
mometer, a glafs jar and brafs hock, which are packed in a neat fmall box ; and it is accompanied with direffions,
which point out, 1. In what manner the real ftrength of fpirits may be afcertained at any given temperature be¬
tween 40° and 8o°. 2. Horv much per cent, the fpirit to be tried is over or under proof according to the prac¬
tice of fpirit-dealers ; and, 3. The proportion ©f water and the ftrongeft fpirits or alcohol, according to the views
and language of excifemen. The advantages of thefe beads are, that being made of a fubftance which is little
acted on by chemic?.! agents, they are lefs liable to be injured by ufe, than inftruments compofed of metal ; and
when a bead happens to be broken, it can be eafily replaced. They poffefs this farther advantage, that with the
application of the thermometer, and the calculation of the Hiding rule, the real ftrength of the fpirits may be taken
at all temneratures. It has been fuggefted, that thefe beads, from their being lefs liable to change than other
inftruments might be ufefully employed in checking the errors and variations of other hydrometers, B.eads
prepared by Mrs Lovi on the fame principle for afcertaining the ftrength of worts, acids, §cc,
S P X
[ 600 ]
S P X
Spirituous fent we give the general refult in the table of fpecinc
v gravity, as peculiarly belonging to fpirituous liquors,
affording the moft exadl account of their denfity in
every ftate of dilution ot alcohol with water. And
as the relation between the proportion of ingredients
and the denfity is peculiar to every fubftancc, fo that
fcarcely any inference can be made Irom one to another,
the reader will confider the tables here given as charac-
teriftic with refpedt to alcohol. In all folutions of falts
we found that the condenlation increafes continually with
the dilution, whereas it is greateil when equal bulks of
water and alcohol are mixed ; yet we do not confider
this as an exception j for it is certain, that in the flrong-
eft brine the faline ingredient bears but a fmall propor¬
tion to the water—and when we mix two folutions, the
condenfation is greateft when they are nearly equal in
bulk. But we think ourfelves entitled to infer, that al¬
cohol is not a dilution of a fubfiance in a quantity of
water ; but that water, in a certain proportion, not very
diftant from what we can produce by fiow diftillation, is
an ingredient of alcohol, or is one of its component parts,
and not merely a vehicle or menftruum. We therefore
imagine that proof fpirit contains nearly equal bulks of
water and ardent fpirits.
The great difficulty in this examination arofe from
the very diffimilar expanfions of water and alcohol by
heat. This determined Sir Charles Blagden to efiimate
the proportions of ingredients by weight, and made it
abfolutely neceffary to give a fcale of fpecific gravity and
ftrength for every temperature. For it mull; be remark¬
ed, that the queftion (whether in commerce or philofo-
phy) always is, “ Flow many gallons of alcohol and of
water, taken juft now and mixed together, will pro¬
duce a hundred gallons of the fpirit we are examin¬
ing ?” The proportion of thefe two will be different
according to the temperature of both. As many mix¬
tures therefore muft have been made in each proportion
as there were temperatures confidered ; but by taking
the ingredients by weight, and examining the denfity
of the compound in one temperature, it is then heated
and cooled, and its change of denfity cbferved. Calcu¬
lation then can tell us the change in the proportion of
the bulks or numbers of gallons in the mixture, by
means of a previous table fhowing the expanfions of
water and of alcohol.
The alcohol fele&ed for this examination had the
fpecific gravity 0.825. This is not the pureft that can
be procured j fome was produced of 0.816, of 0.814,
and c.813, both obtained from rum, from brandy, and
from malt fpirit. We are informed that Dr Black has
obtained it of the fpecific gravity 0.8 by digefiing al¬
cohol with fixed ammoniac (muriatic acid united with
lime) made very dry. It dephlegmates alcohol very
powerfully without decompofing it, which always hap¬
pens when we ufe caufiic alkali. Alcohol of 0.825 was
chofen becaufe expreffed by a number of eafy manage¬
ment in computation.
The examination commenced by afeertaining the ex-
panfions of water and alcohol. The temperature 6o°
of Fahrenheit’s fcale was felefted for the general tem¬
perature of comparifon, being eafily attainable even in
cold weather, and allowing the examinator to operate
at eafe. The firfi; and laft compartments of the tables
contain the weights and fpecific gravities of alcohol and
water for every fifth degree of heat from 30° to too0.
4
From thefe we have conftrudled the two following little Spirituous,
tables of expanfion. The bulk of 1000 ounces, pounds, ^
or other weight of water and of alcohol of the tempera¬
ture 6o°, occupies the bulks expreffed in the t;jbles for
every other temperature. Water could not be eafily or
ufefully examined when of the temperature 30°, becaufe
it is with great difficulty kept fluid in that temperature.
It is very remarkable, that •when it can be fo kept, it
expands inftead of contracting ; while cooling down
from 350 or thereabouts, and as it approaches to 32°,
it expands rapidly. We obferve the fame thing in the
cryftallization of Glauber fait, martial vitriol, and fome
others, which contain much water in their cryftals. We
obferve, on the other hand, a remarkable contraction
in the zeolite juft before its beginning to Jwell into
bubbles by a red heat.
Heat
Bulk of roc,coo ounces.
Of Water.
3°
35
40
45
5°
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
ICO
99910
999 6
99914
99932
99962
100000
100050
100106
100170
100241
100320
100404
100500
i00608
Oiff.
+
3°
38
50
56
64
71
79
84
96
108
Of A IcohoL
II9I95
119514
119839
120172
120514
120868
121122
121565
121919
122279
122645
123017
I23393
123773
I24i57
Diff.
3I9
325
S32
342
348
35°
353
354
360
366
372
376
380
384
This being prernifed, the examination was conducted
in the following manner. It was determined to mix
100 parts by weight of pure alcohol with five, ten, fif¬
teen, twenty, parts of diftilled water, till they were
compounded in equal quantities, and then to mix 100
parts of diftilled water with, 95, 90, 85, 80, See. parts
of alcohol, till they were mixed in the proportion of 100
to 5. Thus a feries of mixtures would be obtained, ex¬
tending from pure alcohol to pure water. This feries
would be fuch, that the examinations would be moft
frequent in the cafes moft ufual in the commerce of
ftrong liquors. A let of phials, fitted with ground
ftoppers, were provided, of fizes fit to hold the intended
mixtures. Thefe mixtures were made by fufpending
the phial to the arm of a very nice balance, in the op-
pofite fcale of which (befides the counterpoife of the
phial) there was placed the weight 100. Spirit was
then poured into the phial till it exaClly balanced the
weight 100. The weight for the water to be added
was then put into the oppofite fcale, and water was
poured into the phial by means of a llender glafs funnel,
by fmall quantities at a time, and the phial frequently
agitated to promote the mixture. When the additional
weight was exaftly balanced, the phial was taken off, its
ftopper put in, and leather tied over it, and it was fet by,
for at leaft a month, that the mixture and the whole
procefs of condenfation might be completed. The fame
method
s p I r for ] s p i
Spin Kicks method tv as followed in the mixtures where the water
Liquors. was predominant.
When the ingredients of thefe mixtures w’ere judged
to have completely incorporated, their fpecific gravity
was examined by weighing with the moft fcrupulous pre-
cifion the contents of a veffel w'hich held 2925 troy
grains of water, of the temperature 6o°. The balance
was fo exceedingly fenfible, that the 50th part of a grain
greatly deranged its polition when loaded with the
icales and their contents. It was conftru&ed by Mr
Ramfden, and fome account of its exquifite fenfibility
may be feen in the Journal de Phyjique, vol. xxxiii.
This quantity of materials was therefore thought abun¬
dantly fufficient for afcertaiuing the denlity ol the li¬
quor. It is needlefs to detail the precautions w'hich
were taken for having the contents of the weighing
bottle brought to the precife temperature proper for
the experiment. They were fuch as every perfon con-
verfant with fuch things is accuftomed to take.—The
bottle had a {lender neck, and being put on a lathe,
a mark wms made round it with a diamond. The bot¬
tle was filled till the bottom of the hollow furface of
the fluid was in the plane of this mark 'T and to judge
of the accuracy attainable in filling the bottle, the ope¬
ration was feveral times repeated and the contents weigh¬
ed, without the difference of ^L-th of a grain in 2925.
The only fource of error wdrich wTas to be guarded
againft wras air-bubbles adhering to the infide of the
bottle, or moifture condenfing (in the experiments with
low temperatures) on the outfide. Both of thefe w7ere
attended to as much as poffible.
This method of determining the fpecific gravity was
preferred to the ufual method, obferving the weight loft
by a lump of glafs when fufpended in water j for Mr
Gilpin had been enabled, by means of this nice ba¬
lance, to difcover, even in pure water and in alcohol,
a want of perfe£t fluidity. Something like vifcidity
rendered the motion of a lump of glafs through the
liquor fenfibly iluggifh, fo that when the balance was Spirituous
brought to a level, there w’as not a perfedl equilibrium Liquor?,
of weights: (See what we have faid of this matter““v rrJ
in Specific Gravity). Mr Gilpin alfo tried the
ingenious inftrument propofed for fuch experiments
by Mr Kamfden, and defcribed by him in a pamphlet
on this very fubjeft j and he found the anomalies
of experiment much greater than in this method by
weighing.—Indeed the regular progreflion of weights
to be feen in the annexed tables is an unqueftionable
proof of the fufliciency of the method ; and it has the
evident advantage of all other methods in point of fim-
plicity and practicability without any uncommon ap¬
paratus. Any perfon pofleffed of a good ordinary ba¬
lance and a fet of exaft weights may examine all quef-
tions of this kind, by weighing pure water and the li¬
quor wrhich he may have occafion to examine in a com¬
mon 6 or 8 ounce phial. For this reafon, it is recom¬
mended (in preference to all hydrometers) to the board
of excife to provide this Ample apparatus in every prin¬
cipal office.
Every experiment wTas made at leaft three times} and
the mean refult (which never differed one grain from the
extreme) was taken.
From thefe experiments the annexed tables were
conilrufled. The firft is the fimple abftraft of the ex¬
periments, containing the weights of the contents of
the bottle of every mixture. The fecond contains the
fpecific gravities deduced from them.
We have faid that the experiments appear furprifing-
ly accurate. This we fay on the authority of the re¬
gular progreffion of the fpecific gravity in any of the
horizontal rows. In the feries, for inftance, for the
temperature 6o°, the greateft anomaly is in the mixture
of 50 parts of fpirit with 100 of water. The fpecific
gravity is 95804, wanting 3 or 4 of the regular pro*
greffion. This does not amount to 1 in 18000.
4G
Voe. XIX. Part II.
Tabi.k-
S P I
S P I
[ 602 J
Table I. Weights at the different Degrees of Temperature.
Heat.
deg.
30
35
40
45
5°
55
60
65
70
75
80
8j
90
95
100
Heat.
The pure
Spirit.
100 grains
of fpirit to
5 grains
of water.
Grains.
2487-35
2480.87
2474.30
2467.62
2460.75
2453.80
2447.OO
244O.12
2433-23
2426.23
2419.02
24II.92
2404.9©
2397.68
2390.60
100 grams
of fpirit to
70 grains
of water.
deg.
3°
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
73
75
80
85
90
95
100
too grains
of fpirit to
10 grains
of water.
Grains.
25I9-92
2513-43
2506.75
2 COO. 14
2493-33
2486.37
2479.56
2472.75
2465.88
24C8.78
2451.67
2444.63
2437.62
243°-33
2423.22
100 grams
of fpirit to
15 grains
of water.
Grains.
2348.42
2541.84
253 5-41
2528.75
2521.96
25I5*°3
2508.27
2501.53
2494.56
2487.62
2480.45
2473-33
2466.32
2459-13
2452-13
Grains.
2573.80
2567.26
2360.74
2554-09
2547-47
2540.60
2533-83
2526.99
2520.03
2513-08
2506.08
2499.OI
2491.99
2484.74
2477.64
too grains
of fpirit to
20 grains
of water.
00 grains
of fpirit to
25 grains
of water.
Grains.
2596.66
2590.16
2583.66
2577.10
2570.42
2563.64
2556.90
23 30.22
2543-32
2536-39
2529.24
2522.29
2515.28
2508.10
2500.91
too gram:
of fpirit to
75 grains,
of water.
too grams
of fpirit to
80 grains
of water.
Grains.
‘2744.20
2738.13
2732.24
2726.09
27I9-93
2713.60
2707.40
2701.05
2694.76
2688.14
2681.50
2674.95
2668.29
2661.51
2654.76
Grains.
2753-75
2747.74
2741.86
2735-77
2729.64
2723-51
2717.30
2710.96
2704.64
2698.07
2691.50
2684.98
2678.49
2671.82
2664.99
Heat.
do grains
of fpirit t<
too grain
of water.
too grains
of fpirit t<
85 grains
of water.
Grains.
2762.72
2756.91
2750.96
2744.82
2738-74
2732.64
2726.52
2720.25
2713.87
2707.49
2700.94
2694-53
2687.99
2681.34
12674.62
Grains.
2771.08
2765.32
2759-50
2753-36
2747.27
2741.24
2735-I7
2728.98
2722.75
27I6-35
2709.76
2703-33
2696.91
2690.33
2683.63
o of
55 grams
f fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
50 grams
of ipirit tc
too grain;
of water.
deg.
3°
35
4°
45
50
55
60
65
7°
75
80
85
9°
95
100
Grains.
28 52.03
2847-45
2842.62
837.64
2832.76
827.68
2822.65
2817.49
28l2.l6
2806.75
2801.25
2795.69
2790-][3
2784.36
2778.64
Grains.
2859.71
2855-32
2850.88
2846.16
2841.52
2836.69
2831.90
2826.90
2821.78
2816.63
2811.23
2805.85
2800.40
2794.91
2789.32
45 grains
of fpirit tc
100 grain?
of water.
Grains.
2867.12
2863.16
2859.06
2854.67
2850.29
2845.72
2841.IO
2836.30
283 1.6l
2826.56
2821.38
2816.32
2811.05
2805.79
2800.25
Grains.
2617.30
2610.87
2604.50
2597.98
2591.38
2 584.6 5
2577-95
2571.24
2564.47
2557-6r
2550.50
2543.54
2536-63
2529.46
2522.30
100 grains
>f fpirit to
90 grains
of water.
Grains
2778.99
2773.22
2767.48
2761.42
2755-37
2749.27
2743.28
2737.09
2730.94
2724.64
2718.12
2711.86
2705-37
2698.86
2692.25
Grains.
2874.43
2870.87
2867.08
2863.C4
2858.96
2854.75
2850.50
2845.97
2841.42
2836.80
2831.92
2827.I 2
2822.15
2817.08
28l I.80
100 grains
of fpirit tc
30 grains
of water.
100 grams
of fpirit to
35 grains
of water.
Grains.
2636.23
2629.92
2623.56
2617.03
2610.54
2603.80
2 CQ7.22
2590-55
2583.88
2576-93
2569.86
2563.01
2cc6.11
2549-I3
2541.92
toe
100 grains
of fpirit
95 grains
of water.
Grains.
2786.36
2780.59
2774.90
2768.85
2762.95
2756.83
2750.93
2744.86
2738-73
2732-39
2726.06
2719.74
2713-32
2706.88
2700.33
00 grains
of fpirit to
40 grains
of water.
Grains.
2653-73
2647.47
2641.08
2634.64
2628.21
2621.50
2615.03
2608.37
2601.67
2 CQ4.80
2587-93
2580.93
2574.02
2567.03
2559-96
too gram:
if fpirit to
too grain?
of water.
Grains.
27Q3.22
2787.54
2781.84
2775-94
2770.14
2764.09
2758.17
2752.21
2746.06
2739.89
2733-53
2727.25
2721.OI
2714.61
2708.04
100 grams
of fpirit to
45 grains
of water.
Grains.
2669.83
2663.64
2657.23
2650.87
2644.43
2637.86
263I.37
2624.75
2617.96
2611.19
2604.29
2597-45
2590.60
2583-65
2576.56
95 grams
of fpirit to,
too grain:
of water.
90 grams
of ipirit to
s too grain?
of water.
Grains.
2799.85
2794-I9
2788.69
2782.99
2777.19
2771.29
2765.40
2759-47
2753-41
2747-23
2740.93
2734.80
2728.59
2722.25
2715-73
too grains
of fpirit to
50 grains
of water.
Grains.
2684.74
2678.60
2672.30
2666.04
2659-55
2653.04
2646.53
264O.OI
2633.32
2626.55
2619.72
2613.02
2606.16
2599.24
2592.14
100 gram:
of fpirit tc
55 grains
of water.
100 grain?
of fpirit tc
60 grains
of w ater.
Grains.
2698.51
2692.43
2686.32
2679.99
2673.64
2667.14
2660.62
2654.04
2647.52
2640.81
2633.99
2627.39
2620.52
2613.57
2606.50
85 grains
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
40 grams
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water,
Grains.
2881.34
2878.21
2874.81
287 1.22
2867.52
2863.75
2859.87
2855-65
2851.53
2847.14
2842.56
2838.07
2833.38
2828.46
2823.55
35 grams
if .ipirit to
too grains
of water.
GrainS.
2887.77
2885.06
2882.30
2879.22
2875.98
2872.67
2869.15
2865.45
2861.63
2857.70
2853-38
2849.28
2844.81
2840.26
2835.30
30 grains
if fpirit tc
xoo grains
of water.
Grains.
2894.22
2892.07
2889.78
2887.33
2884.57
2884.69
2878.72
2875.49
2872.06
2868.49
2864.54
2860.86
2856.80
2852.47
2848.18
Grains.
-2806.61
2801.14
■2795.70
2789.99
2784.30
2778.54
2772.70
2766.73
2760.75
2754-73
2748.42
2742.31
2736.23
2729.89
2723-35
Grains.
2711.14
2705.14
2698.94
2692.77
2686.54
2679.98
2673.55
2667.07
2660.63
2653-99
2647.12
2640.60
2633-74
2626.94
2619.75
100 grains
of fpirit to
65 grains
of water.
Grains.
2722.89
2716.92
2710.81
2704.57
2698.42
2691.83
2685.52
2679.1 C
2672.74
2666.06
2659.36
2652.78
2646.OO
2639.25
2632.17
So grains
of fpirit t<
100 grains
of water.
75 grams
of fpirit tc
100 grains
of water.
70 grams
of fpirit tc
100 grains
of water.
25 grains
of fpirit tc
100 grain?
of water.
Grains.
2813.85
2808.52
2803.17
2797-45
791.72
2785.96
2780.26
2774-43
2768.45
2762.58
2756-43
2750.22
2744.24
2737.98
273I-55
Grains.
2821.35
2816.07
2810.73
2805.08
2799.58
2703.82
2788.25
2782.62
2776.72
2770.93
2764.87
2758.80
27 C2.76
2746.57
2740.43
20 grams
of fpirit tc
100 grains
of water.
15 grams
of fpirit tc
100 grain;
of water.
Grains.
29CO.85
2899.31
2897.61
2895.67
2893.58
2891.11
2888.62
2885.85
2882.90
2879.67
2876.22
2872.88
2869.16
2865.15
2861.12
Grains.
2908.21
2907.45
2906.39
2904.98
29°3-39
2901.42
2899-35
2897.09
2894.56
2891.79
2888.73
2885.56
2882.25
2878.71
2875.07
Grains.
2917.19
2916.95
2916.41
29I5-55
2914.42
2913.02
2911.32
2909.43
29°7-33
2905.04
2902.35
2899.55
2896.58
2898.44
2890.04
Grains.
2828.90
2823.68
2818.36
2812.93
07.56
2801.89
2796.45
2790.81
2785.06
2779.26
2773-33
2767.44
2761.51
2755-34
2749.28
Grains.
2733-87
2727.87
2721.83
2715.62
2709.48
2702.98
2696.73
2690.32
2684.02
2677.34
2670.69
2664.16
2657.41
26 <50.63
2643.75
Grains.
836-39
2831.36
2826.31
821.00
2815.71
2810.23
2804.85
2799.38
2793.80
2788.OO
2782.14
2776.33
2770.59
2764.57
2758.48
65 grains
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water
Grains.
2844.16
2839.26
2834.40
2829.28
2824.12
2818.80
2813.6c
2808.31
2802.88
2797.21
279I.52
2785.81
2780.II
2774.25
2768.43
if fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
5 grains
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water,
Grains.
2928.80
2928.99
2928.93
2928.49
2927.81
2926.73
2925.50
2923.90
2922.24
2920.17
2917.83
2915.46
2912.84
2910.02
2906.97
Grains.
2944- 53
294C.02
2945- 25
2945.20
2944-73
943.98
2942.98
2941.69
2940.13
2938-33
2936.3!
2934.14
2931-77
**929.15
2926.28
Water.
Grains.
2967.14
2967.45
2967.40
2967.05
12966.34
2965.39
2964.11
1'2.66
2960.97
2959-°7
2956.94
2954.7°
2952.08
2949-34
Table
S P I
S P I ' [ 603 ]
Table II. Real Specific Gravities at the different Temperatures.
Heat.
deg.
3°
35
40
45
5°
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
The pure
fpirit.
.83896
.83672
•83445
.83214
.82977
.82736
.825^0
.82262
.82023
.81780
•8l530
:8l283
.81039
.80788
.80543
Heat.
too grams
of fpirit to
70 grains
of water.
deg.
3°
35
40
45
5°
55
60
65
7°
75
80
85
90
95
100
Heat.
deg.
3°
35
40
45
50
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
•92563
•92355
.92151
•9I937
•9I723
.91502
.91287
.91066
.90847
.90617
.90385
.901 ?7
.8992 ^
.89688
•89453
too grains.100 grains
of fpirit to of fpirit to
5 grains to grains
of water. I of water.
00 .grains
of ipirit to
15 grains
of water.
.84995
.84769
•84539
.84310
.84076
•83834
•83599
.83362
.83124
.82878
.82651
.82386
.82142
.81888
.81643
fOi grain
of fpirit to
75 gra‘ns
ofwater.
60 grains
of fpirit to
rco grain
of water.
.96209
.96048
•95879
•957° 5
•95534
•95357
.95181
.95000
.94813
.94623
•94431
.94236
.94042
•98839
•93638 i
.92889
.92680
.92476
.92264
.020 CO
•9i837
.91622
.91400
.91181
.90952
.90723
.90496
.90270
.00537
.89798
•85957
.85729
•85507
.85277
.85042
.84802
.84568
.84334
.84092
•83851
.83603
•83355
.83111
.82860
.82618
.86825
.86587
.86361
.86131
.85902
.85664
•8543°
•85i93
•84951
.84710
.84467
.84221
•83977
•83724
.83478
ico grams
of fpirit to
20 grains
of water.
100 grains
of fpirit to
80 grain
of water.
.92986
.92783
.92570
•92358
.92145
•9I933
•9I7I5
•9I493
.91270
.91042
.90818
.90590
•90358
.90123
too grains
of fpirit t<
85 grains
of water.
55 gTains
if fpirit to
100 grains
of water,
.96470
•96315
.96159
•95993
•95831
.9 c662
•95493
•95318
•95239
•94957
.94768
•94579
•94389
.94196
•93999
50 grains
of fpirit tc
100 grain1
of water.
.96719
•96579
.96434
.96280
.96126
.95966
.95804
•95635
•95469
•95292
.95111
•94932
.94748
•94^63
•94368
•93474
•93274
.93072
.92859
.92647
.92436
.92225
.92010
*9I793
.91569
.91340
.91119
.90891
.90662
.90428
45 grains
of fpirit t<
too grains
of water.
.96967
.96840
.96706
.96563
.96420
.96272
.96122
.95962
.9 c 80 2
•95638
•95467
•95297
•95i23
•94944
•94759
.87585
•87357
•87134
.86907
.86676
.86441
.86208
.85976
•85736
•85493
.85248
.85006
.84762
.84511
.84262
too grams
of fpirit to
25 grains
of water.
too gram:
if ipirit to
90 grains
of water.
ico grams
if fpirit to
95 grains
of water.
•93741
•93541
•93341
•93 *3 *
.92919
.92707
.92499
.92283
.92069
.91849
.91622
.91403
•9I,77
.90949
.90718
40 grams
of fpirit tc
100 grain
of water.
.88282
.88059
.87838
.87613
.87384
.87150
.86918
.86686
.86451
.86212
.85966
•85723
•85483
•85232
.84984
100 grams
of fpirit to
30 grains
of water.
0 gyams
of fpirit to
35 grains
oi water.
ol Ipirit to
40 grains
of water.
100 grams
of fpirit to
too grains
of w ater.
93991
93790
93592
93382
93I77
92963
92758
92546
92333
92111
91891
91670
91446
91221
90992
.97200
.97086
.96967
.96840
.96708
.96575
.96437
.96288
.96143
•95987
.9 3826
•95667
•9550 2
•95328
•95I52
35 Krams
of ipirit t(
too grain
of water.
•974l8
•97319
.97220
.97110
.96995
.96877
.96752
.96620
.96484
.96344
.96192
.96046
.95889
•95727
•95556
.88921
.88701
.88481
.88255
.88030
.87796
.87568
.87337
.87105
.86864
.86623
.86380
.86139
.85896
.85646
95 grains
of fpirit to
too grains
of water.
.94222
.94025
•93827
.9:5621
•934*9
.93208
.93002
•92794
.92380
.92364
.92142
.91923
•9 *705
.91481
.91252
30 grains
of fpirit tc
too grains
of water.
.89511
.89294
.89073
.88849
.88626
•88393
.88169
.87938
•87705
.87466
.87228
.86984
.86743
.86499
.86254
ico grains ico ^grains
of fpirit to
45 grams
oi water.
ico gram:
of fpirit to
50 grains
of water.
.90054
.89839
.89617
.89396
.89174
.88945
.88720
.88490
.88254
.88018
.87776
•8754*
.87302
.87060
.86813
•90558
•9°345
.90127
.89909
.89684
.89458
.89232
.89006
•88773
.88538
.88301
.88067
.87827
.87586
.87340
90 grams
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
85 grains
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
•94447
•94249
.94058
.93860
•93658
•93452
•93247
.93040
.92828
•92613
•92393
.92179
.91962
•9174°
•9I5I3
25 grains
of Ipirit tc
100 grains
of water.
•97635
•97556
.97472
•97384
.97284
.97181
•97074
•96959
.96836
.96708
.96568
•96437
.96293
.96x39
•95983
.97860
.97801
•97737
.97666
•97589
.97500
.97409
•97309
•97203
.97086
.96963
.96843
.96711
.96568
.96424
94675
94484
94295
94096
93897
93696
93493
93285
93076
92865
92646
92432
92220
91998
91769
20 grams
of fpirit to
too grains
of water.
.98108
.98076
•98033
.97980
.97920
•97847
.97771
.97688
•97596
•97495
•97385
.97271
•97*53
.97025
•96895
.94920
•94734
•94547
.94348
.94149
•93948
•93749
•93546
•93337
•93*32
.929*7
.92700
.92491
.92272
.92047
100 grains
of fpirit to
55 grains
of water.
.91023
.90811
.90596
.90380
.90160
•89933
.89707
.89479
.89252
.89018
.88781
.88551
.88312
.88069
.87824
So grains
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water
•95*73
.9^988
.94802
•94605
.944*4
•942*3
.94018
.93822
.93616
•934*3
.93 201
.92989
.92779
.92562
.92346
15 grams
of fpirit to
ioo grains
of water.
10 grams
of fpirit to
ico grains
of water.
.9841 2
•98397
•98373
.98328
.98293
.98239
.98176
.98106
.98028
•97943
•97845
•97744
•97637
•97523
.97401
.98804
.98804
•98795
.98774,
•98745
.98702
.98654.
.98594
•98527
.98454
.98367
.98281
.98185
.98082
•97969
100 grams
of fpirit tc
60 grains
of water.
100 grains
of fpirit to
*65 grains
of water.
•9*449
.91241
.91026
.90812
.90596
•9°367
.90144
.89920
.89695
.89464
.89225
.88998
.88758
.88521
.88271
75 grams
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
.91847
.91640
•9*428
.912II
.90997
.90768
.90549
.90328
.90104
.89872
.89639
.89409
.89173
.88937
.88691
70 grains
;)f fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
•95429
•95246
.95060
.94871
.94683
.94486
.94296
.94099
.93898
■93695
.93488
.93282
•93075
.92858
.92646
5 grams
of ipirit tc
loo grains
of water.
•99334
•99344
•99345
•99338
.99316
.99284
.99244
•99*94
•99*34
.99066
.98991
.98912
.988 24
.98729
.98625
.95681
•955°2
•95328
•95*43
•94958
•94767
•94579
.94388
•94*93
.93989
•93785
•93582
•9338*
.93170
•92957
Water.
1,00090
I.OOO94
1.00086
1.00068
I >00038
I.OOCOO
.99950
.99894
.99830
•99759
.99681
.99598
.99502
.99402
.92217
.92009
.91799
.91584
.91370
•9**44
.90927
.90707
.90484
,90252
.90021
•89793
.89558
.89322
.89082
65 grains
of fpirit to
100 grains
of water.
•95944
•95772
.9 5602
•95423
•95243
•95057
.94876
.94689
•94500
.94301
.94102
.93902
•93703
•93497
•93293
4 G 2
We
'Spirituous
Liquors.
1 . [ 6o+. I
that the feries of mixtures cipal line AB.
S P
We formerly obferved,
_ chofen by Sir Charles Blagden, for the advantages at¬
tending it in making the experiment, was not fuited for
folving the queftions which commonly occur in the
fpirit bufinefs. He accordingly fuggells the propriety
of forming tables in a convenient ieries from the data
furnifhed by thefe experiments, indicating the propor¬
tion of ingredients contained in fome coallant weight or
bulk.
To facilitate the conftruflion of fuch tables, it is ne-
ceflary to conlider the fubjeft in the molt general man¬
ner. Therefore let a reprefent the conltant number
loo. Let w and s reprefent the quantities of water and
fpirit by weight in any mixture ; that is, the pounds,
ounces, or grains of each. Let x reprefent the quan¬
tity per cent, of fpirits alfo by weight; that is, the num¬
ber of pounds of fpirits contained in 100 pounds of the
mixture ; and let y be its quantity per cent, in gallons,
or the number of gallons contained in too gallons of
the unmixed ingredients. Let ?n be the bulk of a pound
of fpirit of any given temperature, the bulk of a pound
of water of the fame temperature being accounted i.
Then w-\-s is the weight of any mixture, and w-\-
m s is its bulk.
We have the following proportions: i. lo-j-.r: s~a: x,
Cl s
and x — —-j— (Equation ill); and hence s may be
found when x the per centage in weight is given, for
*11) X
s———- (Equation 2.)
2. 10-f-w j : m sz=:a : y, and y—a
(Equa-
w-\-ms
tion 3d) , and j may be found when y, the per centage
my
in gallons, is given j for s=-
(Equation 4th).
a—y
The ufual queltions which can be folved from thefe
experiments are,
1. To afcertain the quantity of fpirits percent, in
bulk from obfervation of the fpecific gravity, or to tell
how many gallons of fpirit are in 100 gallons of mix¬
ture.
Look for the fpecific gravity in the table, and at the
head of the column will be found the w and r corre-
fponding. If the precife fpecific gravity obferved is not
in the tables, the s muft be found by interpolation. And
here it is proper to remark, that taking the Ample pro¬
portional parts of fpecific gravity will not be fufficiently
exadl, efpecially near the beginning or the end of the
table, becaufe the denfities correfponding to the feries
of mixtures do not change uniformly. We muft have
recourfe to the general rules of interpolation, by means
of firft and fecond differences, or be provided with a fub-
lidiary table of differences. A good deal of practice in
computations of this kind fuggefted the following me¬
thod of making fuch interpolations with great difpatch
Plate and abundant accuracy. On a plate of wmod or metal,
CCCCXCIXor ftiff card-paper, draw a line EE (fig. 1.), as a fcale
Fig* r* of equal parts, reprefenting the leading or equable arith¬
metical feries of any table. (In the prefent cafe EF is
the fcale on wducli s is computed.)—Through every
point of divifion draw the perpendiculars BA, EC, ED,
&.c. Make one of them AB more confpicuous than the
reft, and diftinguilh the others alfo in fuch fort, that
the eye (hall readily catch their diftance from the prin-
s p 1
Let GPL be a thin flip of w'halebone, Spirituous
of unifoim breadth and thicknefs, alfo divided into Liquors,
equal parts properly diftinguilhable. Laftly, let there —v~—^
be a pin P fixed near the middle of the principal line
AB.
Now fuppofe that a value of s is to be interpolated
by means of an obferved fpecific gravity not in the ta¬
ble. Look for the neareft to it, and note its diftance
from the preceding and the following. Let thefe be
PH and PK on the flexible fcale. Alfo take notice of
the lines K 10 and H 10, whofe diftances from AB are
equal to the conftant difference between the fucceflive
values of S, or to any eafily eftimated multiple of it (as
in the prefent cale we have taken 10 and 10, inftead of
5 and 5, the running difference of Sir Charles Blag-
den’s table). Then, leaning the middle point P of the
whalebone on the pin P in the board, bend it, and place
it flantwife till the points K and H fall fomewhere on
the twro parallels K 10 and H 10. No matter how
oblique the pofition of the whalebone is. It will bend
in fuch a manner that its different points of divifion (re¬
prefenting different fpecific gravities) will fall on the
parallels which reprefent the correfponding values of j-.
We can fay that all this may be done in lefs than half a
minute, and lefs time than is neceffary for infpedting a
table of proportional parts, and not the tenth part of
that necelfary for interpolating by fecond differences.
Yet it is exaft enough (if of the fize of a duodecimo
page) for interpolating three decimal places. This is
ten times more exaft than the prefent cafe requires. To
return from this digreflion.
Having thus found s in the table, we get a; or y by
, .as .ms
the equations rz.v, and «  ——y.
w-\-s w-j-m s J
But here a material circumftance occurs. The weight
of alcohol j, and its per centage x, was rightly deter¬
mined by the fpecific gravity, becaufe it was interpolated
between two values, which were experimentally con-
neiffed wdth this fpecific gravity. But in making the
tranfition from x to y, we only give the per centage in
gallons before mixture, but not the number of gallons
of alcohol contained in an hundred gallons of mixed li¬
quor. For when we have taken a—y and y yiftead of
10 and r, they wall indeed make a fimilar compound
when mixed, becaufe the proportion of their ingredients
is the fame. But they will not make 100 gallons of
this compound, becaufe there is a (hrinking or conden-
fation by mixture, and the fpecific gravity by which we
interpolated ^ is the phyfical or real fpecific gravity cor¬
refponding to w and j1; while —— , the fpecific gra-
w X m r r b
vity implied in the value of y, is the mathematical den-
fity independent on this condenfation. Since therefore y,
together with a—y, make lefs than 100 gallons of the
compound, there muft in 100 gallons of it be more alco¬
hol than is expreffed by y.
Let G be the mathematical fpecific gravity (—
rJ0 | J* \
-——— ), and g the phyfical or real obferved fpeci-
w-\- m s /
fic gravity (which wTe cannot exprefs algebraically) ;
and let 2; be the gallons of alcohol 1‘eally contained in
100 gallons of the compound. The bulk being inverfe-
ly as the denfity or fpecific gravily, it is evident that
the bulk of the compound muft be to 100 gallons as^
to
s P I [ 605 ] S P I
And fince we want to make it ftill up to 100 have the fpecific gravity by infpedtion.
Spirituous to G.
, Liqil0rs- , gallons, we muft increafe it in the proportion of G to
g. And becaufe this augmentation muft be of the
lame ftrength with this contrafted liquor, both ingredi¬
ents muft be increafed in the proportion of G to g, and
: 2;, and %—gx^r> Now,
we muft have G : ?=:?/ : 2;, and zzzp
inftead of y, write a
w-j-m s
and inftead of — write
vjt
w-j-m s
which are refpeftively equal to them.
This
gives us z=g a x
w-\-m j- ms
X
=gaxt
149,997, or very near-
lu-j-j- lu-j-x7 0 ''u’-f-j"
All this will be illuftrated by an example.
Suppofe that we have obferved the fpecific gravity of
a fpirituous liquor of the temperature 6o° to be 0.94128.
Looking into Sir Charles Blagden’s table, we find the
gravities 0.94018 and 0.94296, and the s correfpond-
ing to them is 80 and 75, the water in each mixture
being 100. By interpolation we obtain the s corre-
fponding to 0.94x28, viz. 78. At this temperature
tn="Q g2'^f =1.21212, and ot ^=94.54545. Therefore
2^=0.94128 x 100 x
I94*5454J
50.
We have feen even perfons not unacquainted with
lubje&s of this kind puzzled by this fort of paradox.
‘Z is faid to be the per centage of fpirit in the com¬
pound. The compound has the fame proportion of in¬
gredients when made up to 100 gallons as before, when
?/ was faid to be its per centage, and yet y and 2; are not
the fame. The fa£t is, that although z is the number
of gallons of alcohol really contained in 100 gallons of
the compound, and this alcohol is in the fame propor¬
tion as before to the water, this proportion is not that
of 50 to 50 : for if the ingredients were feparated again,
there would be 50 gallons of alcohol and 52,876 of
water.
The proportion of the ingredients in their feparate
ftate is had by the 3d equation y=«
is equivalent to G a
lU-f-J
—; , which
For the prefent example
y will be found 48.599, and a—y, or the water per
cent. 51.401, making 100. gallons of unmixed ingre¬
dients. We fee then that there has been added 1.398
gallons of alcohol j and fince both ingredients are aug¬
mented in the proportion of G to g, there have alio
been added 1.478 of water, and the whole addition for
making up the 100 gallons of compound is 2.876
gallons j and if the ingredients of the compound were
feparate, they would amount to 102,876 gallons. This
might have been found at the firft, by the proportion,
G : g—G= 100 : (The addition^).
The next queftion which ulually occurs in bufinefs is
to find what denfity will refult from any propofed mix¬
ture per gallon. This queftion is folved by means of
W V
the equation —-—:—-=rr. In this examination it will
m _(«—y)
be moft convenient to make w—a. If the value of s
found in this manner falls on a value in the tables, we
If not, we muft Spintuottj.
interpolate. Liquors.
N. B. The value of m, which is employed in thefe
reductions, varies with the temperature. It is always
obtained by dividing the fpecific gravity of alcohol of
that temperature by the fpecific gravity of water of the
fame temperature. The quotient is the real fpecific
gravity of alcohol for that temperature. Both of thefe
are to be had in the firft and laft copartments of Sir
Charles Blagden’s table.
Thefe operations for particular cafes give the anfwers
to particular occafional queftions. By applying them
to all the numbers in the table, tables may be conftruft-
ed for folving every queftion by infpeftion.
There is another queftion which occurs moft fre¬
quently in the excife tranfaftions, and alfo in all com-
pofitions of fpirituous liquors, viz. What ftrength will
refult from a mixture of two compounds of known
ftrength, or mixing any compound with water ? To
folve queftions of this kind by the table fo often quo¬
ted, we muft add into one fum the water per gallon of
the different liquors. In like manner, take the fum of
the fpirits, and fay, as the fum of the waters is to that
of the alcohols, fo is o to r y and operate with a and s
as before.
Analogous to this is the queftion of the duties.
Thefe are levied on proof fpirit ; that is, a certain duty
is charged on a gallon of proof fpirit 5 and the gauger’s
bufinefs is to difeover how many gallons of proof fpirit
there is in any compound. The fpecification of proof
fpirit in our excife larvs is exceedingly obfeure and com¬
plex. A gallon weighing 7 pounds 13 ounces (at 550)
is accounted 1 t® 6 under proof. The gallon of water
contains 58476 grains, and this fpirit is 54688. Its
denfity therefore is 0.93523 at 550, or (as may be in¬
ferred from the table) 0.9335 at 6o°. This denfity
correfponds to a mixture of 100 grains of water with
93.457 of alcohol. If this be fuppofed to refult from
the mixture of 6 gallons of alcohol with 1 of rvater (as
is fuppofed by the defignation of 1 to 6 under proof),
the gallon of proof fpirits confifts of 100 parts of fpirits
by weight, mixed with 75 parts of wrater. Such a fpirit
will have the denfity 0.9162 nearly.
This being premifed, in order to find the gallons of
proof fpirits in any mixture, find the quantity of alco¬
hol by weight, and then fay, as 100 t© 175, fo is the
alcohol in the compound to the proof fpirit that may be
made of it, and for which the duties muft be paid.
We have confidered this fubjedl at fome length, be¬
caufe it is of great importance in the fpirit-trade to have
thefe circumftances afeertained wfith precifion j and be¬
caufe the fpecific gravity is the only fure criterion that
can be had of the ftrength. Firing of gunpowder, or
producing a certain bubble by {baking, are very vague
tells ; whereas, by the fpecific gravity, we can very fe-
curely afeertain the ftrength within one part in 500, as
will prefently appear.
Sir Charles Blagden, or Mr Gilpin, has publifiied * * puioj.
a moft copious fet of tables, calculated from thefe valu- Tranfatt,
able experiments. In thefe, computations are made for ‘794-
every unit of the hundred, and for every degree of the
thermometer. But thefe tables are ftill not in the moft
commodious form for bufinefs. Mr John Wilfon, an
ingenious gentleman rdiding at Dundee, has juft pub-
liftied
S P I [ 606 ] S P I
Spirituous llChed at Edinburgh tables fomew'hat fimilar, founded
Liquors. on ^jle fame experiments. Both of thefe tables (how
the quantities by meafure correfponding to every unit
by weight of Sir Charles Blagden’s experiments, and
for every degree of temperature. "I hey alfo (how the
per centage of alcohol, and the condenlation or the
quantity loft by mixture. But as they both retain the
original feries of parts by weight, which is very unufual,
the fpirit traders will find confiderable difficulty in
making ufe of them. Retaining this feries alfo caufes
all the per centage numbers (which are the only inte-
refting ones to the trader) to be fractional, and no an-
fwer can be had without a double interpolation.
We have therefore calculated a table in the form in
which it muft be moft ufeful and acceptable to thofe
who are engaged in the fpirit trade, Ihowing at once
the fpecific gravity which refults from any proportion of
admixture in hundredth parts of the whole. This an-
fwers immediately the chief queftions in the terms in
which they are ufually conceived and propofed. The
two firft or leading columns (how the proportion in gal¬
lons, pints, or other cubic meafures, of the mixture, the
whole quantity being always 100. The fecond column
ftiows the correfponding fpecific gravity : fo that we
can either find the proportion of the ingredients by the
obfevved fpecific gravity, or find the gravity refulting Spimunty
from any proportion of the ingredients. A third co- ^RIuor-‘
lumn ftiows how much the hundred meafures of the two y,~
ingredients fall ftrort of making an hundred meafures of
the compound. A fimple proportion, which can be
done without the pen, will determine what part of this
deficiency muft be made up by fpirit. The ufe of this
table muft now be fo familiar to the reader’s rnind,
that we need not give further inftruftions about it.
This is followed by another fimilar table, giving an
immediate anfwer to the moft ufual queftion, “ How
many meafures of alcohol are there really contained in
100 meafures ? This is alfo accompanied by a column
of condenfation. It would have been fomewhat more
elegant, had the fpecific gravities in this table made the
equable feries and leading column. But we did not ad¬
vert to this till we had computed the table, and the la¬
bour was too great to be repeated for flight reafons.
The tables are only for the temperature 6o0, To this
the fpirituous liquors can alw ays be brought in thefe cli¬
mates j and in cafes where we cannot, a moment’s in-
fpedlion of Sir Charles Blagden’s table will point out
very nearly (or exadlly, by a ftiort computation) the
ncceffary corredlions.
Com pound.
S. W.
Specific
Giavity.
-Cond.
per
IOO
99
98
97
96
95
94
93
92
9i
90
89
88
87
86
85
84
83
82
81
80
79
78
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
J3
M
!5
16
!7
18
!9
20
21
22
23
24
•25
26
27
28
29
3°
31
32
33
34
0.8250
0.8278
0.8306
0-8333
0.8360
0.8387
0.8413
0.8439
0.8465
c.8491
0.8516
0.8542
0.8567
0.8592
0.8617
0.8641
0.8666
0.8690
0.8713
0.8737
0.8760
0.8764
0.8807
0.8830
0.8853
0.8876
0.8899
0.8921
0.8944
0.8966
0.8988
0.9010
0.9031
0.9053
0.9073
0.19
o-33
0.4
o-5
0.6
0.7
0.8
19
1.
1.1
1.2
1-3
1.4
I-5
M
1.6
1»7
*•7
1- 7
1.8
1.9
2.
2.
2.1
2.1
2.2
2.2
2- 3
2-3
2.4
2-5
2.5
2-5
2-5
Compound.
S. W
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
5°
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
5°
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
Specific
Gravity.
Cond.
per
O.9073
O.9095
O.9116
0.9137
0-9l57
0.9177
0.9198
0.9218
0.9238
0.9257
0.9277
0.9296
0.9316
0-9335
o-9353
0-9371
0.9388
0.9406
0.9423
0.9440
0.9456
0*9473
0.9489
0.9505
0.9520
0-9535
0-9549
0-9563
0-9577
0.9590
0.9603
0.9616
0.9628
0.9640
2.5
2.6 '
2.6
2.6
2.6
2.7
2.7
2-7
2.7
2.7
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
2.8
28
2.8
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.6
2.6
2-5
2-5
2-4
2.4
2-3
2-3
Compound.
S. W.
33
32
31
3°
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
J7
16
15
H
*3
12
Specific
Gravity.
Cond.
per
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
90
100
0.9640
0.9651
0.9662
0.9673
0.9683
0.9693
0.9704
°-97I3
0.9724
o-9734
0.9744
0-9754
0.9763
0-9773
0.9783
0-9793
0.9802
0.9812
0.9822
0.9832
0.9842
0.9853
0.9863
0.9874
0.9886
0.9897
0.9909
0.9921
0-9933
0.9946
0.9959
0.9972
0.9985
1.0000
2-3
2-3
2.2
2.1
2.
I.p
I.9
1.8
1-7
1.6
1.6
i-5
M
I-3
1.2
1.2
1.1
1.
0.9
0.9
0.8
°-7
0.7
c.6
o-5
0.4
°-3
0-3
0.2
0*1
0.07
0.03
0.01
0.00
I
S P I
T 607 j
s p 1
Spirituous
Liquors.
Spir.
per
cent.
99
98
97
96
95
94
93
92
9i
90
89
88
87
86
85
84
83
82
8t
8o
79
78
77
76
75
74
73
72
71
70
69
68
67
66
Specific
Gravity.
O.8250O
O.82629
O.83142
0.83449
O.83750
O.84048
O.84339
O.84621
O.8490O
O.85172
0-85443
0.8 5704
0.85971
0.86228
0.86483
0.86737
0.86987
0.8723 c
0.87481
0.87726
0.87969
0.88207
0.88445
o 88676
0.88909
0.89140
0.89367
0.89593
0.89815
0.90035
0.90241
0.90464
o 90675
0.90885
0.91095
Contr.
O.18
o-34
0.46
0-57
0.68
0.8
0.9
1.01
1.11
1.21
I*3I
i*39
1.47
i*54
1.61
1.67
1.74
1.81
1.88
I*94
2.
2.05
2.11
2.17
2.22
2.26
2.31
2.36
2.41
2.49
2.47
2.51
2-55
2-59
Spir.
per
cent.
66
65
64
63
62
61
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
5.3
52
5r
5°
49
48
47
46
45
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34
33
Specific
Gravity.
O.9IO95
0.91306
O.915H
O.91714
O.91914
O.92112
O.92308
O.9250I
O.92692
O.92883
0.93072
0.93258
0-93436
O.9361 2
O.93786
0-93958
O.94I 28
O.94293
0-94455
0.94610
0.94768
0.94923
0.95074
0.9 5219
0-95364
0.95502
0.95636
o 95766
o 95894
0.96019
0.96141
0.96258
0.96371
0.96481
Contr.
2*59
2.62
2.64
2.66
2.68
2.70
2.72
2.74
2.76
2.77
2.78
2.80
2.81
2.81
2.82
2.81
2.79
2.78
2.76
2-73
2.71
a.70
2.68
2.66
2.63
2.60
2.58
2-54
2.49
2.46
2-43
2.38
2-33
2.27
Spir.
per
cent.
33
32
3i
3°
29
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
*9
18
*7
16
*5
x4
x3
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
o
Specific
Gravity.
96481
96587
96691
96793
96894
96992
97089
97i85
,97280
97374
97468
9756i
97654
97747
.97841
97936
98032
98129
.98228
98328
.98430
98634
98640
98748
98858
98973
99091
99211
99334
99461
99591
99725
.99861
.00000
Contr.
2.27
2.21
2.15
2.08
2.00
x-93
1.86
1.79
I*7I
1.63
1.56
1.48
M
1.32
1.24
1.17
1.08
1.00
•93
.85
•78
•71
.66
.61
•51
•43
•34
•25
.18
.12
•7
•3
.1
.0
Spirituous
Liquors.
“ In the firft table, of -which the foie intention is to
point out the proportion of ingredients, the fpecific gra¬
vities are computed only to four places, which will al¬
ways give the anfwer true to th part. In the laft,
which is more immediately interefting to the merchant
in his tranfailions with the excife office, the computa¬
tion is carried one place further.”
The confideration of the firft: of thefe two tables will
furniffi fome ufeful information to the reader who is in-
terefted in the philofophy of chemical mixture, and who
endeavours to inveftigate the nature of thofe forces
which connefl the particles of tangible matter. Thefe
vary with the diftance of the particle ; and therefore
the law of their aftion, like that of univerfal gravitation,
is to be difcovered by meafuring their fenfible eftefls at
their various diftances. Their change of diflance is
feen in the change of denfity or fpecific gravity.
Did the individual denfities of the water and fpirit
remain unchanged by mixture, the fpecific gravity would
change by equal differences in the feries of mixtures on
which this table is conftrufted ; for the bulk being al¬
ways the fame, the change of fpecific gravity muft be
the difference between the weight of the gallon of wa¬
ter which is added and that of the gallon of fpirit which
‘ 2
is taken out. The whole difference of the fpecific gra¬
vities of fpirits and water being 1.750 parts in 10,000,
the augmentation by each fucceffive change of a mealure
of fpirit for a meafure of water would he the 100th
part of this, or 17.5. But, by taking the fucct-ffive
differences of denfity as they occur in the table, we fee
that they are vaftly greater in the firft additions of wa¬
ter, being then about 10 ; after which they gradually
diminiffi to the medium quantity 174, when water and
fpirits are mixed in nearly equal bulks. The differences
of fpecific gravity ftill diminiffi, and are reduced to 9,
when about 75 parts of water are mixed with 25 of fpi¬
rit. The differences now increafe again ; and the laft,
when 99 parts of water are mixed with one part of fpx-
rit, the difference frqm the fpecific gravity of pure water
is above 14. N
The mechanical effedl, therefore, of the addition of
a meafure of water to a great quantity of fpirit is great¬
er than the fimilar effeft of the addition of a meafure of
fpirits to a great quantity of water. What we call me¬
chanical efteft is the local motion, the change of diftance
of the particles, that the corpufcular forces may again
be in equilibrio. Obferve, too, that this change is
greater than in the proportion of the diftance of the
particles 5
S P I
[
Plate
ccccxcix.
Fig. 2.
Spirituous particles *, for the denfity of water is to that of fpirits
Liquors. nearly as 6 to 5, and the changes of fpecific gravity are
v '" nearly as 6 to 3.
We alfo fee that the changing caufe, which produces
the ahfolute condenfation ot each ingredient, ceafes to
operate v,rhen 75 parts of water have been mixed with
2, of alcohol: for the variation of fpecific gravity, from
diminilhing comes now to increafe 5 and therefore, in
this particular date of compolition, is equable. Things
are now in the fame date as if we were mixing two duids
which did not aft on each other, but were mutually dif-
feminated, and whofe fpecific gravities are nearly as 9 to
10 ; for the variation 9 of fpecific gravity may be confi-
dered as the 100th part of the whole difference, in the
fame manner as 1 7.7 would have been had water and al¬
cohol fudained no contraftion.
The imagination is greatly adided in the contempla¬
tion of geometrical quantity by exhibiting it in its own
form. Specific gravity, being an expreffion of denfity
(a notion purely geometrical), admits of this illudra-
tion.
Therefore let AB (fig. 2.) reprefent the bulk of any
mixture of water and alcohol. The fpecific gravity of
water may be reprefented by a line of fuch a length,
that AB fhall be the difference between the gravities of
alcohol and water. Suppofe it extended upwards, to¬
wards a, till B a is to A a as 10,000 to 8250. It will
fuit our purpofe better to reprefent it by a parallelogram
rz BF e, of any breadth BF. In this cafe the difference
of the fpecific gravities of alcohol and water will be ex-
preffed by the parallelogram ABFE. If there wrere no
change produced in the denfity of one or both ingredi¬
ents, the fpecific gravity of the compound would increafe
as this parallelogram does, and AGHE would be the
augmentation correfponding to the mixture of the quan¬
tity AG of alcohol with the quantity GB of water, and
fo of other mixtures. But, to exprefs the augmentation
of denfity as it really obtains, -we muff do it by fome
curvilineal area DABCHD, which varies at the rate
determined by Sir Charles Blagden’s experiments. This
area mufl: be precifely equal to the reftangle ABFE.
It mull therefore fall without it in fome places, and be
deficient in others. Let DMHKC be the curve which
correfponds wnth thefe experiments. It is evident to the
mathematical reader, that the ordinates LM, GH, IK,
&c. of this curve are in the ultimate ratio of the differ¬
ences of the obferved fpecific gravities. If A a, »/3, &c.
are each r= 9, the little fpaces A » S D, u &.c.
will be precifely equal to the differences of the fpecific
gravities 0.8230 5 0.8387-, 0.8516; &c. correfponding
1o the different mixtures of water and alcohol. The
curve cuts the fide of the parallelogram in K, where the
ordinate GK expreffes the mean variation of denfity
0.0017.5. IK is the fmalleft variation. The conden¬
fation may be expreffed by drawing a curve dmQfh
parallel to DMGKF, making Dr/~AE. The conden¬
fation is now reprefented by the fpaces comprehended be¬
tween this laft curve and the abfeiffa AGB, reckoning
thofe negative which He on the other fide of it. This
fhows, not only that the condenfation is greatefi: in the
^fixture AG X GB, but alfo that in mixing fuch a com¬
pound with another AI x IB, there is a rarefaftion.
Another curve ANOPB may be drawn, of which the
ordinates LN, GP, 10, &.c. are proportional to the
608 ] s P o
areas AL/xr/, AG in D, AI h G md (=AG md—Gli), Spiritneos
&c. This curve fhows the whole condenfaiion. Liquors
This manner of reprefenting the fpecific gravities of sp';,:.,
mixtures will fugged many curious inferences to fuch as <—. •
will confider them in the manner of Bofcovich, with a
view to afeertain the nature of the forces of cohefion
and chemical affinities : And this manner of viewing the
fubjeft becomes every day more promifing, in confe-
quence of our improvements in chemical knowledge ;
for we now fee, that mechanifm, or motive forces, are
the caufes of chemical aftion. We fee in almoft every
cafe, that chemical affinities are comparable with me¬
chanical preffures; becaufe the converfion of a liquid in¬
to a vapour or gas is prevented by atmofpheric pref-
fure, and produced by the great chemical agent heat.
The aftion of heat, therefore, or of the caufe of heat,
is a mechanical aftion, and the forces are common me¬
chanical forces, with which we are familiarly ac¬
quainted.
“It may be alfo remarked in the column of contrac¬
tions, that in the beginning the contraftions augment
nearly in the proportion of the quantity of fpirits (but
more (lowly) ; whereas, in the end, the contraftions are
nearly in the duplicate proportion of the quantity of
water. This circumftance deferves the confideration of
the philofopher. We have reprefented it to the eye by
the curve ugh d.”
We fhould here take fome notice of the attempt made
to elude fome part of the duties, by adding fome ingre¬
dient to the fpirits. But our information on this fubjeft
is not very exaft ; and befides it would be doing no fer-
vice to the trader to put fraud more in his power. There
are fome falls which make a very great augmentation of
denfity, but they render the liquor unpalatable. Sugar
is frequently ufed with this view ; 16 grains of refined
fugar diffolved in 1000 grains of proof fpirits gave it no
fufpicious tafte, and increafed its fpecific gravity from
0.920 to O.925, which is a very great change, equiva¬
lent to the addition of 9 grains of water to a mixture of
100 grains of alcohol and 80 of water.
SPIRLING, a fpecies of fiffi. See Salmo, Ichthy¬
ology, p. 99.
SPITHEAD, a road between Portfmouth and the
iffe of Wight, where the royal navy of Great Britain
frequently rendezvous.
SPITTLE, in P/iysio/ogi/. See Saliva.
SPITZBERGEN. See Greenland, N° io.
SPLACHNUM, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs of cryptogamia, and order of mufei. See Botany
Index.
SPLEEN. See Anatomy Index.
SPLEEN-Wort. See Asplenjum, Botany Index.
SPLENETIC, a perfon afflifted with an obftruftion
of the fpleen.
SPLENT, or Splint, among farriers, a callous in-
fenfible excrefcence, breeding on the {hank-bone of.
horfes. See Farriery.
SPLICING, in the fea-language, is the untwiffing
the ends of two cables or ropes, and working the feveral
llrands into one another by a fidd, fo that they become
as ftrong as if they were but one rope.
SPOILS, whatever is taken from the enemy in time
of war. Among the ancient Greeks, the fpoils were di¬
vided among the whole army ; only the general’s (hare
waa
Spoletto
II .
Spongia.
S P O [ C09 ] S P o
was largefi;: but among the Romans, the fpoils belong¬
ed to the republic.
SPOLETTO, a duchy of Italy, bounded on the north
by the marquifate of Ancona and duchy of Urbino, on
the eaft by Farther Abruzzo, on the fouth by Sabina
and the patrimony of St Peter, and on the welt by Or-
vieto and Perugino. It is about 55 miles in length and
40 in breadth. It was anciently a part of Umbria, and
now belongs to the pope.—The name of the capital city
is alfo Spofetto. It was formerly a large place, but in
1703 was ruined by an earthquake ; from whence it has
never recovered itielf.
SPOLIATION, in ecclefiaftical law, is an injury
done by one clerk or incumbent to another, in taking
the fruits of his benefice without any right thereunto,
but under a pretended title. It is remedied by a decree
to account for the profits fo taken. This injury, when
theyV/r patronatus, or right of advowfon, doth not come
in debate, is cognizable in the fpiritual court : as if a
patron firtl prefents A to a benefice, who is inftituted
and inducted thereto j and then, upon pretence of a va¬
cancy, the fame patron prefents B to the fame living,
and he alfo obtains inflitution and induction. Now if A
difputes the fact of the vacancy, then that clerk who is
kept out of the profits of th? living, whichever it be,
may fue the other in the fpiritual court for the fpoliation,
or taking the profits of his benefice. And it Shall there
be tried, wdiether the living were or were not vacant ;
upon which the validity of the fecond clerk’s pretenfions
mufl: depend. But if the right of patronage comes at all
into difpute, as if one patron prefented A, and another
patron prefented B, there the ecclefiaftical court hath no
cognizance, provided the tithes fued for amount to a
fourth part of the value of the living, but may be pro¬
hibited at the inrtance of the patron by the king’s writ
of indie emit. So alfo if a clerk, without any colour of
title, ejedls another from his parfonage, this injury muft:
be redreffed in the temporal courts : for it depends upon
no queftion determinable by the fpiritual law (as plura¬
lity of benefices or no plurality, vacancy or no vacancy),
but is merely a civil injury.
SPONDEE, in ancient poetry, a foot confifting of
two long fyllables, as omnes.
SPONDIAS, Brasilian or Jamaica Plum, a ge¬
nus of plants belonging to the clafs of decandria. See
Botany Index.
SPONGIA, Sponge; a genus of animals belonging
to the clafs of vermes, and order of zoophyta. It is fix¬
ed, flexible, and very torpid, growing in a variety of
forms, compofed either of reticulated fibres, or mafles of
fmall fpines interwoven together, and clothed with a liv¬
ing gelatinous fleih, full of fmall mouths or holes on its
furface, by which it fucks in and throws out the water.
Fifty fpecies have already been difeovered, of which 10
belong to the Britilh coafts. See Helminthology
Index.
So early as the days of Ariftotle fponges were fuppo-
fed to poflefs animal life ; the perlbns employed in col-
ledling them having obferved them ftirink when torn
from the rocks, thus exhibiting fymptoms ef fenfation.
The fame opinion prevailed in the time of Pliny : But
no attention was paid to this fubjeft till Count Marfigli
examined them, apd declared them vegetables. Dr Pey-
fonell, in a paper which he fent to the Royal Society in
the year 17^2, and in a fecond in 1757, affirmed they
Vol. XIX. Part II.
were not vegetables, but the produdtion of animals ; and Spcnjfta
has accordingly defciibed the animals, and the procets c
which they performed in making the fponges. Mr El-
lis, in the year 1762, was at great pains to difeover
thefe animals. For this purpofe he difledled the fpongia
urens, and was furprifed to find a great number ot fmall
worms of the genus of nereis or fea fcolopendra, which
had pierced their wray through the foft fubftance of the
fponge in queft of a fafe retreat. That this was really
the cafe, he was fully affured of, by infpedting a num¬
ber of fpecimens of the fame fort of fponge, juft frefti
from the fea. He put them into a glafs filled with fea-
water ; and then, inftead of feeing any of the little ani¬
mals which Dr Peyfonell deferibed, he oblerved the pa¬
pillae or fmall holes with which the papillae are furround-
ed contraft and dilate themfelves. He examined another
variety of the fame fpecies of fponge, and plainly percei¬
ved the fmall tubes infpire and expire the water. He
therefore concluded, that the fponge is an animal, and
that the ends or openings of the branched tubes are the
mouths by which it receives its nourifhment, and dif-
charges its excrements.
SPONSORS, among Chriftians, are thofe perfons
who, in the office of baptifm, anfwer or are fureties for
the perfons baptized.
SPONTANEOUS, a term applied to fuch motions
of the body and operations of the mind as we perform of
ourfelves without any conftraint.
SPOON-bill. See Platalea, Ornithology
Index.
SPOONING, in the fea-Ianguage, is faid of a fliip,
which being under fail in a ftorm at fea, is unable to
bear it, and confequently forced to go right before the
wind.
SPORADES, among ancient aftronomers, a name
given to fuch liars as were not included in any conftella-
tion.
SPORADIC diseases, among phyficians, are fuch
as feize particular perfons at any time or feafon, and in
any place ; in which fenfe they are diftinguifhed from
epidemical and endemical difeafes.
SPOTS, in AJlronomy, ceitain places of the fun’s or
moon’s difk, obferved to be either more bright or dark
than the reft ; and accordingly called et macula:.
See Astronomy Index.
SPOTSWOOD, John, archbifhop of St Andrew’s
in Scotland, was defeended from the lairds of Spotfwood
in the Merfe, and was born in the year 1565. He was
educated in the univerfity of Glafgow, and fucceeded his
father in the parfonage of Calder when but 18 years of
age. In 1601 he attended Lodowick duke of Lennox
as his chaplain, in an embafly to the court of France for-
confirming the ancient amity between the two nations,
and returned in the ambaffador’s retinue through Eng¬
land. When he entered into the archbifhopric of Glaf¬
gow, he found there was not look fterling of yearly re¬
venue left; yet fuch was his care for his fucceffors, that
he greatly improved it, and much to the fatisfaclion of
his diocefe. After having filled this fee 11 years, he
was raifed to that of St Andrew’s in 1615, and made
primate and metropolitan of all Scotland. He prelided
in feveral affemblies for reftoring the ancient difeipline,
and bringing the church of Scotland to fome degree of
uniformity with that of England. He continued in high
efteem with King James I. nor was he lefs valued by
4 H King
SWrtfw'CKx’
II
Spray.
S F R [ 610 ] S P R
King Charles I. tvho was crowned by him in 1633, ‘n
the abbey-church of Holyroodhoufe. In 1635, upon
the death of the earl of Kinnoul chancellor of Scotland,
our primate was advanced to that poll; but had fcarcely
held it four years, when the confufions beginning in
Scotland, he was obliged to retire into England ; and
being broken with age, grief, and ficknefs, died at Lon¬
don in 1639, and was interred in Weftminfter-abbey.
He wrote A Hiftory of the Church of Scotland from the
year 203 to the reign of King James VI. in folio.
SPOUT, or Water-SPOUT. See WATFAi-Spout.
SPOUT-FiJb. See Solen, Conchology Index.
SPRAT, Dr Thomas, billion of Rochefter, was born
in 1636. He had his education at Oxford, and after
the Reftoration entered into holy orders. He became
fellow of the Royal Society, chaplain to George duke
of Buckingham, and chaplain in ordinary to King
Charles II. In 1667 he publilhed the Hiflory of the
Royal Society, and a Life of Mr Cowley ; who, by his
laft will, left to his care his printed works and MSS.
which were accordingly publilhed by him. In 1668 he
was inftalled prebendary of Weftminller j in 1680, was
appointed canon of Wind for 3 in 1683, dean of Well-
minller ; and in 1684, confecrated to the bilhopric of
Rochelter. lie was clerk of the clofet to King Jas. II. j
in 1685, was made dean of the chapel royal 3 and the
year following, was appointed one of the commiflioners
for ecclefiaftical affairs. In 1692 his lordibip, with fe¬
deral other perfons, was charged wuth treafon by two
men, who drew up an aflfociation, in which they whofe
names were fubferibed declared their refolution to reftore
King James ; to feize the princefs of Orange, dead or
Hive •, and to be ready with 30,000 men to meet King
James when he Ihould land. To this they put the
names of Sancroft, Sprat, Marlborough, Salilbury, and
ethers. The bifliop was arrefted, and kept at a meffen-
ger’s, under a Rri<Sl guard, for eleven days. His houfe
was fcarched, and his papers feized, among which no¬
thing was found of treafonable appearance, except one
memorandum, in the following words : Thorough-paced
doBrine. Being alked at his examination the meaning
of the words, he faid that, about 20 years before, curi-
ofity had led him to hear Daniel Burgefs preach 3 and
that being ft ruck with his account of a certain kind of
rlo&rine, which he faid entered at one ear, and pacing
through the head went out at the other, he had inferted
the memorandum in his table-book, that he might not
lofe the fubftance of fo ftrange a fermon. His innocence
being proved, he was fet at liberty, when he publilhed
an account of his examination and deliverance 3 which
made fuch an impreftion upon him, that he commemo¬
rated it through life by an yearly day of thankfgiving.
He lived to the 79th year of his age, and died May 20.
1713. His works, befides a few poems of little value,
are, “ The Hiftory of the Royal Society “ The Life
of Cowley “ The Anfwer to Sorbiere “ 1 he Hi¬
ftory of the Rye-houfe Plot 5” “ The Relation of his
own Examination j” and a volume of “ Sermons.” Dr
Johnfon fays, “ I have heard it obferved with great juft-
nefs, that every book is of a different kind, and that each
has its diftirnff and charafteriftical excellence.”
Sprat. See Clupea, Ichthyology Index.
SPRAY, the fprinkling of the fea, which is driven
from the top of a wave in ftormy weather. It differs
iuim fpooa-diift, as-being only blown occafionally from
the broken furface of a high wave j whereas the latter Spray,
continues to fly horizontally along the fea, without Sp'h'g.
intermillion, during the excefs of a tempeft or hurri- v
cane.
SPRING, in Natural Ili/lory, a fountain or fource
of water rifing out of the ground.
Many have been the conjedlures of philofophers con¬
cerning the origin of fountains, and great pains have
been taken both by the members of the Royal Society
and thofe of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, in or¬
der to afeertain the true caufe of it. It was Arillotle’s
opinion, and held by rnoft of the ancient philofophers
after him, that the air contained in the caverns of the
earth, being condenfed by cold near its furface, rvas
thereby changed into -water ; and that it made its way '
through, rvhere it could find a paffage. But we have
no expeiience of any fuch tranfmutation of air into wa¬
ter.
Thofe who imagine that fountains owe their origin
to waters brought from the fea by fubterraneous dufts,
give a tolerable account how they lofe their faltnefs
by percolation as they pafs through the earth : but they
find great difficulty in explaining by what power the
w'ater rifes above the level of the fea to near the tops
of mountains, where fprings generally abound •, it be¬
ing contrary to the laws of hydroftatics, that a fluid
fhould rife in a tube above the level of its fource. How¬
ever, they have found two ways whereby they endea¬
vour to extricate themfelves from this difficulty. The
one is that of Des Cartes, who imagines, that after
the water is become frefli by percolation, it is raifed
out of the caverns of the earth in vapour towards its
furface ; where meeting with rocks near the tops of
mountains in the form of arches or vaults, it flicks to
them, and runs down their fides, (like water in an
alembic), till it meets with proper receptacles, from
which it fupplies the fountains. Now this is a mere
hypothefis, without foundation or probability : for, in
the firft place, w'e know of no internal heat of the earth
to caufe fuch evaporation ; or if that were allowed, yet
it is quite incredible that there ffiould be any caverns fo
fmooth and void of protuberances as to anfwer the ends
of an alembic, in collefting and condenfing the vapours
together in every place where fountains arife. There
are others (as Varenius, &c.) who fuppofe that the wa¬
ter may rife through the pores of the earth, as through
capillary tubes by attraftion. But hereby they {how,
that they are quite unacquainted with wffiat relates to
the motion of a fluid through luch tubes : for when a
capillary tube opens into a cavity at its upper end, or
grows larger and larger, fo as to ceafe to be capillary
at that end, the w’ater will not afeend through that tube
into the cavity, or beyond where the tube is capillary 3
becaufe that part of the periphery of the cavity, which
is partly above the furface of the w-ater and partly be¬
low' it, is not of the capillary kind. Nay, if the ca¬
vity is continually lupplied with water, it will be at-
tra<fted into the capillary tube, and run down it as
through a funnel, if the lower end is immerged in the
fame fluid, as in this cafe it is fuppofed to be.
It has been a generally received opinion, and much
efpoufed by Mariotte (a diligent obferver of nature),
that the rife of fprings is owing to the rains and melted
fnow\ According to him, the rain-water which falls
up®n the hills and mountains, penetrating the furface,
meets
S P R [ <31
meets with clay or rocks contiguous to each other;
along which it runs, without being able to penetrate
them, till, being got to the bottom of the mountain, or
to a confiderablc difiance from the top, it breaks out of
the ground, and forms fprings.
In order to examine this opinion, Mr Perrault, De
la Hire, and I>. Sideleau, endeavoured to make an
eftimate of the quantity of rain and fnow that falls in
the fpace of a year, to fee whether it would be fuffici-
ent to afford a quantity of water equal to that which is
annually difcharged into the fea by the rivers. The re-
fult of their inquiries was, that the quantity of rain and
fnow which fell in a year into a cylindrical veffel would
fill it (if fecured from evaporating) to the height of
'about nineteen inches. Which quantity D. Sideleau
fhowed, wras not fuflicient to fupply the rivers $ for that
thofe of England, Ireland, and Spain, difcharge a great¬
er quantity of water annually, than the rain, according
to that experiment, is able to fupply. Befides which,
another obfervation was made by them at the fame time,
viz. that the quantity of water raifed in vapour, one
year with another, amounted to about thirty-two inches,
which is thirteen more than falls in rain : a plain indi¬
cation that the water of fountains is not fupplied by rain
and melted fnow.
Thus the true caufe of the origin of fountains re¬
mained undifcovered, till Dr Halley, in making his ce-
lefiial obfervations upon the tops of the mountains at
St Helena, about 800 yards above the level of the fea,
found, that the quantity of vapour which fell there (even
when the fky was clear) was fo great, that it very much
impeded his obfervations, by covering his glaffes with
water every half quarter of an hour } and upon that he
attempted to determine by experiment the quantity of
vapour exhaled from the furface of the fea, as far as it
rifes from heat, in order to try whether that might be
a fufficient fupply for the water continually difcharged
by fountains. The prooefs of his experiment was as
follows: He took a veffel of water faked to the fame
degree with that of fea water, in which he placed a ther¬
mometer y and by means of a pan of coals brought the
water to the fame degree of heat, which is obferved to
be that of the air in our hotteft fummer; this done, he
fixed the veffel of water with the thermometer in it to
one end of a pair of feales, and exa&ly counterpoifed it
with weights on the other: then, at the end of twro
hours, he found, by the alteration made in the weight
of the veffel, that about a fixtieth part of an inch of
the depth of the water was gone off in vapour j and
therefore, in twelve hours, one tenth of an inch would
have gone off. Now this accurate obferver allows the
Mediterranean fea to be forty degrees long; and four
broad, (the broader parts compenfating for the narrow¬
er, fo that its whole furface is 160 fquare degrees) j
which, according to the experiment, muft yield at leaft
5,280,000,000 tons of water: In which account no re¬
gard is had to the wind and the agitation of the furface
of the fea, both which undoubtedly promote the evapo¬
ration.
It remained now to compare this quantity of water
with that which is daily conveyed into the fame fea by
the rivers. The only way to do which was to compare
th em with fome known river ; and accordingly he takes
his computation from the river Thames j and, to avoid
1 ] s P R
ail obje&ions, makes allowances, probably greater thali ( Spurg.
what were abfolutely neceffary.
The Mediterranean receives the following conlider-
able rivers, viz. the Iberus, the Rhone, the lyber, the
Po, the Danube, the Niefter, the Boryfihenos, the Ta-
nais, and the Nile. Each of thefe he fuppofes to bring
down ten times as much water as the Thames, whereby
he allows for fmaller rivers which fall into the fame lea.
The Thames, then, he finds by mealuration to difcharge
about 20,300,000 tons of water a-day. It therefore
the above-faid nine rivers yield ten times as much water
as the Thames doth, it will follow, that all of them to¬
gether yield but 1827 millions of tons in a day, which
is but little more than one-third of what is proved to be
raifed in vapour out of the Mediterranean in the fame
time. We have therefore from hence a fource abun¬
dantly fufficient for the fupply of fountains.
Now having found that the vapour exhaled from,
the fea is a fufficient fupply for the fountains, he pro¬
ceeds in the next place to conlider the manner in which
they are raifed } and how they are condenied into w7ater
again, and conveyed to the fources of fprings.
In order to this he confiders, that if an atom o!
water was expanded into a fiiell or bubble, io as to be
ten times as big in diameter as when it was water, that
atom would become fpecifically lighter than air, and
therefore would rife fo long as the warmth which firit
feparated it from the furface of the wrater ffiould conti¬
nue to diftend it to the fame degree 5 and confequently,
that vapours may be raifed from the furface of the iea
in that manner, till they arrive at a certain height in the
atmofphere, at which they find air of equal fpecific gra¬
vity with themfelves. Here they will float till, being
condenfed by cold, they become fpecifically heavier thau
the air, and fall down in dew; or being driven by the
winds againft the fides of mountains (many of which
far furpafs the ufual height to wffiich the vapours would
of themfelves afeend), are compelled by the ftream of
the air to mount up with it to the tops of them 5 where
being condenfed into water, they prefently precipitate,
and gleeting down by the crannies of the flones, part
of them enters into the caverns of the hills •, which be¬
ing once filled, all the overplus of water that comes thh
ther runs over by the loweft place, and breaking out by
the fides of the hills forms Angle fprings. Many of thefe
running down by the valleys between the ridges of the
hills, and coming to unite, form little rivulets or brooks:
many of thefe again meeting in one common valley, and,
gaining the plain ground, being grown lefs rapid, be¬
come a river •, and many of thefe being united in one
common channel, make fuch ftreams as the Rhine and
the Danube j which latter, he obferves, one would
hardly think to be a colleftion of w7ater condenfed out
of vapour, unlefs we confider how vaft a traft of ground
that river drains, and that it is the fum of all thofe fprings
which break out on the fouth fide of the Carpathian
mountains, and on the north fide of the immenfe ridge
of the Alps, which is one continued chain of mountains
from Switzerland to the Black fea.
Thus one part of the vapours which are blown on
the land is returned by the rivers into the fea from
whence it came. Another part falls into the fea before
it reaches the land j and this is the reafon why the ri¬
vers do not return fo much water into the Mediterra*-
4 H 2 nean
S P R [6
nean as is raifed in vapour. A third part falls on the
low lands, where it affords nouriihment to plants j yet
it does not reft there, but is again exhaled in vapour by
the aftion of the fun, and is either carried by the winds
to the fea to fall in rain or dew there, or elfe to the
mountains to become the fources of fprings.
However, it is not to be fuppofed that all fountains
are owing to one and the fame caufe 5 but that fome
proceed from rain and melted fnow, which, fubliding
through the furface of the earth, makes its way into cer¬
tain cavities, and thence iffues ©ut in the form of fprings j
becaufe the waters of feveral are found to increal’e and
diminifti in proportion to the rain which falls : that
others again, efpecially fuch as are fait, and fpring near
the fea-lhore, owe their origin to fea-w'ater percolated
through the earth; and fome to both thefe caufes:
though w’ithout doubt moft of them, and efpecially fuch
as fpring near the tops of high mountains, receive their
waters from vapours, as before explained.
i.his reafoning of Hr Halley’s is confirmed by more
recent obfervations and difcoveries. It is now found,
that though water is a tolerable conductor of the eleftric
fluid, dry earth is an eleftric perfe, confequently the
dry land muft always be in an electrified ftate compared
with the ocean, unlefs in fuch particular cafes as are
mentioned under the article Earthquake, N° 82. It
is alfo well known, that fuch bodies a& are in an electri¬
fied ftate, whether plus or minus, wull attraft vapour,
or other light fubftances that come near them. Hence
the vapours that are railed from the ccean muft neceffa-
rily have a tendency to approach the land in great quan¬
tity, even without the afiiftance of the wind, though
this laft muft undoubtedly contribute greatly towards the
fame purpofe, as Dr Halley juflly obferves. In like
manner, the higher grounds are always in a more elec¬
trified ftate than the loAver ones: and hence the vapours
having once left the ocean and approached the ftiore,
are attracted by the high mountains; of which Mr Pen¬
nant gives an inftance in Snowdon. Hence we may fee
the reafon why fprings are fo common in the neighbour¬
hood of mountains, they being fo advantageoufly formed
in every refpeCt for collecting and condenfing the va¬
pours into wrater.
The heat of fprings is genera.lly the fame with the
mean temperature of the atmofphere. The mean tem¬
perature of the fouth of England is 48° 3 in Scotland,
near Edinburgh, it is 450 3 in the north of Ireland it is
48°, and on the fouth coaft about 510. At Upfal, in
Sweden, it is 430, and in Paris 530. According to ac¬
curate experiments made by eminent philofophers, the
heat of the fprings in thefe different countries corre-
fponds with the medium temperature. We have not
heard that fimilar experiments have been made in other
countries, or wre fliould have been careful to colleCl
them. We do not, however, doubt but they have been
made in moft countries of Europe 3 yet vj.e fufpeCt little
attention has been paid to this fubjeCt within the tropical
regions.
Though this coincidence of the heat of fprings with
the mean temperature of the climate where they flow,
feems to be a general fad, yet it admits of many excep¬
tions. In many parts of the world there are fprings
which not only exceed the mean temperature, but even
the firongeft meridian heat ever known in the torrid re¬
gions. The following table will give a diftinCt notion
12] S p R
oi the degrees of heat which different fprings have been Sp
found to poflels, according to the experiments of philo-' 
fophers. It is neceffary to remark, that experiments
made upon the fame fprings, made by different perfbns,
vary a little from one another, which may be owing to
many accidents eafily accounted for. Where this is the
cafe, we (hall mention both the lowed and higheft de¬
gree of heat which has been aferibed to the fame fpring,
according to Fahrenheit’s thermometer.
Places. Springs. Higheft de- Loweft de¬
gree of heat, gree of heat.
Brifto!, St Vincent’s or
the hot well, 84
Buxton, Gentleman’s bath, 82
Matlock, 69
Bath, King’s bath, up
Aix-la-Cbapelle, 146
Barege, 122
Bifa, i0^
Caroline baths in Prudel or furi-
Bohemia, ous, 165
Iceland, Geyztr, 212
76
Ir3
136
In cold countries, where congelation takes place, the
heat of the earth is confiderably above the freezing point,
and continues fo through the whole year. From expeir-
ments that have been made in mines and deep pits, it
appears that this heat is uniform and ftationary at a cer¬
tain depth. But as tne heat of thefe fprings far exceeds
the common heat of the internal parts of the earth, it
muft be occafioned by caufes peculiar to certain places 3
but what thefe caufes are it is no eafy matter to deter¬
mine. We are certain, indeed, that hot fprings receive
their heat from fome fubterranean caufe 3 but it is a mat¬
ter of difficulty to invefligate how this heat is produced
and preserved. Theories, however, have been formed
on this fubject. The fubterranean heat has been aferibed
to the electrical fluid, and to a great body of fire in the
centre of the earth : But we fufpefl that the nature of
the electrical fluid and its effects are not fufficiently uiw
derftood. As to the fuppofition that the heat of fprings
is owing to a central fire, it is too hypothetical to re¬
quire any refutation. From what then does this heat
originate, and whence is the fuel which has produced it
for fo many ages ? To enable us to anfwer thefe quef-
tions with precifion, more information is neceffary than
we have hitherto obtained refpedling the ftrufture of the
internal parts of the earth. It is peculiarly requifite
that we ihouid be made acquainted with the foffils which
are moil common in thole places where hot fprings a-
bound. We fhould then perhaps difeover that hot
fprings always pafs through bodies of a combuftible na¬
ture. It is well known to chemifts, that when water is
mixed with the vitriolic acid, a degree of heat is produ¬
ced fuperior to that of boiling water. It is alfo an efta-
blilhed fa£t, that when water meets with pyrites, that is,
a mixture of fulphur and iron, a violent inflammation
takes place. If, therefore, we could prove that thefe
materials exift in the ftrata from which hot fprings are
derived, we fhould be enabled to give a fatisfaclory ac¬
count of this curious phenomenon. As fome apology
for this fuppofiticn, we may add, that moft of the hot
fprings mentioned above have been found by analyfis to
be impregnated with fulphur, and fome of them with
Gray's Let
ters from
Germa ny
and Snvit-
%erland.
S P R [ 61
iron. It muft, however, be 1 acknowledged, that the
hot fprings of Iceland, which are 212°, the heat of boil¬
ing water, according to an accurate analylis of their
contents by the ingenious Dr Black, were neither found
-to contain iron nor fulphur. It will therefore, perhaps,
be neceffary that we fhould wait with patience, and con¬
tinue to colleft faffs, till the fciences of chemiftry and
mineralogy (hall be fo far advanced as to enable us to
form a permanent theory on this fubjeff.
Springs are of different kinds. Some are perennial,
or continue to flow during the whole year ; others flow
only during the rainy feafon •, fome ebb and flown At
Torbay there is one of this kind, which ebbs and flow's
five or fix inches every hour. There is another near Co-
rifo in Italy, which ebbed and flowed three times a-day
in the time of Pliny, and continues to do fo Hill. A
fpring near Henly fometimes flows for two years toge¬
ther, and then dries up for an equal period. For the
ingredients found in fprings, fee MINERAL-lVaters.
Spring, in Mechanics, denotes a thin piece of tem¬
pered fteel, or other elaftic fubftance, which being
tvound up ferves to put machines in motion by its elafti-
city, or endeavours to unbend itfelf j fuch is the fpring
of a w’atch, clock, or the like.
Spring, Ver, in cofmography, denotes one of the
feafons of the year •, commencing, in the northern parts
of the world, on the day the fun enters the firft degree
of Aries, which is about the 10th day of March, and
ending when the fun leaves Gemini ; or, more ftriftly
and generally, the fpring begins on the day when the
diftance of the fun’s meridian altitude from the zenith,
being on the increafe, is at a medium between the great-
efl and leaft. The end of the fpring coincides with the
beginning of fummer. See Summer.
Elater SPRING, in Physics, denotes a natural faculty
or endeavour of certain bodies, to return to their firfl:
flate, after having been violently put out of it by com-
prefling, or bonding them. This faculty is, by philo-
fophers, ufually denominated elajlic force, or elajlicity.
SPRING-Tidc. See ASTRONOMY Index, and Tide.
Burning SPRINGS, See B U R NING - Springs.
Springer, or SrRiNG-Bok. See Capra, Mamma¬
lia Index.
SPRIT, a fmall boom or pole which croffes the fail
of a boat diagonally, from the mail: to the upper hind-
moft corner of the fail, which it is ufed to extend and
elevate ) the low'er end of the fprit refis in a fort of
wreath or collar called the /matter, which encircles the
maft in that place.
SPRITSAIL. See Sail and Ship.
SpritsAlL-Top/ail. See Sail and Ship.
SPRUCF.-tree. See Pinus, Botany Index.
SPRUCE-Beer, a cheap and wholefome liquor, wdiich
is thus made : Take of water 16 gallons, and boil the
half of it. Put the w'ater thus boiled, while in full heat,
to the veferved cold part, which fhould be previoufly put
into a barrel or other veffel} then add 16 pounds of
treacle or molaffes, w'ith a few table fooonfuis of the
effence of fpruce, ftirring the whole w'ell together •, add
half a pint of yeafl, and keep it in a temperate fitua-
tion, with the bung hole open, for tw'o days, till tbe
fermentation be abated. Then clofe it up or bottle it
oft', and it will be fit for being drunk in a few days af¬
terward'. In North America, and perhaps in other
3 1 S Q U
countries, wdiere the black and white fpruce-firs abound, Spruce-
inftead of adding the effence of the fpruce at the fame
time w'ith the molaffes, they make a decoction of Sc[u^re.
the leaves and fmall branches of thefe trees, and find
the liquor equally good. It is a powerful anti-
fcorbutic, and may prove very ufeful in long fea voy¬
ages.
SPUNGE, or Sponge. See Spongia.
SPUNGING, in Gunnery, the cleaning of the infidc
of a gun with a fpunge, in order to prevent any fparks
of fire from remaining in it, which would endanger the
life of him that fhould load it again.
SPUN-yarn, among Tailors, is a kind of line made,
from rope yarn, and ufed for feizing or faftening things
together.
SPUNK. See Boletus, Botany Index.
SPUR, a piece of metal confiiting of two branches
encompafling a horfeman’s heel, and a rowel in form
of a flar, advancing out behind to prick the horfe.
SPUR-Wmged Water-Hen. See Parra, Ornitho¬
logy Index.
SPURGE. See Euphorbia, 1
Spurge-Laurel. See Daphne, n Botany Index.
SPURREY. See Sfergula, J
SPY, a perfon hired to vratch the aft ions, motions,
&c. of another j particularly what paffes in a camp.
When a fpy is difeovered, he is hanged immediately.
SQUADRON, in military affairs, denotes a body of
horfe whofe number of men is not fixed ; but is ufually
from ioo to 200.
SQUADRON of Ships, either implies a detachment of
fhips employed on any particular expedition, or the third
part of a naval armament.
SQUADS, in a military fenfe, are certain divifions
of a company into fo many fquads, generally into three
or four. The ufe of forming companies into as many
fquads of infpeftion as it has ferjeants and corporals, is
proved by thofe regiments who have praftifed that me¬
thod ; as by it the irregularity of the foldiers is confider-
ahly reftrained, their drefs improved, and the difeipline
of the regiment in general moft remarkably forwarded.
Every officer ftiould have a roll of his company by
fquads.
SQUALL, a fudden and violent blafl; of wind, ufu¬
ally occafioned by the interruption and reverberation of
the wind from high mountains. Thefe are very frequent"
in the Mediterranean, particularly that part of it which
is known by the name of the Levant, as produced by
the repulfion and new direftion which the wind meets
with in its paffage between the various iflands of the
Archipelago.
SQUALUS, the Shark •, a genus of fifties arranged
by Linnaeus under the clafs of amphibia, and the order
of nantes, but by Gmelin referred to the clafs of pifees,
and order of chondropteryii. See Ichthyology Index.
SQUAMARIA. See Latktjea, Botany Index.
SQUAMOUS, in Anatomy, a name given to the
fpurious or falfe futures of the Ikull, becaufe compofed of
fquamap or fcales like thofe of fifties.
SQUARE, in Geometry, a quadrilateral figure both
equilateral and equiangular. See Geometry.
Squap. E-Root. See Algebra and Arithmetic,
N° 33. and 34. '
Ho!low SQUARE, in the military art, a body of foot
drawn
S Q u [ 614. ] ^ Q U
' Square, drawn up with an empty fpace in the middle, for the co-
1 Squaring. ]oun!} drums, and baggage, faced and covered by the
pikes every way to keep off the horfe.
SQUARE, among Mechanics, an inftrument confiding
of two rules or branches, faftened perpendicularly at one
end of their extremities, fo as to form a right angle. It
is of great ufe in the defeription and menfuration of
right angles, and laying down perpendiculars.
T SQUARE, or Tee Square, an inftrument ufed in
drawing, lb called from its refemblance to the capital
letter T.
SQUARE-Rigged, an epithet applied to a fliip whofe
yards aie very long. It is alfo ufed in contradiftinc-
tion to all veffels whofe fails are extended by days or
lateen-yards, or by booms and gaffs; the ufual fixa¬
tion of which is nearly in the plane of the keel 5 and
hence,
SQUARE-Sail, is a fail extended to a yard which
liangs parallel to the horizon, as diftinguilhed from the
other fails which are extended by booms and days placed
obliquely. This fail is only ufed in fair winds, or to feud
under in a temped. In the former cafe, it is furnilhed
with a large additional part called the bonnet, which is
then attached to its bottom, and removed when it is ne-
ceffary to scud. See Scudding.
SQUARING, or Quadrature of the Circle, fig-
nifies the finding a fquare exactly equal to the area of a
given circle. This problem however has not been, and
probably cannot b£, driftly refolved by the commonly
admitted principles of geometry j mathematicians having
hitherto been unable to do more than to find a fquare
that drall differ from the area of any propofed circle by
as fmall a quantity as they pleafe. The quadrature of
the circle is a problem of the fame degree of difficulty,
and indeed may be regarded as identical with another
geometrical problem, namely, the ReBif cation of the
circle, or the finding a draight line equal to its circum¬
ference j for the area of a circle is equal to that of a
re&angle contained by the radius and a ftraight line
equal to half the circumference (Geometry, Seft. VI.
Prop. 3.) : therefore, if a draight line exaftly equal to
the circumference could be found, a reftilineal fpace
precifely equal to the area might alfo be found, and the
contrary. But although no perfe&ly accurate refolu-
tion of the problem has been obtained under either form,
we can always find approximate values of the area and
circumference 5 and therefore it is now cudomary to
apply the terms quadrature and reBif cation of the circle
alfo to thefe.
The problem of the quadrature of the circle appears
to have engaged the attention of geometers at a very
early period; for we are told that Anaxagoras, who
lived about 500 years before Chrid, attempted its folu-
tion while confined in prifon on account of his philo-
lophical opinions. We are ignorant of the refult of
his refearches j but although we cannot fuppofe they
were attended with any fuccefs, we may reafonably con¬
clude that we are indebted to them for the difeovery of
fome of the properties of the figure, which are now
known as elementary propofitions in geometry.
Hippocrates of Chios was likewife engaged in trying
to refolve the fame problem, and it was no doubt in the
courfe of his inquiries into this fubjeft that he difeovered
the quadrature of the curvilineal fpace, which is now
known by the name of the Lune of Hippocrates. The
I
nature of this difeovery may be briefly explained as Squaring,
follows. Let ABCD be a circle (Plate D. fig. 1.),
H its centre, AC its diameter, ADC a triangle q"
inferibed in the femicircle, having its fides AD, DC rig, t.
equal to one another. On D as a centre, with DA or
DC as a radius, let the quadrantal arch AEC be de-
feribed, then (hall the curvilineal fpace bounded by the
femicircle ABC and the quadrantal arch AEC (which
is the Lune of Hippocrates) be equal to the rectilineal
triangle ADC. For becaufe circles are to one another
as the fquares of the radii (Geometry, Seft. VI. Prop,
4.) ; the circle having DA for its radius will be to the
circle having HA for its radius as the fquare of DA
to the fquare of HA, that is, as 2 to 1 ; hence the for¬
mer of thefe circles will be double the latter, and con-
fequently one fourth of the former will be equal to one
half of the latter 5 that is, the quadrant AECD will be
equal to the femicircle ABC ; from thefe equals take
away the common fpace bounded by the diameter A C
and the arch AEC, and there will remain the triangle
ADC equal to the lunular fpace AECBA.
Although Hippocrates’s difeovery has led to no im¬
portant conclufion either relating to the quadrature of
the circle or that of any other curve, yet at the time it
was made it might be regarded as of fome confequence,
chiefly becaufe it ffiewed the poffibility of exhibiting a
reftilineal figure equal to a fpace bounded by curve
lines, a thing which we have reafon to fuppofe was then
done for the firfi: time, and might have been fairly
doubted, confidering the infuperable difficulty that was
found to attend the quadrature of the circle or its recti¬
fication.
Ariftotle fpeaks of two perfons, viz. Bryfon and An¬
tiphon, wffio about his time, or a little earlier, were oc¬
cupied with the quadrature of the circle. The former
appears, according to the teftimony of Alexander Apro-
difeus, to have erred molt egregioufly •, he having con¬
cluded that the circumference was exaCtly 3^ times the
diameter. And the latter feems to have proceeded
pretty much in the fame manner as Archimedes after¬
wards did in fquaring the parabola, that is, by firft in-
feribing a fquare in the circle, then an ifofceles triangle
in each of the fegments of the curve, having for its bafe
a fide of the fquare ; and next again a feries of triangles
in the fegments, having for their bafes the fides of the
former feries, and fo on : this mode of procedure how¬
ever, could not be attended with any fuccefs, as it is
well known that the fpaccs thus formed do not, as in
the cafe of the parabola, admit of being abfolutely
fummed.
It may naturally be fuppofed that Archimedes exerted
his utmoft efforts to refolve this problem ; and probably
it was only after long meditation on the fubjed that he
loft all hopes of fuccefs, and contented himfelf with that
approximation to the ratio of the diameter to the cir¬
cumference which is contained in his treatife De Circuit
Dimenfone, which has been preferved from the period in
which he wrote, about 250 years before Chvift, to the
prefent times. He found his approximation to the ratio,
by fuppofing a regular polygon of 96 fides to be de-
feribed about the circle, and another of the fame num¬
ber of fides to be inferibed in it, and by fhewing that
the perimeter of the circumfcribing polygon was lefs
than 3t-£, or 3-7 times the diameter, but that the peri¬
meter of the iuferibed figure was greater than 34t times
'
:
■
_
-
'
*
it ■ m II *
. . fyjk .■ tt '■ I
-
*
■; • . m l
S Q U [ 61
Squaring, tie diameter now the circumference of the circle being
‘““'"V—— 1 *fs than the perimeter of the one polygon but greater
than that of the other, it follovvs that the circumference
muft be lefs than 3^ times the diameter, but greater
than 34? times ; fo that, taking the firft of thefe limits
as being expreiled by the fmalleit numbers, the circum¬
ference will be to the diameter as 3-^ to 1, or as 22 to
7 nearly.
Although the approximate ratio inveftigated by Ar¬
chimedes be the oldett known to have been found in the
iveftern world, yet one more accurate feems to have
been known at a much earlier period in India. This
we learn from the Injlitutes of Ahbar Ay ecu Akberry')
where it is faid that the Hindoos fuppofe the diameter
of a circle to be to its circumference as 1250 to 3927.
Now this ratio, which is the fame as that of x to 3.1416,
when found in the fimplell and moft elementary man¬
ner muft have required the infeription of a polygon of
768 frdes in the circle, and muft have been attended
with nine extractions of the fquare root, each carried as
far as ten places of figures.
We learn from Simplicius that Nicomedes and Apol¬
lonius both attempted to fquare the circle, the former
by means of a curve which he called the ^uadratnx ;
the invention of which, however, is aferibed to Dino-
flratus, and the latter alfo by the help of a curve deno¬
minated the filler to the tortuous line or fpiral, and
which was probably no other than the quadratrix of
Dinoftratus ; the nature of which, and the manner of
its application to the fubjeCl in queition, we ftrall briefly
explain.
Fig. 2. Let AFB be a quadrant of a circle (fig. 2.) and C
its centre ; and conceive the radius CF to revolve uni¬
formly about C from the pofition CA until at laft it
coincide with CB ; while at the fame time a line DG
is carried with an uniform motion from A towards CB;
the former line continuing always parallel to the latter,
until at laft they coincide ; both motions being fuppofed
to begin and end at the fame inftant. Then the point
E in which the revolving radius CF and the moveable
line DG interfeft one another will generate a certain
curve line AEH, which is the dfuadratrix of Dino¬
ftratus.
Draw EK,FL both perpendicular to CB ; then be-
caufe the radius AC and the quadrantal arch AFB are
uniformly generated in the fame time by the points D
and F, the contemporaneous fpaces deferibed will have
to one another the fame ratio as the whole fpaces; that
is, AD : AF : : AC : AB ; hence we have AC : AB : :
DC, or EK : FB. Now as the moveable point F ap¬
proaches to B, the ratio of the ftraight line EK to the
arch FB will approach to, and will manifeftly be ulti¬
mately the fame as the ratio of the ftraight line EK to
the ftraight line FL, which again is equal to the ratio
of CE to CF ; therefore the ratio of the radius AC to
the quadrantal arch AFB is the limit of the ratio of
CE to CF, and confequently equal to the ratio of CH
to CB, H being the point in which the quadratrix meets
CB. Since therefore CH : CB : : CA or CB : quad,
arch AFB, if by any means we could determine the
point H, we might then find a ftraight line equal to the
quadrantal arch, (by finding a third proportional to CH'
and CB) and confequently a ftraight line equal to the
circumference. The point H, however, cannot be de¬
termined by a geometrical conftru&ion, and therefore
5 ] s q u
all the ingenuity evinced by the perfon who firft; thought Squaring,
of this method of rectifying the circle (which certainly v——
is confiderable) has been unavailing.
The Arabs, who fucceeded the Greeks in the cultiva¬
tion of the fciences, would no doubt have their pretend¬
ed fquarers of the circle. We however know nothing
more than that fome one of them believed he had difeo-
vered that the diameter being unity, the circumference
was the fquare root of 10 ; a very grofs miftake ; for the
fquare root of 10 exceeds 3.162 ; but Archimedes
had demonftrated that the circumference was lefs than
It appears that, even during the dark ages, fome at¬
tempts were made at the refolution of this famous pro¬
blem, which however have always remained in manu-
feripts buried in the duft of old libraries. But upon the
revival of learning the problem was again agitated by
different writers, and particularly by the celebrated Car¬
dinal De Cufa, who diftinguiftied himfelf by his unfor¬
tunate attempt to refolve it. His mode of inveftigation,.
which had no folid foundation in geometry, led him to
conclude, that if a line equal to the fum of the radius of
a circle and the fide of its inferibed fquare were made
the diameter of another circle, and an equilateral trian¬
gle were inferibed in this laft, the perimeter of this tri¬
angle would be equal to the circumference of the other
circle. This pretended quadrature of the cardinal’s was
refuted by Regiomontanus; and indeed the talk was not
difficult; for, according to his conftrudHon, the diame¬
ter being 1, the circurufereuce was greater than 3^; a
conclufion which mull be abfurd, feeing that Archime¬
des had demonftrated that it mult be lefs than that num¬
ber.
It would be trefpaffing too much upon the pat^nce of
our readers, were we to mention all the abfurd and er¬
roneous attempts which have been pnade during the laft
three centuries to fquare the circle. In a fupplement to
Montucla’s excellent work, Hifoire des Mathematiques,
we find upwards of forty pretenders to the honour of this
difeovery enumerated. Thefe were almoft all very ig¬
norant of geometry; and many of them were wild vi-
fionaries, pretending to difeover inexplicable relations
between the plain truths of mathematics and the moll
myfterious doftrines of religion. If thofe who have
fought the quadrature of the circle had been previoufty
initiated in the dodlrines of geometry, although they
miffed attaining the objeft they had in view, yet they
could not have failed to have extended the boundaries
of the fcience by the difeovery of many new propofitions..
From fueh perfons, however, as have generally purfued
this inquiry, no improvement whatever ol the fcience was-*
to be expedted ; although, , indeed, in fome inftances, it
has derived advantage from the labours of fuch as have
undertaken to expofe the abfurdity of their conclufions;
as in the cafe of Metius, who in refuting the quadrature
of one Simon a ^ncrcuj found a much nearer approxi¬
mation to the ratio of the diameter to the circumference
than had been previoully known, at leaft in Europe, viz.
that of 113 to 355, which reduced to decimals is the
fame as the ratio.of 1 to 3.1415929, differing from the
truth only in the feventh place of decimal^.
Among the moll remarkable of thofe who have re¬
corded their own folly by publilhing erroneous refolu-
tions of the problem, we may reckon the celebrated Jo-
feph- Scaliger. Full of feif-cenceit, he believed that, en-
s q u [6
Squaring, tering upon the ftudy of geometry, he could not fail to
v furmount by the force of his genius thofe obftacles which
had completely ftopt the progrefs of all preceding inqui¬
rers. He gave the reiult of his meditations to the world
in 1592, under the title Nova Cyclometria ; but he was
refuted by Clavius, by Vieta, and others, who lire wed
that the magnitude he had affigned to the circumference
was a little lefs than the perimeter of the infcribed poly¬
gon of 192 fides, which proved beyond a doubt that he
was wrong. Scaliger, however, was not to be convinced
of the abfurdity of his conclufion ; and indeed, in almoft
every inftancc, pretenders to this difcovery have not
been more remarkable for their folly in committing ab-
iurd blunders, than for their obflinacy in maintaining
that they were in the right, and all who held a contrary
opinion in an error.
The famous Hobbes came alfo upon the field about the
year 1650, with pretenfions not only to the quadrature
of the circle, but alio to the trifeftion of an angle, the
verification of the parabola, &c.; but his pretended fo-
iutions were refuted by Dr Wallis. And this circum-
flance afforded him occafion to write not only againfl
geometers, but even again!! the fcience of geometry it-
felf.
We find it recorded by Montucla, as a fort of phe¬
nomenon, that one Richard White, an Englilh Jefuit,
having happened upon what he conceived to be a qua¬
drature of the circle, which he publifhed under the title,
Chryfaefpis feu. ^uadratura Circuit, fuffered himfelf at
lafl to be convinced by fome of his friends that he was
wrong both in his quadrature of the circle, and in his
reftification of the fpiral. But a folution of the fame
problem found out by one Mathulen of Lyons, did not
produce in the end fo much advantage to its author.
This man in 1728 announced to the learned world that
he had difcovered both the quadrature of the circle and
a perpetual motion ; and he was fo certain of the truth
of thefe difcoveries, that he configned 100c ect/s (about
125k) to be paid to any one who thould demonftrate
that he was deceived in either. The talk was not dif¬
ficult. Nicole of the Academy of Sciences demon-
flrated that he was wrong, and he himfelf allowed it 5
but he hefitated to pay the money, which Nicole had re-
linquilhed in favour of the Hotel Dieu of Lyons. The
allair went before a court of jullice, which adjudged the
money to be paid, as Nicole had deflined it, to the poor.
At a later period, viz. in 1753, the Chevalier de Cau-
fans, a Irench officer, and a man who was never ex¬
pelled to be a mathematician, fuddenly found a qua¬
drature of the circle in procuring a circular piece of
turf to be cut ; and rifing from one truth to another,
he explained by his quadrature the doflrine of original
fin, and the Trinity. He engaged himfelf by a public
writing to depofit with a notary the fum of 300,000
francs, to be wagered againfl fuch as ffiould oppofe him,
and he a&ually lodged x 0,000, which were to devolve
to him who fhould demonfhate his error. This was
eafily done, as it refulted from his difcovery that a circle
was equal to its circumfcribing fquare, that is, a part to
the whole ! Some perfons came forward to anfwer his
challenge, and in particular a young lady fued him at
one of the courts of law j but the French king judged
that the Chevalier’s fortune ought not to fuffer on ac¬
count of his whim •, for, fetting afide this piece of folly,
in every other refpeft he was a worthy man. The pro-
2
i
(5 ] S Q U
cedure was therelote ftopt, and the wager declared
void.
We fhall not enter farther into the hiflory of thefe
vain and abfurd attempts to refolve this important pro¬
blem, but proceed to flate what has aftually been done
by men of found minds and real mathematical acquire¬
ments towards its folution. And in the firft place it
may be obferved that the problem admits of being pro-
polcd under two different forms : for it may be required
to find either the area of the whole circle, or, which is
the fame thing, the length of the wdrole circumference 5
or elfe to find the area of any propofed fea0r or feg-
ment, or, which is equivalent, the length of the arch
of the feftor or fegment. The former is termed the
definite and the latter the indefinite quadrature of the
circle. The latter evidently is more general than the
former, and includes it as a particular cafe. Now if
we could find by any means a finite algebraic equation
that fhouH exprefs the relation between any propofed
arch of a circle, and fome known firaight line, or lines,
the magnitude of one or more of which depended on
that arch, then we would have an abfolute redlification
of the arch, and confequently a redlification or quadra¬
ture alfo of the whole circle. We here fpeak of an
analytical folution of the problem 5 the ancients, how¬
ever, who were almoft entirely ignorant of this branch
of mathematical fcience, muff have endeavoured to treat
it entirely upon geometrical principles. It is now well
known, however, that all geometrical problems may be
fubjedled to analyfis; and that it is only by fuch a mode
of proceeding they have in many cafes been refolved.
With refpedl to the definite quadrature of the circle,
it is commonly underftood that no unexceptionable de-
monftration of its impoffibility has hitherto been pub¬
lifhed. It is true that James Gregory, in his vera circuh
et Hyperbola; quadratura, has given what he confidered
as fuch a demonftration ; but it has been objedfed to,
particularly by Huygens, one of the befl geometers of
his time. We are, however, certain that the ratio of the
diameter to the circumference, as alfo, that the ratio of
the fquare of the diameter to the fquare of a ftraight line
equal to the circumference, cannot be expreffed by ra¬
tional numbers, for this has been ftridlly demonftrated
by Lambert,in the Berlin Memoirs for 1761. A demon-
flration is alfo given in Legendre’s Geometrie. As to
the indefinite quadrature, if Newton’s demonftration of
the 28th lemma of the firft book of his Principia be cor-
redf, the thing ought to be abfolutely impoflible. For
the objedl of that propofition is to prove that in no oval
figure whatever, that returns into itfelf, can the area cut
oft by ftraight lines at pleafure be univerfally found by
an equation of a finite dimenfion, and compofed of a'
finite number of terms. If this be true, then it will
be impoflible to exprefs any fedlor of a circle taken at
pleafure in finite terms. It is however to be remarked
that the accuracy of the reafoning by which Newton
has attempted to eftablifh the truth of the general pro¬
pofition has been queftioned by no lefs a geometer than
D’Alembert and indeed we know one oval curve
which returns into itfelf, and which according to New¬
ton’s^ propofition ought therefore not to admit of an in¬
definite quadrature ; yet this is by no means the cafe, for
it does really admit of fuch a quadrature. The curve
we mean is the leinnifeata, the equation of which is
where p: and y denote its co¬
ordinates,
Squaring
•s q u [ 617 ] - s q u
Squaring, ovdinates, and a is put for a given line. The figure of
the curve is nearly that of the numeral charafter 8.
Upon the whole then we may infer that an unexcep¬
tionable demonllration of the impoffibility of exprefling
either the whole circle, or any propofed fedfor of it, by a
finite equation, is ftill among the defiderata of mathe¬
matics.
We come now to fpcak of the different methods
which have been found for approximating to the area
or to the circumference. We have already noticed the
approximation to the ratio of the diameter to the cir¬
cumference found by Archimedes, and the earlier and
more accurate approximation of the Indian mathemati¬
cians. Archimedes’s ratio is the only one found by the
ancients in the weftern world that has defcended to mo¬
dern times, and it appears to have been the moft accu¬
rate known, until about, the year 1585, when Metius,
in refuting a pretended quadrature, found the more
accurate ratio of 113 10355, as we have already no¬
ticed. About the fame time Vieta, and Adrianus Ho¬
rn anus publilhed their ratios exprefled in decimals, the
former carrying the approximation to ten decimals in-
ftead of fix, (which was the number of accurate figures
exprefied by Metius’s ratio), and the latter extending it
to 17 figures. Vieta alfo gave a kind of feries, which
being continued to infinity, gave the value of the
circle.
Thefe approximations, however, were far exceeded
by that of Ludolph Van Ceulen, vrho in a work pub-
lilhed in Dutch in 1610, carried it as far as 36 figures,
fliowing that if the diameter were unity, the circumfe¬
rence would be greater than 3.14159,26535,89793,
23846,26433,83279,50288, but lefs than the fame
number with the lait figure increafed by an unit. This
work was tranflated into Latin by Snellius, and pub-
1 ilhed under the title, De Circulo et Adfcriptis. In
finding this approximation, Van Ceulen followed the
method of Archimedes, doubling continually the num¬
ber of fides of the infcribed and circumfcribed polygons,
until at length he found two which differed only by an
unit in the 36th place of decimals in the numbers ex¬
prefling their perimeters. This, however, muft have
been rather a work of patience than of genius ; and in¬
deed the labour muft have been prodigious. He feems
to have valued highly this Angular effort, for in imita¬
tion of Archimedes, whofe tomb vras adorned with a
fphere and cylinder, in commemoration of his difcovery
of the proportion which thefe folids bear to one another,
he requefled that the ratio he had found might be in¬
fcribed on his tomb, which was accordingly done.
Snellius found means to abridge greatly the labour
of calculation by fome very ingenious theorems; and al¬
though he did not go beyond Van Ceulen, yet he veri¬
fied his refult. His difcoveries on this fubjeft are con¬
tained in a work called Wi/lebrordi Snclin Cyclome-
tricus de Circuit Dimenjione, &c. Litgd. Bat. 1621.
Defcarles found alfo a geometrical conftruflion, which
being repeated continually, gave the circumference, and
from which he might eafily have deduced an expreflion
in the form of a feries.
Gregory of St Vincent diftinguifhed himfelf alfo on
this fubjeft. It is true he committed a great error in
fuppofing he had difcovered the quadrature of both the
circle and hyperbola •, but he had previoufly made fo
many beautiful geometrical difcoveries, deduced with
Vql. XIX. Part II. ‘
much elegance after the manner of the ancients, that Squaring,
it would be wrong to number him with thofe abfurd
pretenders which we have already noticed. Gregory’s
miflake was the caufe of a ftiarp controverfy carried on
between his difciples on the one fide, and by Huygens,
Merfennus and Leftaud on the other j and it was this
that gave Huygens occafion to confider particularly the
quadrature of the circle, and to inveftigate various
new and curious theorems relating to it, which are con¬
tained in his Theoremata de dhiadratura Hypcrl-oles, El-
lipjis et Circuit, 1651; and in his work De Circuit Mag-
nitudine Inventa, 1654. In particular he ftiowed, that
if c denote the chord of an arch, and j- its fine, then the
arch itfelf will be greater than c-j-y (c—s'), but lefs
than c-4- f v ■ (c—s) : he alfo fliowed that the
^ 2 c-j-3 j- 1 v
arch is lefs than the fum of y of its fine and of its tan¬
gent. Thefe theorems greatly (horten the labour of
approximating to the ratio of the diameter to the cir¬
cumference, by means of infcribed and circumfcribed
figures, infomuch that by the infcribed polygons of 6
and 12 Tides, we may obtain it to the fame degree of
accuracy as Archimedes did by the infcribed and cir¬
cumfcribed polygons of 96 tides.
James Gregory, in his Vera Circuit et llyperbolce ^ua-
dratura, gave feveral curious theorems upon the relation
of the circle to its infcribed and circumfsribed polygons,
and their ratios to one another ; and by means of thefe
he found with infinitely lefs trouble than by the ordi¬
nary methods, and even by thofe of Snellius, the mea-
fure of the circle as far as 20 places of figures. He
gave alfo, after the example of Huygens, conftructions
for finding ftraight lines nearly equal to arches of a
circle, and of which the degree of accuracy was greater.
For example, he found that if A be put for the chord
of an arch of a circle, and P> for twice the chord of
half the arch, and C be taken fuch that A-j-B : B : :
2 B : C, then the arch itfelf is nearly equal to
8 C + 8 B—A
but a little lefs, the error in the cafe of
a complete femicircle being lefs than its yT~ part ;
and when the arch does not exceed 120°, it is lefs than
its 40loo part 5 and finally, for a quadrant the error is
not greater than its yWoos- Part* And farther, that
if D be fuch that A : B : : B : D, then the arch is
nearly equal to
12 C-f 4 B—>D
15
, but a little greater, the
and
error in the femicircle being lefs than its x-^Vo’ Part
in a quadrant lefs than its -^^00 part.
The difcoveries of Dr Wallis, delivered in his Arith¬
metic a Infinitorum publiflied in 1655, ^ 1° a fin*
gular expreflion for the ratio of the circle to the fquare
of its diameter. He found that the former was to the
latter as 1 to the product
3 XJ X5X 5 x 7 X 7 X 9 X 9 X 11 X 11
2 X 4 X 4x6 X^xSxSx 10x10x12
the fraftions 4, &c. being fuppofed infinite in
number. The products being fuppofed continued to in¬
finity, we have the ratio exaftly ; but if we flop at any
finite number of terms, as muft neceffarily be the cafe
in its application, the refult will be alternately too great
and too fmall, according as we take an odd or an even
number of te^ms of the numerator and denominator.
4 I Thus
S Q U [ 6r
Squaring. Thus the fraction \ is too great; on the other hand,
—— = I- is too fmall, and — ^ — 41 to° gi‘eat»
2X4 2X4X4
and fo on. But to approach as near as poflible in each
cafe, Wallis direds to multiply the produd by the fquare
root of a fradion formed by adding to unity the reci¬
procal of the laft fador in either its numerator or deno¬
minator } then the refult, although much nearer, will
be too great if the number whofe reciprocal is taken be
the laft in the numerator, but too fmall if it be the
number in the denominator. Thus the following feries
of expreflions will give approximate values of the infinite
produd 3 X ,3 X 5 X 5 X 7 which are alternately
r 2X4X4X6x6x8x8
too great and too fmall.
3 3-5-5
2.4.4.6
V O+t)
3-3-5-5-7-7
2.4.4.6.6.8
V 14“ t) >
. 3-3-5-5 / 1 t'v .
i^T6.6.8
thefe values, alternately too great and too fmall, fall
between the known limits.
An expreffion of another kind for the ratio of the
circle to the fquare of the diameter was found by Lord
Brounker. He Ihowed that the circle being unity, the
fquare of the diameter is expreffed by the continued
fradion
1 +
1
2-f
49 
2-f-,&c.
which is fuppofed to go on to infinity, the numerators
I, 9, 25, 49, &.c. being the fquares of the odd numbers
1, 3, 5, 7, &c. By taking two, three, four, &c. terms
of this fradion, we fnall have a feries of approximate
values which are alternately greater and lefs than its ac¬
curate value.
Such were the chief difcoveries relating to the qua¬
drature of the circle made before the time of Newton :
many others, however, were quickly added by that truly
great man, as well as by,his contemporaries. In parti¬
cular, Newton himfelf {bowed that if s denote the fine,
and v the verfed fine of an arch, then the radius being
unity, the arch is equal to either of the following fe¬
ries,
•r +
•3 -f
4-5
I±ii! , i±iiL!i+ &c.
2.4.6.7+ 2.4.6.8.9 +
/  / I .V
(14 [-
v \ 2.3.2
1.3.5.7 v*
2.4,6.8.9. 24
T -3 ^ ■
2.4.5.2*
f &C.^
I-3-5 r°% ,
2.4.6.7.2s
And James Gregory found that t being put for the tan¬
gent, the arch is expreffed by the very fimple feries
&c.
We have inveftigated the firft of thefe feries at § 140,
8 ] S Q U
and the third at § 137, of the article Fluxions: the Squaring,
fecond is eafily obtained from the firft by confidering ——v——
that fince the fine of an arch is half the chord of twice
the arch, that is, half of a mean proportional between
the diameter and verfed fine of twice the arch ; wre have
therefore only to multiply the firft feries by 2, and to
fubftitute z sj~2v inftead of j, and we get the fecond
feries.
By taking s—%, then, becaufe in this cafe the arch
contains 30°, we have half the circumference to the ra¬
dius 1, or the whole circumference to the diameter 1,
exprtffed by the infinite feries
~ Cl , _i_ .   , I,3,5  Iv3-5;7 _
^ V ‘ 2.3.21' 2.4.5-24 ~ 2.4.6.7.2s ‘ 2.4.6.8.9.2s
4- &C.)
And by fuppofing that in the third feries l—l, in which
cafe the arch is one-eighth of the circumference, we
have the fame things expreffed by the feiies
—+ &c-)
^ 3 5 7 9 11
which was given by Leibnitz as a quadrature of the
circle in the Leipfic Aifts in the year 16825 but was
difeovered by him 1673. Gregory, however, had
found the feries under its general form feveral years
before. By the firft of thefe two numeral feries rve can
readily compute the circumference of the circle to a to¬
lerable degree of accuracy 5 but the fecond is altogether
inapplicable in its prefent form on account of the Uow-
nefs of its convergency 5 for Newton has obferved that
to exhibit its value exafl to twenty places of figures,
there w'ould be cccafion for no lefs than five thoufand
millions of its terms, to compute which would take up
above a thoufand years.
The flownefs of the convergency has arifen from our
fuppofing/“i. If we had fuppofed / greater than 1,
then the feries would not have converged at all, but on
the contrary diverged. But by giving to / a value lefs
than 1, then the rate of convergency will be increafed,
and that fo much the more, as t is fmailer.
If we fuppofe the arch of which t is the tangent to
be 30°, then t will be 3, and therefore half
the circumference to radius unity, or the circumference
to the diameter unity, which in this cafe is 6/ (1——
/4 /6 /8
+ - — 4-d &c.) will be
5 7 9
V
12 ( I'— }-
3-3
By means of this feiies, in an hour’s time the circum ¬
ference may be found to be nearly 3”I4I592^5359°*
which is true to 11 decimal places, and is a very confi-
derable degree of accuracy, confidering the fmallnefs of
the labour. But Mr Machin, enticed by the eafintfsof
the procefs, was induced, about the beginning of the
laft century, to continue the approximation as far as
100 places of figures, thus fisding the diameter to be
to the circumference as 1 to 3.14159 26535,89793,
23846,26433,83279,50288,41971,6^399,37510,58209
74944,59730,78164,06286,20899,86280.34825,3421 r
70680. After him, De Lagny continued it as far as
128
S Q U
[ 619 ]
s q u
Squaring. 128 figures. But he has alfo been outdone *, for in Rad-
y—cliffe’s library at Oxford, there is a manufcript in which
it is carried as far as 150 figures !
Although this laft feries, which was firft propofed by
Dr Halley, gives the ratio of the diameter to the cir¬
cumference with wonderful facility when compared with
the operofe method employed by Van Ceulen, yet others
have been fmce found which accompliih it with ftill
greater eafe. In Halley’s feries we have to compute the
irrational quantity V12, becaufe of the irrational value
which it was neceffary to give to t in order to render it
fufficiently fmall, and at the lame time an exaft part of
the wdiole circumference } but Mr Machin contrived,
by a very ingenious artifice, to reduce the computation
of an arch of 450, and confequently the lengthy of the
whole circumference, to two fenes which contain only
rational quantities, and which at the lame time con¬
verge with great rapidity. I he nature of this artifice,
and the manner in which it occurred to its author, is
explained by Dr Hutton in his very excellent treatife
on Menfuration, as follows : “ Since the chief advan¬
tage (in the application of Gregory’s feries to the redli-
fication of the circle) confifts in taking fmall arches,
whofe tangents {hall be numbers eafy to manage, Mr
Machin very properly conlidered, that fince the tangent
of 450 is 1, and that the tangent of any arch being
given, the tangent of the double of that arch can eafily
be had 5 if there be affumed fome fmall fimple number
as the tangent of an arch, and then the tangent of the
double arch be continually taken, until a tangent be
found nearly equal to 1, which is the tangent of 45°>
by taking the tangent anfwering to the fmall difference
of 450 and this multiple, there Would be found two very
fmall tangents, viz. the tangent firll affumed, and the
tangent of the difference between 450 and the multiple
arch ; and that therefore the lengths of the arches cor-
refponding to thefe two tangents being calculated, and
the arch belonging to the tangent firft affumed being fo
often doubled as the multiple direfts, the refult, in-
creafed or diminifhed by the other arch, according as
the multiple fhould be below or above it, would be the
arch of 4 50.
“ Having thus thought of his method, by a few trials
lie was lucky enough to find a number (and perhaps the
only one) proper for his purpofe } viz. knowing that the
tangent of ^ of 4 50 is nearly —j-, he affumed 4- as the tan¬
gent of an arch. Then, fince if t be the tangent of an arch,
2 t
the tangent of the double arch wall be -—-, the radius
being 1 ; the tangent of the double arch to that of
which f is the tangent will -A, and the tangent of the
double of this arch wall be which being very near¬
ly equal to 1, ffiews, that the arch which is equal to
four times the firft arch is very near 45°* Then, fince
the tangent of the difference between an arch of 45^,
and an arch greater than 43°, whole tangent is I , is
qp 1
 , we fhall have the tangent of the difference be-
T-f-i
tween 4 50, and the arch whofe tangent is -f-rf' equal to
T4-?r* Now, by calculating from the general ieries the
arches whofe tangents are j- and An’ (which may be
quickly done by reafon of the fmallnefs and fimplicity
of the numbers), and taking the latter arch from four
times the former, the remainder wall be the arch of Squaring^
. ,0 M
4p *
If we fubftitute ^ inftead of t in the general feries,
we fiiall have the arch whofe tangent is -J- expreffed by
1 _j   “-q-j-J ^cc’ > anc*>
we get the arch
1
the feries  
5 3-53 5-5
manner, by fubftituting
whofe tangent is -jy-g- expreffed by the feries
tt?
7*5'
for
&c.
239
Now, fince four
3.239s 5.239s 7-2397 '
times the arch to tan. i- diminiflied by the arch to tan.
As is equal to the arch to tan. 1, that is, to the arch
of 4 50, or i of the femicircumference j therefore, halt
the circumference of a circle to rad. —i, or the whole
circumference, the diameter being 1, is equal to
— —-f—
V5 3-53 5'5S
_+(j  
V23Q 3-23
7-57 y*59
+
&c
■)
239 3.239s • 5.239s 7’2397 1 9-2399
and this is Machin’s feries for the reftification of the
circle.
The happy idea which Machin had conceived of re¬
ducing the re&ification of the arch whofe tangent is
unity to that of two arches whofe tangents are fmall ra¬
tional fra&ions, having each unity for a numerator, ap¬
pears alfo to have occurred to Euler j and the fame
thought has, fince his time, been purfued by other ma¬
thematicians, who have contrived to refolve an arch of
4 ;;0 into three or more fuch arches. We {hall {hew how
this may be done, beginning with the inveftigation of
the following problem.
Problem. Suppofing «, x, and y, to denote three
whole numbers, fuch, that the arch whofe tangent is
- is equal to the lum of two arches whofe tangents are
-- and
x
y
radius being unity, it is required to determine
all potfible values of the numbers x and y in terms of the
number n.
Solution. It is manifeft from the formula for the tan¬
gent of the fum of two arches (Algebra, § 3^^-) ^lat
1 1
—j—
x y
xy
~xy— g
n x -~j-1 
hence we have
n xy^
and n x niJ
x—n
and y (x —«) “«*-{- 1 •, and, laftly, y ™
j I #
.J . Now, as by hypothefis, y is a
x-
-11
n
-H
whole number, it is manifeft that —- muft be a whole
x—n
number j therefore, x—n muft be a divifor of n* r.
Let p be any divifor of /ft -j- 1, and q the quotient, that
is, let pq—rfAt, then x — n—p, and -f-/>: And
fince
/ft -}- I p q 
y, therefore y~n-\-q; thus the va-
x—-n p
lues of x and y are determined in terms of n as required ;
and by giving to p and q all poffible values, we fhall
4 I 2 have
f
\
Squaring.
s q u
have all the values of x and y that can exiil:.
lution affords us the following theorem.
[ 62
This fo-
Theorem. Let « denote any wdiole number, and
let zr-j-i be refolved into any two factors /> and q, (one
of which may be unity), that is, let y 1 5 the
arch whofe tangent is — is equal to the fum of the arches
71
whofe tangents are —X-—, and —-— refpedlivelv.
n-\-f> n-\-q * J
For the fake of brevity, let A- be put to denote the
arch, having for its tangent — j then, according to this
notation, our theorem will be expreffed thus, A-zr
n
A—-—4-A—-—. Let us now fuppofe n — 1, then
n+p n+q ^
ri1therefore, the only values wrhich we
can give in this cafe to /> and q are p—l, y—2, and
thefe being fubftituted, we have
A i=A-'-f Af.
From which it appears, that the arch whofe tangent is
unity (that is, f of the circumference), is the fum of
the arches whofe tangents are \ and f. This is Euler’s
theorem, and by means of it, putting \ and J for t in
the general feries t — + we get
half the circumference to radius i equal to
j 2 3.2^5.25
/1-1 1 1
L ^ 3.3^ 1 5.3s
1 1
7-37 + 9T9
Let us now fuppofe n — i, then fi1 -\-izz1 x 5,
hence the only values which p and y can have are 1 and 5 j
and in this cafe our general formula gives A ’— A-^ -J-A-E
If now from the two equations
AizrAi + Af; A|—AL-fA-t,
we eliminate fucceflively A^ and Af, we fhall obtain
the two following :
A I rr 2 A1 + A1, ; A 1 zz 2 A| —A-t.
From the firft of thefe it appears that f of the circum¬
ference is equal to the fum of twice the arch to tan. J-,
and once the arch to, tan. ± • and from the fecond, that
the fame quantity is equal to the excefs of twice the
arch to tan. above the arch to tan. ^ j and from each
of thefe, an expreflion for the whole circumference may
be obtained analogous to that which we have found
above from Euler’s formula, but which will converge
failer, and therefore is better.
The refolution of an arch of 450 into three other
arches, may be effefted by means of our general for¬
mula, as follows: Put »=3. then izz 10= 1 X 10
=z2X5? hence we have />zri, and y—10, and alfo
f>~ 2, and y— 5 •, therefore, fubftituting, we get two dif¬
ferent values of A§, viz.
Af=Ai-f A-r^ J Af=Af-fA|.
From thefe, and the equation A izr:2 Af-f A-y, we
o ] d q u
get, by exterminating Af, the two following expref- Squaring,
lions for A 1, an arch of 450. -y-—
A 1 — 2 iid-}-A 7-f-2 A11^-j A 1 ~2 A i-J-A^2A^-.
Ihefe give each an expreflion for the circumference
compofed of three feries. The labour, however, of
computing by either of them, particularly the latter,
will probably be Id’s than by any of the formulas com-
poled of two feries, on account of the greater degree of
quicknefs with which the feries will converge. All the
preceding formulas have been inveftigated in different
ways by different mathematicians. That, however,
which we are about to inveiligate, xve believe is new.
Let 7i in the general formula be taken equal to 5 ; then
«I-f-i=z:26—1 X 26=2 X 13, therefore fi—i, q~l6, al¬
fo p— 2, yzzi3, hence we find AfrzzA^-f ATV, and al¬
fo Af= A^-f-A^-g-. From this laft equation, and the
equation A Izz2 A-fff-A^-J-2 Af, let Af be elimina¬
ted, and the refult is
A 3 A y -j- 2 A-i -j- 2 AT*g-.
This appears to be the molt convenient expreflion of
any we have yet found, becaufe the fra&ions are Imall-
er, while at the fame time two of the denominators con-
fill of only one figure, and the third, which confids of
two, admits of being vefolved into fadors. By the
fame mode of reafoning we have found this expreflion
A i ~ 2 A| -f- 3 A-J- 2 A T'^ -f- 3 A TV,
which confifts of four terms j but for the fake of brevity
we omit its invefligation.
We tliall now apply the formula A1ZZ3 A^-j-2A|
+ 2Ato the adual calculation of the arch of 450,
the radius of the circle being unity.
I. Calculation of the length of the arch whofe tan¬
gent is y.
In this cafe, becaufe t—y, we have
£ 1 , £ I t I
7 3-73 ' 5 7* 7-77 '"9T9 ’ C‘
“ =.1428571428571
—~ ZZ.OOOOI 1899803 7
5-7
1
 zz.0000000027 C24
9.79
—^—zz.ooooooocooooS
J3-713 
+ .1428690454150
— .0009719908108
3*73
1
tT7
1
11.7"
==0.0009718172983
=.000000173 4665
=.0000000000460
.0009719908108
amount of pofitive terms,
amount of negative terms.
Ai:
7
.1418970546042
II. Calculation of the length of the arch whofe tan¬
gent is +
Here /=|, therefore,
A8= +’ &c*
f
8
s q
Squaring.
8
x
“8*
i
i
=.1250000000000
= .0000061035156
=.0000000008 27 8
■——=.0000000000001
13-8 3   
4-. 12 5006104343 5
—.0006511097969
■A5=-I243S4994546S
U E 62
= .0006510416667
= .0000000681196
=.0000000000106
.0006511097969
III. Calculation of the arch whofe tangent is -j-’-j-.
Here /=tV> therefore,
A 1 _ 1 1 . 1 1 .
i8~ !8 3.183 ' 5.18s 7.18^
=-055555555555^ =.0000571559214
1 1
=.0000001058443 ^7 =.0000000002333
 — =.000C0C0000006 .0000571561547
9.189 
• +-0555556614005
—.0000571561547
a^ = -055498505'2453
3 A 4=4256911638126
zAf =.2487099890932
2AT^=.1109970104916
4 of the circum. or Ai = .785398163397
Thus by a very eafy calculation we have obtained one-
fourth of the circumference true to 1 2 decimal places;
and indeed by this method we may find an approxi¬
mate value of the ratio of the diameter to the circum¬
ference to 200 places of figures with, perhaps, as much
eafe as Vieta or Romanus found it to 10 or 15 figures.
We have already obferved that Van Ceulen defired
that his quadrature, which extended only to 35 deci¬
mals, might be infcribed on his tomb ; from which we
may reafonably infer that the time and labour he had
beftowed in the calculation muft have been very great;
but by an artifice of the kind we have been explaining,
Euler in 18 hours verified Lagny’s quadrature of 128
figures.
In cohcluding this article we /hall briefly notice
fome feries for the indefinite reflificafion of the circle,
which have juft appeared in the fixth volume of the
Edinburgh Philofophical Tranfa&ions. They are given
by Mr W. Wallace of the Royal Military College, in
a paper entitled, New Series for the Quadrature of the
Conic ScEi ons, and the Computation of Logarithms.
Tbefe feries do not give the arch direaiy, but only its
i ] S Q U
reciprocal, or the powers of that reciprocal; it is how- Squaring,
ever evident, that any one of thefe being known, the
arch itfelf becomes immediately known. The firft
feries is as follows. Let a denote any arch of a circle,
and let its tangent, the tangents of its half, &c. be
briefly denoted by tan. a, tan k a, &-C. Then /hall
* T <3T 'an. tV ^ +T-f-
Here the arches a, | a, -J ^ fa, &c. conftitute a geome¬
trical progre/Tion, having the number of its terms in¬
finite, and their common ratio f. The letters T and T'
are put for any two adjoining terms (after the firft) of
the feries, and S is put for the fum of all the terms fol¬
lowing thefe j and this fum is always contained between
two limits, one of which is f of the latter of the two
terms T, T', and the other is a third proportional to
their difference ; and the laft of the two being always
lefs than the firft of thefe limits, but greater than the
fecond. As a fpecimen of the way of applying this
feries, we /hall give the calculation of the length of an
arch of qo° to fix decimal places. In this cafe —^—
y tan. a
= cotan. <7=0, tan. itf = T, the remaining quantities
tan. \ a, tan. \a, &c. are to be computed from tan. a
by this formula, tan. 7lA=v/(—; 4- 1 ]  —.
J ^ VtandA / tan. A '
Accordingly we find
tan. ia— I.
tan. f <7= .4x42136
tan. f <?= .1989123
tan. j^rf=.0984914
tan. -yfj. rt=.049i 268
tan. =.0245486
f tan. f r7=.5000000
i tan. f *=.1035534
f tan. f 77=.0248640
■fs tan. -/g rt=.0061557
T =TI»- tan. TIi77=-.oo 15 3 5 2
T'=37tan. 4^77=.0003836
8^.0001278,7
.ocoi 277,7
Hence S=.oooi278
~= -6366197
Arch of 9o°=77=i.570796.
The fecond feries given in this paper is expreffed
as follows. Let cof. 77, cof. 4 77, &c. denote the co¬
fine of the arch, the cofine of its half, See. Then
I   11 -f- cof. 77 1
a1
4 1—cof. 77 ‘ 6
(1 1—cof. 177
41 l-f-cof. -§77
I I Cof. |77
^ 44 1 -j-coi. a 77 ‘
43
I—cof. \a
1 -j-cof. \a
. +;T + T'-f-s)
Elere, as before, the letters T, T' denote any two ad¬
jacent terms of the feries in the parenthefis, and S is
put for the fum of all the following terms, which in this .
cafe is always lefs than but greater than a third
proportional to T-—T' and Tk This fecond feries con- «.
verges,-s
Squaring
Stabbing.
Black]}.
Comment-
vo I. iv.
P- IP3*
S T A [62
verges quicker than the firft:, and is befides better adapt¬
ed to calculation, becaufe the colines of the feries of
arches \ a, &c. are more eatily deduced from the
coiine of a and one another than the tangents. The
formula in this cafe being co£ £ A ~ ^ ~ ^
There are various other feries for the reflification of
any arch of a circle given in the fame paper, fome of
which converge falter than either of the two we have
here fpecified, and all have the property of being appli¬
cable to every polhble cafe, and of having very fimple
limits, between which the fum of all their terms fol¬
lowing any propofed term are always contained. It
may alfo be obferved that the principles from which they
are deduced are of the molt fimple and elementary kind,
infomuch that the author has Hated it as his opinion,
that their inveftigation might even be admitted into
and form a part of the elements of geometry.
SOUATINA. See Squalus, Ichthyology In¬
dex.
SQTJILL. See Scilla, Botany and Materia
Mldica Index.
SQUILL A, the name of a fpecies of cancer. See
Cancer, Entomology Index.
SQUINTING. See Medicine, N° 383.
SQJJIRREL. See Sciurus, Mammalia Index.
STABBING, in Law. The offence of mortally
{tabbing another, though done upon fudden provoca¬
tion, is punilhed as murder ; the benefit of clergy be¬
ing taken away from it by llatute. (See Murder).
For by Ja. I. c. 8. when one thrufts or ftabs another,
not then having a weapon drawn, or who hath not then
firft firicken the party {tabbing, fo that he dies thereof
within fix months after, the offender lhall not have the
benefit of clergy, though he did it not of malice afore¬
thought. This'ftatute w?as made on account of the fre¬
quent quarrels and ftabbings w ith Ihort daggers between
the Scotch and the Englilh, at the accelhon of James I.;
and being therefore of a temporary nature, ought to
have expired with the mifehief which it meant to remedy.
For, in point of folid and fubftantial juftice, it cannot be
faid that the mode of killing, whether by ftabbing,
firangling, or fhooling, can either extenuate or enhance
the guilt; unlefs where, as in the cafe of poifoning, it
carries with it internal evidence of cool and deliberate
malice. But the benignity of the law' hath conftrued
the ftatute fo favourably in behalf of the fubjeft, and
fo ftriftly when againft him, that the offence of ftab¬
bing now' Hands almoft upon the fame footing as it did
at the common law. Thus, (not to repeat the cafes
mentioned under Manslaughter, of ftabbing an adul-
terefs, &c. which are barely manflaughter, as at com¬
mon law), in the conftruftion of this ftatute it hath been
doubted, whether, if the deceafed had ftruck at all be¬
fore the mortal blow given, this does not take it cut of
the ftatute, though in the preceding quarrel the ftabber
had given the firft blow *, and it feems to be the better
opinion, that this is not within the ftatute. AKo it hath
been refolved, that the killing a man, by throwing a
hammer or other weapon, is not within the ftatute ; and
whether a foot with a piftol be fo or not is doubted.
But if the party flain had a cudgel in his hand, or had
thrown a pot or a bottle, or difeharged a piftol at the
party ftabbing, this is a fufticient reafon for having a
4
2 ] S T A
weapon drawn on his fide within the words of the fta¬
tute.
Stachy*
ST ACHYS, Hedge-nettle, or All-heal, a genus StadffioIcI-
of plants belonging to the clafs of didynamia, and order .
of gymnofpermia ; and in the natural fyftem arranged
under the 42d order, Verticillatw. See Botany Index.
STADIUM, an ancient Greek long meafure, con¬
taining x 25 geometrical paces, or 625 Roman feet, cor-
refponding to our furlongs The w’ord is faid to be
formed from the Greek word “ a ftation,” or
“ to Hand,” becaufe it is reported that Hercules having
run a ftadium at one breath, flood ftill at the end of it.
The Greeks ufually meafured diftances by itadia, which
they called rulhxcrfc&s. Stadium alfo fignified the courfe
on which their races wrere run.
STADTHOLDER, formerly the principal magi-
ftrate or governor of the Seven United Provinces. Al¬
though this office is now aboliffied by the ufurped influ¬
ence of France, our readers will probably not be ill
pleafed with a fhort account of the feveral pow'ers and
claims connefted with it. To render that account the
more intelligible, wTe fhall trace the office of a ftadt-
holder from its origin.
The Seven Provinces of the Low Countries wTere
long governed by princes invefted with the fovereignty,
though limited in their powers, and under various titles j
as Counts of Holland, Dales of Guelder, Bifijop of
Utrecht, &c. When thefe countries fell to the princes
of the houfe of Burgundy, and afterwards to thofe of
Auftria, who had many other dominions, the abfsnce
of the fovereign was fupplied by a ftadtholder or gover¬
nor, veiled with very ample powers. Thefe ftadthol-
ders or lieutenants had the adminiftration of the govern¬
ment, and prefided in the courts of juftice, whofe jurif-
diblion was not at that time confined merely to the trial
of caufes, but extended to affairs of Hate. The ftadt-
holders fwoae allegiance to the princes at their inaugu¬
ration, jointly with the Hates of the provinces they go¬
verned. They likewife took an oath to the Hates, by
which they promifed to maintain their fundamental laws
and privileges.
It was upon this footing that William the Firft,
prince of Orange, was made governor and lieutenant-
general of Holland, Zealand, and Utrecht, by Philip
the Second, upon his leaving the Low Countries to go
into Spain. The troubles beginning foon' after, this
prince found means to bring about an union, in 1576,
between Holland and Zealand ; the Hates of which two
provinces put into his hands, as far as was in their
power, the fovereign authority (for fo long time as they
Ihould remain in -war and under arms), upon the fame
footing as Holland had intrufted him with it the year
before. In 1581 the fame authority was again renew¬
ed to him by Holland, as it was foon after by Zealand
likewife; and in 1584, being already elefted count of
Plolland, upon certain conditions he would have been
formally invefted with the fovereignty, had not a wretch,
hired and employed by the court of Spain, put an end
to his life by a horrid affaffination.
In the preamble of the inftruments by which the
ftates in 1581 conferred the fovereign authority upon
Prince William the Firft, we find thele remarkable
words, which are there fet down as fundamental rules:
“ That all republics and communities ought to pre-
ferve
S T A [ 623 ] S T A
StacTthold. ferve, maintain, and fortify themfelves by unanimity;
er- which being impoflible to be kept up always among fo
many members, often differing in inclinations and fenti-
ments, it is confequently neceffary that the government
fhould be placed in the hands of one lingle chief magi-
ffrate.” Many good politicians, and the greateft part
of the inhabitants of thefe provinces, fince the eftablifh-
ment of the republic, looked upon the ftadtholderian
government as an effential part of her conflitution ; nor
has fire been without a ftadtholder but twice, that is to
fay, from the end of 1650 to 1672, and again from
March 1702 till April 1747. The provinces of Frief-
land and Groningen, with Ommelands, had always a
ftadtholder without interruption : their inftrucfions may
be feen in Ailzema 5 but formerly the powers of the
ftadtholder of thefe provinces xvere confined within nar¬
rower bounds, and till William the Fourth there was
no ftadtholder of the feven provinces together.
The ftadtholder could not declare war or make peace,
but he had, in quality of captain general of the union,
the command in chief of all the forces of the ftate (a) 5
and military perfons were obliged to obey him in every
thing that concerned the fervice. He was not limited
by initruftions •, but he had the important power of gi¬
ving out orders for the march of troops, and the dif-
pofition of all matters relative to them. He not only
directed their marches, but provided for the garrifons,
and changed them at pleafure. All military edifls and
regulations came from him alone ; he conftituted and
authorized the high council of war of the United Pro¬
vinces, and, as captain-general of every province, dif-
pofed of all military offices, as far as the rank of colonel
inclufively. The higher pofts, fuch as thofe of velt-
maifhals, generals, lieutenant-generals, major-generals,
were given by the ftates-general, who chofe the perfons
recommended by his highnefs. Fie made the governors,
commandants, &c. of towns and ftrong places of the re¬
public, and of the barrier. The perfons nominated pre-
fented their inftruments of appointment to their high
inightineftes, who provided them with commiffions. The
ftates-general had likewife great regard to the recom¬
mendation of the prince ftadtholder in the difpofition of
thofe civil employments which were in their gift.
The power of the ftadtholder as high-admiral, ex¬
tended to every thing that concerned the naval force of
the republic, and to all the other affairs that were here
within the jurifdi&ion of the admiralty. He prefided
at thefe boards either in perfon or by his reprefentatives;
and as chief of them all in general, and of every one in
particular, he had power to make their orders and in-
ftrucftions be obferved by themfelves and others. Fie
beftowed the pofts of lieutenant-admiral, vice-admiral*,
and rear-admiral, who commanded under him ; and he
made likewife poft-captains.
The ftadtholdcr granted likewife letters of grace, par¬
don, and abolition, as well for the crimes called Com- StadthoM-
munia DeliEla, as for military offences. In Holland and er>
Zealand theie letters were made out for crimes of the ^
firft fort, in the name of the ftates, with the advice of
his highnefs. In military offences he confulted the high
council ot w ar; and upon the communia deliBa he took
the advice of the courts of juftice, of the counfellors,
committees of the provinces, of the council of ftate, and
the tribunals of juftice in the refpedlive towns, accord¬
ing to the nature of the cafe.
In the provinces of Holland and Zealand, the ftadt¬
holder eledled the magiftrates of the towns annually,
out of a double number that were returned to him by
the towns themfelves.
When any of thefe offices became vacant, which, at
the time there was no governor, were in the difpofal of
the ftates of Holland, or as formerly in that of the
chamber of accounts, the ftadtholder had his choice of
two, or, in fome cafes, of three candidates, named by
their noble and great mightineffes. He chofe likewife
the counfellors, infpeftors of the dykes of Rynland,
Delfland, and Scheeland, out of three perfons prelented
to him by the boards of the counfellors infpeftors $
which boards were of very ancient eftablilhment in Hol¬
land.
His highnefs prefided in the courts of Holland, and
in the courts of juftice of the other provinces 5 and his
name rvas placed at the head of the proclamations and
afls, called in Dutch Mandamentan, or Provijion van
Jujlitie. In Overyffel and in the province of Utrecht
the poffeffors of fiefs held of the prince ftadtholder. He
was fupreme curator of the univerfities of Guelder,
Friefiand, and Groningen grand forefter and grand
veneur in Guelder, in Holland, and other places. In
the province of Utrecht, his highnefs, by virtue of the
regulation of 1674, difpofed of the provoftthips and other
benefices which remained to the chapters, as alfo of the
canonical prebends that fell in the months wThich were
formerly the papal months.
By the firft article of the council of ftate of the Unit¬
ed Provinces, the ftadtholder was the firft member of
it, and had a right of voting there, with an appointment
of 25,000 guilders a-year. Fie affifted alfo, as often as
he thought it for the fervice of the ftate, at the delibe¬
rations of the ftates-general, to make propofitions to
them, and fometimes alfo at the conferences which the
deputies of their high mightineffes held in their differ-
ent committees, in confequence of their Handing orders.
He likewife affifted at the afiemblies of the ftates of each
particular province, and at that of the counfellors com¬
mittees. In Guelder, Holland, and Utrecht, his high¬
nefs had a (hare of the fovereignty, as chief or prefident
of the body of nobles 5 and in Zealand, where he poffef-
fed the marquifate of Veer and Fluftiing, as firft noble,
and reprefenting the whole nobility. In his abfence he
had
(a) In times of war, however, the ftates had always named deputies for the army, to accompany the ftadthol-
ders in the field, and to ferve them as counfellors in all their enterprifes, particularly in the molt important affairs,
fuch as giving battle, or undertaking a fiege, &c. This was always pradtifed till the acceffion of King W;i am
the Third to the crown of Great Britain, and after his death was continued with regard to the general he chief of
the army of the republic. In 1747 and 1748 there were likewife deputies with the army, but with more limit:/’
power.
s T A t 6n ] s T A
'’Stadt'huld- had in Zealand his reprefentatives, who had the firft
place and the firll voice in all the councils, and the firft
StLitla. whom was always firft deputy from the province to
v——; the affembly of their high mightineffes.
In 1749 the prince itadtholder w'as created by the
ftates-general, governor-general and fupreme direftor of
the Eaft and Weft India companies j dignities which
gave him a great deal of authority and power, and which
had never been conferred upon any of his predecefiors,
nor had they hitherto been made hereditary. He had
his reprefentatives in the feveral chambers of the com¬
pany, and chofe their directors out of a nomination of
three qualified perfons. The prince enjoyed this prero¬
gative in Zealand from the time of his elevation to the
ftadtholderate.
The revenues of the ftadtholderate of the feven Unit¬
ed Provinces were reckoned (including the 25,000
guilders -which the prince enjoyed annually as the firft
member of the council of ftate, and what he had from
the India company’s dividends) to amount to 300,000
guilders a-year. As captain general of the union, his
lerene highnefs had 1 20,000 guilders per annum ; be-
fides 24,000 from Friefiand, and 12,000 from Gronin¬
gen, in quality of captain-general of thofe provinces.
In times of war the ftate allowed extraordinary fums to
the captain-general for the expence of every campaign.
All thefe powers and privileges were held by the
prince of Orange previous to the revolutionary war of
France. The influence of the ufurper of that kingdom
has extended to the ftates of Holland, and attached them
as a province to France under the name of a kingdom,
at the head of which is a brother of Bonaparte.
STiEHELINA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs of fyngenefia, and order of polygamia aequalis j
and in the natural fyftem arranged under the 49th or¬
der, Cotnpofitce. See Botany Index.
STAFF, an inftrument ordinarily ufed to reft on in
walking. The ftaff is alfo frequently ufed as a kind of
natural weapon both of offence and defence 5 and for
leveral other purpofes.
Staff, a light pole erefted in different parts of a ftiip,
whereon to hoift and difplay the colours.
The principal of thefe is reared immediately over the
ftern, to difplay the enfign j another is fixed on the
bowfprit, to extend the jack ; three more are eredled at
the three maft heads, or formed by their upper ends, to
fhowT the flag or pendant of the refpedlive fquadron or
divifion to which the fhip is appropriated. See En¬
sign, Mast, Jack, and Pendant.
Staff, in military matters, confifts of a quarter-
mafter-general, adjutant-general, and majors of brigade.
The ftaff properly exifts only in time of war. See
QuARTER-Mq/ier General, &c.
Regimental STAFF, confifts in the adjutant, quarter-
mafter, chaplain, furgeon, &c.
Staff, in mufic, five lines, on which, with the inter¬
mediate fpaces, the notes of a fong or piece of mufic are
marked.
Fore-STAFF. See FORE Staff.
STAFFA, one of the Hebrides or Weftem Iflands
of Scotland, remarkable for its bafaltic pillars. It was
vifited by Sir Jofeph Banks, who communicated the
folkwing account of it to Mr Pennant.
“ The little ifland of Staffa lies on the wreft coaft of
Mull, about three leagues north-eaft from Iona, or Ico-
3
lumbkill : its greateft length is about an Englifh mile, Stiffs,
and its breadth about half a one. On the eaft fide of
the ifland is a fmall bay where boats generally land ; a
little to the fouthward of which the firft appearance of
pillarsis to be obferved 5 they are fmall j and inftead
of being placed upright, lie down on their fides, each
forming a fegment of a circle. From thence you pafs
a fmall cave, above which the pillars, now grown a lit¬
tle larger, are inclining in all directions: in one place
in particular, a fmall mafs of them very much refembles
the ribs of a fhip. From hence having paffed the cave,
which, if it is not low-water, you muft do in a boat, you
come to the firft ranges of pillars, which are ftill not
above half as large as thofe a little beyond. Over
againft this place is a fmall ifland, called in Erfe Boo-
Jha-la, feparated from the main by a channel not many
fathoms wide. This whole ifland is compofed of pillars
without any ftratura above them •, they are ftill final],
but by much the neateft formed of any about the place.
“ The firft divifion of the ifland, for at high water it
is divided into two, makes a kind of a cone, the pil¬
lars converging together towards the centre : on the
other they are in general laid down flat: and in the
front next to the main, you fee how beautilully they
are packed together, their ends coming cut fquare with
the bank which they form. All thefe have their tranf-
verfe fedtions exadl, and their furfaces finooth ; which
is by no means the cafe with the large ones, which are
cracked in all direftions. I muft queftion, however,
if any part of this whole ifland of Boo-ftia-la is two feet
in diameter.
“ Thefnain ifland oppofite to Boo-fha-la, and farther
towards the north-weft, is fupported by ranges of pil¬
lars pretty eredl, and, though not tall (as they are not
uncovered to the bafe), of large diameters 3 and at
their feet is an irregular pavement, made by the upper
fides of fuch as have been broken off, wdfich extends as
far under water as the eye can reach. Here the forms
of the pillars are apparent 3 thefe are of three, four, five,
fix, and feven fides 3 but the numbers of five and fix are
by much the moft prevalent. The largeft I meafured
was of feven 3 it wTas four feet five inches in diameter.
“ The furfaces of thefe large pillars, in general, are
rough and uneven, full of cracks in all diredtions; the
tranfverfe figures in the upright ones never fail to run
in their true diredtions. The furfaces upon which we
walked wrere often flat, having neither concavity nor
convexity ; the larger number, however, wras concave,
though fome were very evidently convex. In fome places,
the interftices within the perpendicular figures w-ere
filled up with a yellow fpar: in one place, a vein paffed
in among the mafs of pillars, carrying here and there
fmall threads of fpar. Though they were broken and
cracked through in all diredtions, yet their perpendicu¬
lar figures might eafily be traced : from whence it is
eafy to infer, that whatever the accident might have
been that caufed the diflocation, it happened after the
formation of the pillars.
“ From hence proceeding along ftiore, you arrive at
Fingal’s cave. Its dimenfions I have given in the form
of a table :
Feet. In.
Length of the cave from the rock without, 371 6
From the pitch of the arch, - 250 o
Breadth
S T A
Staffs. Breadth of ditto at the mouth,
At the farther end,
Height of the arch at the mouth,
At the end,
Height of an outfide pillar,
Of one at the north-well: corner,
Depth of water at the mouth,
At the bottom,
53
20
117
70
39
54
18
9
“ The cave runs into the rock in the diredlion of
north-ealf by call by the compafs.
“ Proceeding farther to the north-weft, you meet with
the highell ranges of pillars \ the magnificent appear¬
ance of which is pail ail defcription. Here they are
bare to their very bans, and the llratum below them is
alfo viftble : in a fhort time, it rifes many feet above
the water, and gives an opportunity of examining its
quality. Its furface is rough, and has often large lumps
of Hone flicking in it as if half immerfed : itfelf, when
broken, is compofed of a thoufand heterogeneous parts,
which together have very much the appearance of a
lava ; and the more fo, as many of the lumps appear
to be of the very fame ftone of which the pillars are
formed. This whole ftratum lies in an inclined pofi-
tion, dipping gradually towards the fouth-eaft. As
hereabouts is the fituation of the higheft pillars, I {ball
mention my meafurements of them, and the diiterent
ftrata in this place, premifing, that the meafurements
Were made with a line, held in the hand of a perfon
who ftood at the top of the cliff, and reaching to the
bottom *, to the lower end of which was tied a white
mark, which was obferved by one who ftaid below for
the purpofe : when this mark was fet off from the -wa¬
ter, the perfon below noted it down, and made fignal to
him above, who made then a mark in his rope : when¬
ever this mark paffed a notable place, the fame ftgnal
was made, and the name of the place noted down as
before : the line being all hauled up, and the diftances
between the marks meafured and noted down, gave,
when compared with the book kept below, the diftances,
as for inftance in the cave :
“ N° x. in the book below, was called from the wa¬
ter to the foot of the firft pillar in the book above ;
N° x. gave 36 feet eight inches, the higheft of that af-
£ent, which was compofed of broken pillars.
“ N° I. Pillar at the weft corner of Fingal’s cave.
625 ] S T A
Stratum below the pillar of lava-like matter,
Length of pillar, . . _
Stratuin above the pillar,
“ N° 4. Another part to the weftward.
Stratum below the pillar,
Height of the pillar,
Stratum above. - -
“ N° 5. Another pillar farther to the weft-
ward.
Stratum below the pillar,
Height of the pillar,
Stratum above, _ . .
Staffi
Feet. In.
12 10
37 3
9
66
1 From the water to the foot of the pillar,
2 Height of the pillar,
3 Stratum above the pillar,
“ N° 2. Fingal’s cave.
1 From the water to the foot of the pillar, 36 8
2 Height of the pillar - - 39 6
3 From the top of the pillar to the top of the
arch, - . . 31 4
4 Thicknefs of the ftratum above, 34 4
By adding together the three firft meafure¬
ments, we got the height of the arch from
the water, - . . 117^6
“ N° 3. Corner pillar to the weftward of
Fingal’s cave.
VoL. XIX. Part II.
l7
5°
51
19 8
55 1
54 7
“ The ftratum above the pillars, which is here men¬
tioned, is uniformly the fame, conftfting of numberlefs
fmall pillars, bending and inclining in all directions,
fomedmes fo irregularly that the ftones can only be faid
to have an inclination to affume a columnar form ; in
others more regular, but never breaking into or difturb-
ing the ftratum of large pillars, whofe tops everywhere
keep an uniform and regular line.
“ Proceeding now along the fnore round the north
end of the ifland, you arrive at Qua na /carve, or the
Corvorant’s Cave. Here the ftratum under the pillars
is lifted up very high j the pillars above it are confider-
ably lefs than thofe at the north-weft end of the ifland,
but ftill very confiderable. Beyond is a bay, which
cuts deep into the ifiand, rendering it in that place not
more than a quarter of a mile over. On the fides of
this bay, efpecially beyond a little valley, which alrnoft
cuts the illand into two, are two ftages of pillars, but
fmall ; however, having a ftratum between them exaftly
the fame as that above them, formed of innumerable
little pillars, fliaken cut of their places, and leaning in
all directions.
“ Having paffed this bay, the pillars totally ceafe ; the
rock is of a dark brown ftone, and no figns of regularity
occur till you have paffed round the louth-eaft end of
the ifland (a fpace almoft as large as that occupied by
the pillars), which you meet again on the weft fide, be¬
ginning to form themfelves irregularly, as if the ftratum
had an inclination to that form, and foon arrive at the
bending pillars where I began.
“ The ftone of which the pillars are formed, is a
coarfe kind of bafaltes, very much refembling the Giant’s
Caufeway in Ireland, though none of them are near fo
neat as the fpecimens of the latter which I have feen at
the Britifti IVfufeum j owing chiefly to the colour, which
in ours is a dirty brown, in the Irifti a fine black ) in¬
deed the whole produCHon feems very much to referable
the Giant’s Caufeway.”
STAFFORD, the county town of Staffordlhire, in
W. Long. 2. o. N. Lat. 53. O. It ftands on the river
Sow, has two parifti-churches, a fine fquare market-place,
and a flouriflnng cloth-manufaClure. It fends two mem¬
bers to parliament, and is 135 miles from London.
STAFFORDSHIRE, a county of England, bound¬
ed on the fouth by Worcefterfhire, by Cheihire and Der-
byfliire on the north, by Warwickfliire and Derby (hire
on the eaft, and Shropftiire and Chefliire on the weft.
The length is reckoned 62 miles, the breadth 33,
and the circumference x80. It contains five hundreds,
150 parifhes, 810,000 acres, 18 market-towns, and
4 K 239>i53
S T A [ 626 ] S T A
St-iffnrd- 239,153 inhabitants. The air, except in thofe parts that
ibire, are called the Moorlands and Woodlands, and about the
Stag‘ , mines, is good, efpecially upon the hills, where it is ^c-
~""V~ counted very fine. The foil in the northern mountain¬
ous parts is not fertile j but in the middle, where it is
watered by the Trent, the third river in England, it is
both fruitful and pleafant, being a mixture of arable and
meadow grounds. In the fouth, it abounds not only
with corn, but with mines of iron and pits of coal.
The principal rivers of this county, befides the Trent,
which runs almoft through the middle of it, and abounds
with falmon, are the Dove and Tame, both of which
are well ftored with fiflr. In this county are alfo a great
many lakes, and meres or pools, as they are called ;
which, having dreams either running into them or from
them, cannot be foppofed to be of any great prejudice
to the air 5 they yield plenty of filh. In divers parts of
the county are medicinal waters., impregnated with dif¬
ferent forts of minerals, and confequently of different
qualities and virtues •, as thofe at Hints and Brefsford-
houfe, which are mixed with bitumen thofe at In-
geftre, Codfalwood, and Willoughbridge park, which
are fulphureous. Of the faline kind are the Brine-pits
at Chertley, Epfom, Penfnet-clofe, of which very good
fait is made. There is a well at Newcaftle-under-Line
that is faid to cure the king’s evil •, another called Elder-
ivell near Blemhill, faid to be good for fore eyes j and
a third called the Spa, near Wolverhampton.
Great flocks of (beep are bred in this county, efpe-
cially in the moorlands, or mountains of the northern
part of it j but the wool is faid to be fomewhat coarfer
than that of many other counties. Of this wool, how¬
ever, they make a variety of manufactures, particularly
felts. In the low grounds along the rivers are rich paf-
tures for black cattle j and vafl: quantities of butter and
cheefe are made. In the middle and fouthern parts not
only grain of all kinds, but a great deal of hemp
and flax are raifed. This country produces alfo lead,
copper, iron ; marble, alabafter, millftones, limeftone j
coal, fait, and marles of feveral forts and colours j brick-
earth, fullers earth, and potters clay, particularly a fort
ufed in the glafs manufacture at Amblecot, and fold at
feven-pence a buthel; tobacco-pipe clay ■, a fort of red-
ditlr earth called Jlip, ufed in painting divers veffels j red
and yellow ochres *, fire-ftones for hearths of iron fur¬
naces, ovens, &c. ; iron-ftones of feveral forts ; blood-
flones, or haematites, found in the brook Tent, which,
when wet a little, will draw red lines like ruddle j quar-
ry-ftones, and grind-ftones. For fuel the country is well
fupplied with turf, peat, and coal of feveral forts, as
cannel-coal, peacock-coal, and pit-coal. The peacock-
coal is fo called, becaufe, when turned to the light, it
difplays ail the colours of the peacock’s tail •, but it is
fitter for the forge than the kitchen. Of the pit-coal
there is an inexhauftible ftore : it burns into white
aihes, and leaves no fuch cinder as that of the New-
caftle coal. It is not ufed for malting till it is charred,
and in that ftate it makes admirable winter-fuel for a
chamber.
This county is in the diocefe of Litchfield and Co¬
ventry, and the Oxford circuit. It fends ten mem¬
bers to parliament •, namely, two for the county, two
for the city of Litchfield, two for Stafford, two for
Newcaftle-under-Line, and two for Tamworth.
STAG. See Cervus, Mammalia Index.
STAG-Beetle. See Lucanus, Entomology Index. Stag-
STAGE, in the modern drama, fthe place of adlion , ll . .
and reprefentation, included between the pit and the a‘agn ;
feenes, and anfwering to the profeenium or pulpitum of
the ancients. See Playhouse and Theatre.
STAGGERS. See Farriery Index.
STAHL, George Ernest, an eminent German
chemift, was born in Franconia in 1660, and chofen
profefi'or of medicine at Hall, when a univerfity was
founded in that city in 1694. The excellency of his
le£tures while he filled that chair, the importance of his
various publications, and his extenfive pradlice, foon raif¬
ed his reputation to a very great height. He received
an invitation to Berlin in 1716, which having accepted,
he was made counfellor of ftate and phyfician to the
king. He died in 1734, in the 75th year of his age.
Stahl is without doubt one of the gveateft men of which
the annals of medicine can boaft : his name marks the
commencement of a new and more illuftrious era in
chemiftry. He was the author of the do&rine of phlo-
gifton, which, though now completely overturned by
the difeoveries of Lavoifier and others, was not without
its ufe ; as it ferved to combine the fcattered fragments
of former chemifts into a fyftem, and as it gave rile to
more accurate experiments and a more fcientific view of
the fubjeft, to which many of the fubfequent difeoveries
were owing. This theory maintained its ground for
more than half a century, and was received and fup-
ported by fome of the moft eminent men which Europe
has produced 5 a fufficient proof of the ingenuity and
the abilities of its author. He was the author alfo of
A Theory of Medicine, founded upon the notions which
he entertained of the abfolute dominion of mind over
body } in confequence of which, he affirmed, that every
mufcular a£Hon is a voluntary aft of the mind, whether
attended with confcioufnefs or not. This theory he
and his followers carried a great deal too far, but the
advices at leaft which he gives to attend to the ftate of
the mind of the patient are worthy of the attention of
phyficians.
His principal works are, 1. Experimenta et Obferva-
tiones Chemicee et Phyjicce, Berlin, I73I> ^V0, 2. Differ*
tationes Medicce. Hall, 2 vols 410. This is a colle&ioa
of thefes. 3. Theoria Medico vera, 1737,410. 4. 0-
pufculum Chymico-phyjico-mcdicum, 1740, 4to. 5. A.
Treatife on Sulphur, both Inflammable and Fixed, writ¬
ten in German. 6. Negotium Otiofnm, Hall, 1720, 4to.
It is in this treatife chiefly that he eftabliffies his fyftem
concerning the aflion of the foul upon the body.
7. Eundamenta Chymicce Dogmatic# et Experiment a Us,
Nuremberg, 17471 3 v0^s 4^°* ^ treatife on Salts,
written m German. 9* Commentarium in Mietallurgiatn
Beecher i, 1723.
STAINING or Colouring 0/Bone, Horn, Mar¬
ble, Paper, Wood, &c. See thefe articles.
STAIRCASE, in ArchiteElure, an afeent inclofed
between walls, or a baluftrade confifting of flairs or fteps,
with landing places and rails, ferving to make a com¬
munication between the feveral ftories of a houfe. See
Architecture, N° 89, &c.
STALACTITES, in Mineralogy, cryftalline fpars
formed into oblong, conical, round, or irregular bodies,
compofed of various crufts, and ufually found hanging
in form of ificles from the roofs of grottoes, &c.
STALAGMITIS, a genus of the monoscia order,.
belonging
S T A [ 627 ] S T A
Stale belonging to the polygamia clafs of plants j and in the
II natural method ranking under the 38th order, Tricoccce.
_ j See Botany and Materia Medica Index.
STALE, among fportfmen, a living fowl put in a
place to allure and bring others where they may be ta¬
ken. For want of thefe, a bird (hot, his entrails taken
out, and dried in an oven in his feathers, with a ftick
thruft through to keep it in a convenient pofture, may
lerve as well as a live one.
Stale is alfo a name for the urine of cattle.
Animated STALK. This remarkable animal was
found by Mr Ives at Cuddalore : and he mentions
feveral kinds of it; fome appearing like dry ftraws tied
together, others like grafs; fome have bodies much lar¬
ger than others, with the addition of two fcaly imper-
feft wings ; their neck is no bigger than a pin, but
twice as long as their bodies ; their heads are like thofe
of an hare, and their eyes vertical and Very brilk. They
live upon flies, and catch thefe infefts very dexteroufly
with the two fore-feet, which they keep doubled up in
three parts clofe to their head, and dart out very quick
on the approach of their prey; and when they have caught
it, they eat it very voracioufly, holding it in the fame
manner as a fquirrel does its food. On the outer joints
of the fore-feet are feveral very (harp hooks for the ea-
lier catching and holding of their prey j while, with the
other feet, which are four in number, they take hold of
trees or any other thing, the better to furprife whatever
they lie in Wait for. They drink like a horfe, putting
their mouths into the wrater. Their excrements, which
are very white, are almoft as large as the body of the
animal, and as the natives fay, dangerous to the eyes.
STALLION, or Stone-Horse, in the manege, a
horfe defigned for the covering of mares, in order to
propagate the fpecies. See Equus, Mammalia Index.
STAMFORD, an ancient town of Lincolnfhire in
England ; feated on the river Welland, on the edge of
Northamptonfhire. It is a large handfome place, con¬
taining fix parifti-churches, feveral good ftreets, and fine
buildings. It had formerly a college, the ftudents of
which removed to Brazen Nofe college in Oxford. It
has no confiderable manufaftories, but deals chiefly in
malt. W. Long. o. 31. N. Lat. 54. 42.
STAMINA, in Botany, are thofe upright filaments
which, on opening a flower, we find within the corolla
furrounding the piftillum. According to Linnseus, they
are the male organs of generation, whofe office it is to
prepare the pollen. Each ftamen confifts of two diftinft
parts, viz. the FILAmentum and the anthera.
Stamina, in the animal body, are defined to be thofe
fimple original parts which exifted firft in the embryo
or even in the feed ; and by whofe diltin&ion, augmen¬
tation, and accretion by additional juices, the animal
body at its utmoft bulk is fuppofed to be formed.
STAMP-duties, a branch of the perpetual revenue.
See Revenue.
In Great Britain there is a tax impofed upon all
parchment and paper, whereon any legal proceedings or
private inflruments of almoft any nature whatfoever are
written ; and alfo upon licenfes for retailing wines, of
all denominations; upon all almanacs, newlpapers, ad-
vertifements, cards, dice, &c. Thefe impofts are very
various ; being higher or lower, not fo much according
to the value of the property transferred, as according to
the nature of the deed. The higheft do not exceed
fix pounds upon every flieet of paper or ikin of parch- Stamp
ment 5 and thefe high duties fall chiefly upon grants H
from the crown, and upon certain law proceeding^, StarihoPg«
without any regard to the value of the fubjeft. There Smith's
are in Great Britain no duties on the regiftration of Wealth <?/
deeds or waitings, except the fees of the officers who Nations^
keep the regifter ) and thefe are feldom more than avul'in'
reafonable recompenfe for their labour. The crown
derives no revenue from them.
The ftamp-duties conftitute a tax which, though in
fome inflances it may be heavily felt, by greatly increa-
fing the expence of all mercantile as well as legal pro¬
ceedings, yet (if moderately impofed) is of fervice to
the public in general, by authenticating inftruments,
and rendering it much more difficult than formerly to
forge deeds of any handing 5 fincc, as the officers of
this branch of the revenue vary their ftamps frequently,
by marks perceptible to none but themfelves, a man that
would forge a deed of King William’s time, muft know
and be able to counterfeit the ftamp of that date alfo.
In France and fome other countries the duty is laid on
the contrail itfelf, not on the inftrument in which it is
contained ; as, with us too in England (befides the ftamps
on the indentures), a tax is laid, by ftatute 8 Ann. c. 9.
on every apprentice-fee j of 6d. in the pound if it be 50I.
or under, and I s, in the pound if a greater fum : but
this tends to draw the fubjett into a thoufand nice dif-
quifitions and difputes concerning the nature of his con-
tradl, and whether taxable or not; in which the far¬
mers of the revenue are fure to have the advantage.
Our general method anfwers the purpofes of the ftatd
as well, and confults the eafe of the fubjeft much better.
The firft inftitution of the ftamp duties was by ftatute
5 and 6 W. and M. c 21. and they have fince, in many
inftances, been increafed to five times their original
amount.
STANCHION, or Stanchions, a fort of fmall pil¬
lars of wood or iron ufed for various purpofes in a ftiip 5
as to fupport the decks, the quarter-rails, the nettings,
the awnings, &c. The firft of thofe are two ranges of
fmall columns fixed underthebeams, throughoutthelhip’s
length between decks; one range being on the ftarboard
and the other on the larboard fide of the hatchways.
They are chiefly intended to fupport the weight of the
artillery.
STAND, in commerce, a weight from two hundred
and an half to three hundred of pitch.
STANDARD, in War, a fort of banner or flag
borne as a fignal for the joining together of the feveral
troops belonging to the fame body.
Standard, in Commerce, the original of a weight,
meafure, or coin, committed to the keeping of a magif-
trate, or depofited in fome public place, to regulate, ad-
juft, and try the weights ufed by particular periens in
traffic. See Money.
STANHOPE Philip Dormer, earl of Ches¬
terfield, was bom in 1695, and educated in Trinity-
hall, Cambridge; which place he left in 1714, when,
by his own account, he was an abfolute pedant. In this
chara&er he went abroad, where a familiarity with good
company foon convinced him he was totally miftaken in
almoft all his notions : and an attentive ftudy of the air,
manner, and addrefs of people of faffiidn, foon polifhed a
man whofe predominant defire was to pleafe ; and wrho,
as it afterwards appeared, valued exterior accompliih-
4 K at mentfe
S T A
Stanhope, merits beyond any other human acquirement. While
t ‘ Lord Stanhope, he got an early feat in parliament y. and
in 1722, fucceeded to his father’s eftate and titles. In
2728, and in 1745, he was appointed ambaiTador ex¬
traordinary and plenipotentiary to Holland : which
high character he fupported with the greateft dignity j
ferving his own country, and gaining the efteem of the
ftates-general. Upon his return from Holland,t he was
fent lord-lieutenant of Ireland ; and during his admini-
flration there, gave general fatisfadtion to all parties.
He left Dublin in 1746, and in Odtober fucceeded the
earl of Harrington as lecretary of Itate, in which pod he
officiated until February 6th 1748. Being feized with
a deafnefs in 1752 that incapacitated him for the plea-
fures of fociety, he from that time led a private and re¬
tired life, amufing himfelf with books and his pen ; in
particular, he engaged largely as a volunteer in a peri¬
odical mifcellaneous paper called The World, in which
his contributions have a diffinguiffied degree of excel¬
lence. He died in 1773, leaving a chantdler for wit
and abilities that had few equals. He ditlinguiffied him¬
felf by bis eloquence in parliament on m&ny important
occafions j of which we have a charadteriliic in (lance,
of his own relating. He was an adtive promoter of the
bill for altering the ftylej on which occafion, as he him¬
felf writes in one of his letters to his fon, he made fo
eloquent a fpeech in the houfe, that every one was plea-
fed, and faid he had made the whole very clear to them ;
“ when (fays he), God knows, I had nqt even attempt¬
ed it. I could juft as foon have talked Celtic or Scla-
vonian to them, as aftronomy ; and they would have un-
derftood me full as well.” Lord Macclesfield, one cf
the greateft mathematicians in Europe, and who bad a
principal hand in framing the bill, fpoke afterwards,
with all the clearnefs that a thorough knowledge of the
fubjedf could dictate •, but not having a flow of words
equal to Lord Chefterfield, the latter gained the applaufe
from the former, to the equal credit of the fpeaker and
the auditors. The high character Lord Chefterfield
fupported during life, received no fmall injury foon after
his death, from a fuller difplay of it by his own hand.
He left no iffue by his lady, but bad a natural fon, Phi¬
lip Stanhope, Efq. whofe education was for many years
a clofe objeft of his attention, and who was afterward
envoy extraordinary at the court of Drefden, but died
before him. When Lord Chefterfield died, Mr Stan¬
hope’s widow publiffied a courfe of letters, written by
the father to the fon, filled with inftrudlions fuitable to
the different gradations of the young man’s life to whom
they were addreffed. Thefe letters contain many fine
obfervations on mankind, and rules of conduct : but it
is obfervable that he lays a greater ftrefs on exterior ac-
compliihments and addrefs, than on intelledlual qualifi¬
cations and fmcerity } and allowrs greater latitude to
fafhionable pleafures than good morals will juftify, efpe-
cially in paternal inftruflions. Hence it is that a ce-
5 Dr T'dm- lebrated writer §, and of manners fomewhat different
fon. from tbofe of the polite earl of Chefterfield, is faid to
have obferved of thefe letters, that “ they inculcate only
the morals of a whore, with the manners of a dancing-
mafter,”
StaNKOPE, Dr George, an eminent divine, was born
at Hertifhorn in Derbyihire, in the year 1660. His
father was reftor of that place, vicar of St Margaret’s
church in Leicefter, and chaplain to the earls of Chef-
S T A
terfield and Clare. His grandfather, Dr George Stan- St
hope, was chaplain to James I. and Charles I.; had the —
chancellorfhip of York, where he was alfo a canon-refi-
dentiary, held a prebend, and was redlor of Weldrake
in that county. Pie was for his loyalty driven from his
home with eleven children j and died in 1644. Aur
author was fent to fchool, firtt at Uppingham in Rut¬
land, then at Leicefter •, afterwards removed to Eaton ;
and thence cholen to King’s college in Cambridge, in
tilt place of W. Cleaver. He took the degree of B. A.
in 1681 j M. A. 1685 ; was eledted one of the iyndics
for the univerfity of Cambridge, in the bufinefs of Al¬
ban Francis, 1687 j mjnifter of Quoi near Cambridge,
and vice-proftor, 1688 ; was that year preferred to the
rectory of Tring in Hertfordftiire, which after fome
time he quitted. He was in 1689 prefented to the vi¬
carage of Lewilham in Kent by Lord Dartmouth, to
whom he had been chaplain, and tutor to his fon. He
was alfo appointed chaplain to King Vv illiam and Queen
Mary, and continued to enjoy that honour under Queen
Anne. He commenced D. D. July 5th 169}, per¬
forming all the offices required to that degree publicly
and with great applaufe. Pie was made vicar of Dept¬
ford in 3703 ; fucceeded Dr Hooper as dean of Canter¬
bury the fame year •, and was thrice chofen prolocutor
of the lower houfe of convocation. His uncommon di¬
ligence and induftry, aflifted by bis excellent parts, en¬
riched him with a large ftock of polite, folid, and ufeful
learning. His difeourfts from the pulpit were equally
pleafing and profitable j a beautiful intermixture of the
cleared: reafoning with the pureft diftion, attended with
all the graces of a juft elocution. The good Chriftian,
the folid divine, and the fine gentleman, in him were
happily united. His converfation was polite and deli¬
cate, grave without precifeneft, facetious without levity.
His piety was real and rational, his charity great and
univerfal, fruitful in efts of mercy, and in all good
works. He died March 18th 1728, aged 68 years;
and was buried in the chancel of the church at Lewif-
ham. The dean was twice married: firft to Olivia
Cotton, by whom be had one fon and four daughters.
His fecond lady, who was fifter to bir Charles Wager,
furvived him, dying Oftober lit 1730, aged about 54.
One of the dean’s daughters was married to a fon of
Bifhop Burnet. Bifhop Moore of Ely died the day be¬
fore Queen Anne ; who, it has been laid, defigntd our
dean fur that fee when it fhouid become vacant. Dr
Felton fays, “ The late dean of Canterbury is excellent
in the whole. Plis thoughts and reafoning are bright
and folid. His ftyle is juft, both for the purity of the
language and for the ftrength and beauty of expreffion ;
but the periods are formed in fo peculiar an order of
the words, that it was an obfervation, nobody could pro¬
nounce them with the fame grace and advantage as him¬
felf.” His writings, which are an ineftimable treafure
of piety and devotion are, A Paraphrafe and Comment
upon the Epiftles and Gofpels, 4 vols, 1 705, 8vo. Ser¬
mons at Boyle’s Ledlures, 1706, 410. Fifteen Sermons,
1700, 8vo. Twelve Sermons on feveral Occafions,
1727, 8vo. Thomas a Kempis, 1696, 8vo. Epidletus’s
Morals, with Simplicius’s Comment, and the Life of
Epifletus, 1700, 8vo. Parfon’s Chriftian Direftory,
1716, 8vo. Rochefoucault’s Maxims, 1706, 8vo. A
Funeral Sermon on Mr Richard Sare bookfeller, 1724
two editions 410. Twenty Sermons, publiflied fingly
between
[ 628 ]
S T A [ 629 ] ST A
hope, between tbe years 1692 and 1724. Private Prayers
flaus. for every Day in the Week, and for the feveral Parts
r~~J of each Day ; tranflated from the Greek Devotions of
Biihop Andrews, with Additions, 1730. In his trani-
latioris, it is well known, Dr Stanhope did not confine
hi m fa If to a ftridt and literal verfisn : he took the liber¬
ty of paraphrafing, explaining, and improving upon his
author 5 as will evidently appear (not to mention any
other work) by the flighteft peruial of St Auguftine’s
Meditations, and the Devotions of Biihop Andrews.
STANISLAUS Leczixski, king of Poland, was
botn at Leopold the 20th of Ociober 1677. PLs father
rvas a Polilh nobleman, diftinguilhed by his rank and the
important offices which he held, but Hill more by his
firmnefs and courage. Staniflaus was fent ambafiador
in 1704 by the affembly of Warfaw to Charles XII. of
Sweden, who had conquered Poland. Pie was at that
time 27 years old, was general of Great Poland, and
had been ambaffador extraordinary to the Grand Sig-
nior in 1699. Charles was fo delighted with the frank-
nefs and fincerity of his deportment, and with the firm¬
nefs and fweetneis which appeared in his countenance,
that he offered him the crown of Poland, and ordered
him to be crowned at Warfaw in 1705* He accom¬
panied Charles XII. into Saxony, where a treaty w'as
concluded with King Auguftus in 1705, by which that
prince refigned the crown, and acknowledged Staniflaus
king of Poland. The new monarch remained in Saxony
with Charles till 1707, when they returned into Poland
and attacked the Ruffians, who were obliged to eva¬
cuate that kingdom in 1708. But Charles being de¬
feated by Peter tbe Great in 1709, Auguftus returned
into Poland, and being affifted by a Ruffian army,
obliged Staniflaus to retire firft into Sweden, and after-
wards into Turkey. Soon after he took up his refidence
at Weiffenburg, a town in Alface. Auguftus difpatched
Sum his envoy to France to complain of this 5 but the
duke of Orleans, who was then regent, returned this
anfwer : “ Tell your king, that France has always been
the afylum of unhappy princes.” Staniflaus lived in ob-
fcurity till 1725, when Louis XV. efpoufed the princefs
Mary his daughter. Upon the death of King Auguftus
in 1733, he returned to Poland in hopes of remounting
the throne of that kingdom. A large party declared
for him j but his competitor the young eleftor of Saxony,
being funported by the emperor Charles VI. and the
emprefs of Ruffia, was chofen king, though the majority
was againft him. Dantzic, to which Staniflaus had ic-
tired, was quickly taken, and the unfortunate prince
made his efcape in difguife with great difficulty, after
hearing that a price was fet upon his head by the Ruf¬
fians. When peace -was concluded in 1736 between
the emperor and France, it rvas agreed that Staniflaus
fhould abdicate tbe throne, but that he fhould be ac¬
knowledged king of Poland and grand duke of Lithu¬
ania, and continue to bear thefe titles during life.; that
all his effeffs and tbofe of the queen his fpoufe fliould be
reftored ; that an amnefty fliould be declared in Poland
for all that was paft, and that every perfon fhould be
reftored to bis poffeflions, rights, and privileges : that
the eleiflor of Saxony fliould be acknowledged king of
Poland by all tbe powers who acceded to the treaty :
that Staniflaus fhould be put in peaceable pofleflion of
tbe duchies of Lorraine and Bar ; but that immediately
after his death thefe duchies fliould be united for ever to
the crown of France. Staniflaus fucceeded a race of Staniflaus.
princes in Lorraine, who were beloved and regretted :
and his fubjects found their ancient fovereigns revived in
him. He tailed then the pleafure which he had fo long
deflred, the pleafure of making men happy. Fie affix¬
ed his new fubjefts ; he embellilhed Nancy and Lune-
vilie ; he made uielul eiiabiifhments ; he Founded col¬
leges and built hofpitals. He was engaged in thefe
noble employments, when an accident occafioned his
death. His night-gown caught fire, and burnt him fo
feverely before it could be extinguiihed, that he was
feized with a fever, and died the 23d ot February 1766*
His death occafioned a public mourning : the tears of
his fubjedls indeed are the belt eulogium upon this prince.
In his youth he had accuftomed himfelf to fatigue, and
had thereby (Lengthened his mind as well as his conlti-
tution. He lay always upon a kind of mattrefs, and
feldom required any fervice from his domeftics. He was
temperate, liberal, adored by his vaffals, and perhaps
the only nobleman in Poland who had any friends. He
was in Lorraine what he had been in his own country^
gentle, affable, compaffionate, treating his fubjetts like
equals, participating their forrows and alleviating their
misfortunes. He refembled completely the pidture of a
philofopher which he himfelf has drawn. “ I he true
philofopher (faid he) ought to be free from prejudices,
and to know the value of reafon : he ought neither to
think the higher ranks of life of more value than they
are, nor to treat the lower orders of mankind with
greater contempt than they deferve : he ought to enjoy
pleafures without being a (lave to them, riclaes without
being attached to them, honours without pride or vani¬
ty : he ought to fupport difgraces without either fearing,
or courting them : he ought to reckon what he pofiefles-
fufficient for him, and to regard what he has not as uie-
lefs: he ought to be equal in every fortune, always tran¬
quil, alwrays gay : he ought to love order, and to ob-*
ferve it in all his actions: he ought to be fevere to him-
felf, but indulgent to others : he ought to be frank
and ingenuous without rudenefs, polite without falfe-
hood, complaifant without bafenefs : he ought to have
the courage to difregard every kind of glory, and to
reckon as nothing even philofophy itfelf.” Such was
Staniflaus in every fituation. His temper was affec¬
tionate. He told his treafurer one day to put a certain
officer on his lift, to whom he was very much attached :
“ In what quality (faid the treafurer) fhall I mark him
down ?” “ As my friend” (replied the monarch). A
young painter conceiving hopes of making his fortune if
his talents -were made known to Staniflaus, prefented
him with a pifture, which the courtiers criticifed fevere¬
ly. The prince praifed the performance, and paid the
painter very generoufly : then turning to his courtiers,
he faid, “ Do ye not fee, gentlemen, that this poor man
muff provide for his family by his abilities ? if you dif-
courage him by your cenfures, he is undone. We ought
always to affift men ; we never gain any thing by hurt- ■
ing them.” His revenues were fmall; but were we to
judge of him by what he did, we (hould probably rec¬
kon him the richeft potentate in Europe. A Angle in-
ftance will be fufficient to (how the well-judged economy
with which his benevolent plans were conduced. He
gave 18,000 crowns to the magiflrates of Bar to be em¬
ployed in purchafing grain, when at a low price, to
be fold out again to the poor at a moderate rate when
■S T A [ 630
t>tan:flau$ the price Hiould rife above a certain fum. By this
Stapelia. arranSement (% the authors of Ditiionaire Hiflo-
rique), the money increafes continually, and its good
effects may in a Ihort time be extended over the whole
province.
He was a proteftor of the arts and fciences: he wrote
feveral works of philofophy, politics, and morality, which
were colle&ed and publiftied in France in 1765, in 4
vols, 8vo, under the title of Oeuvres de Philojbphe Bien~
faifant, “ the w^orks of the Benevolent Philofopher.”
STANITZAS, villages or fmall diftri&s of the banks
©f the Don, inhabited by Coflacs.
STANLEY, Thomas, a learned Englifh writer in
the 17th century, was the fon of Sir Thomas Stanley of
Cumberlow-Green in Herefordflure, knight. He was
born at Cumberlow about 1644, and educated in his
father’s houfe, whence he removed to the univerfity of
Cambridge. He afterwards travelled ; and, upon his
return to England, profecuted his ftudies in the Middle
Temple. He married, when young, Dorothy, the eldelt
daughter of Sir James Engan of Flower, in Northamp-
tonihire. He wrote, 1. A volume of Poems. 2. Hif-
tory of Philofophy, and Lives of the Philofophers. 3.
A Tranflation of Efchylus, with a Commentary j and
feveral other works. He died in 1678.
STANNARIES, the mines and works where tin is
dug and purified ; as in Cornwall, Devonlhire, &c.
STANNARY courts, in Devonlhire and Cornwall,
for the adminiftration of juftice among the tinners there¬
in. They are held before the lord-warden and his fub-
llitutes, in virtue of a privilege granted to the workers
in the tin-mines there, to fue and be fued only in their
own courts, that they may not be drawn from their bufi-
nefs, which is highly profitable to the public, by attend¬
ing their law-fuits in other courts. The privileges of
the tinners are confirmed by a charter, 33 Edw. I. and
fully expounded by a private ftatute, 50 Edvv. III.
which has fince been explained by a public aft. 16 Car. I.
Blackjlone s C' What relates to our prefent purpofe is only this :
That all tinners and labourers in and about the ftanna-
ries lhall, during the time of their working therein,
bona fide, be privileged from fuits of other courts, and
be only pleaded in the ftannary court in all matters, ex¬
cepting pleas of land, life, and member. No unit of
error lies from hence to any court in Weftminfter-hall;
as was agreed by all the judges, in 4 Jac. I. But an
appeal lies from the Reward of the court to the under¬
warden \ and from him to the lord-wrarden 5 and thence
to the privy-council of the prince of Wales, as duke of
Cornwall, when he hath had livery or inveftiture of the
fame. And from thence the appeal lies to the king
himfelf, in the laft refort.
STANNUM, Tin. See Tin, Chemistry and
Mineralogy Index.
STANZA, in Poetry, a number of lines regularly
adjufted to each other ; fo much of a poem as contains
every variation of meafure or relation of rhyme ufed in
that poem.
STAPELIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs pentandria and order digynia, and in the natural
orders arranged under the Succulent#. See Botany
Index.—This lingular tribe of plants is peculiar to the
fandy deferts of Africa and Arabia. They are extreme¬
ly fucculent. From this peculiarity of ftrufture, the
power of retaining water to fupport and nouriili them,
1
S T A
Staphyli-
nus.
Comment.
vol. iii.
p. 79 and
80.
they are enabled to live during the prevalent droughts Stapelia
of thofe arid regions. On this account the ftapelia
has been compared to the camel; and we are told that,
by a very apt fimilitude, it has been denominated “ the t.
camel oi the vegetable kingdom.” We mull confefs
ourfelves quite at a lofs to fee the propriety or aptitude
of this comparifon. In many parts of the animal and
vegetable economy there is doubtlefs a very obvious and
llriking analogy : but this analogy has been often car¬
ried too far j much farther than fair experiment and
accurate obfervation will in any degree fupport. It is
perhaps owing to this inaccuracy in obferving the pe¬
culiarity of ftrufture and diverfity of functions, that a
refemblance is fuppofed to exift, as in the prefent cafe,
where in reality there is none. The camel is provided
with a bag or fifth ftomach, in addition to the four
with which ruminant animals are furnilhed. This fifth
ftomach is deftined as a refervoir to contain water 5 and
it is fufficiently capacious to receive a quantity of that
neceflary fluid, equal to the wants of the animal, for
many days.: and this water, as long as it remains in
the fifth ftomach, is faid to be perfeftly pure and un¬
changed. The fiapelia, and other fucculent plants,
have no fuch refervoir. The water is equally, or near¬
ly fo, diffufed through the whole plant. Every veffel
and every cell is fully diftended. But befides, this
water, whether it be received by the roots, or abforbed
from the atmofphere, has probably undergone a com¬
plete change, and become, after it has been a ftiort time
within the plant, a fluid poffeffed of very different qua¬
lities.
The peculiar economy in the ftapelia, and other fuc¬
culent plants, feems to exift in the abforbent and exha-
lant fyftems. The power of abforption is as much in-
creafed as the power of the exhalant or perfpiratory
veffels is diminilhed. In thefe plants, a fmall quantity
of nourithment is required. There is no folid part to
be formed, no large fruit to be produced. They ge¬
nerally have very fmall leaves, often are entirely naked ky
fo that taking the whole plant, a fmall furface only it
expofed to the aftion of light and heat, and confequent-
ly a much fmaller proportion of water is decompofed
than in plants which are much branched and furniflied
with leaves.
Two fpecies of ftapelia only w7ere known at the be¬
ginning of the century. The unfortunate Forlkal, the
companion of Niebhur, who was fent out by the king
of Denmark to explore the interior of Arabia, and who
fell a facrifice to the peftilential difeafes of thofe inhof-
pitable regions, difcovered two new fpecies. Thun-
berg, in his Prodromus, has mentioned five more. For¬
ty new fpecies have been difcovered by Mr Maflbn of
Kew Gardens, who was fent out by his prefent Ma-
jefty for the purpofe of collefting plants round the
Cape of Good Hope. Defcriptions of thefe, with ele¬
gant and highly finifhed coloured engravings, have late¬
ly been publiflred. They are chiefly natives of the ex-
tenfive deferts called Karro, on the weftern fide of the
Cape.
STAPHYLEA, Bladder-nut, a genus of plants
belonging to the clafs of pentandria and order of tri-
gynia ; and in thp natural fyftem arranged under the
23 d order, Trihilatce. See Botany Index.
STAPHYLINUS, a genus of infefts belonging to
the order of coleoptera. See Entomology Index.
STAPLE,
/
S T A [ 631 ] S T A
Staple STAPLE, primarily fignifies a public place or mar-
„ 0 ket, whither merchants, &c. are obliged to bring their
, S^ar‘ , goods to be bought by the people ; as the Greve, or
the places along the Seine, for fale of wines and corn,
at Paris, whither the merchants of other parts are obli¬
ged to bring thofe commodities.
Formerly, the merchants of England were obliged to
carry their wool, cloth, lead, and other like ftaple com¬
modities of this realm, in order to expofe them by
wholefale j and thefe ftaples were appointed to be con-
flantly kept at York, Lincoln, Newcaille-upon-Tyne,
Norwich, Weftminfter, Canterbury, Chichefter, Win-
chefter, Exeter, and Briftol; in each whereof a public
mart was appointed to be kept, and each of them had a
court of the mayor of the ftaple, for deciding differ¬
ences, held according to the law-merchant, in a fumma-
ry way.
STAR, in AJlronomy, a general name for all the
heavenly bodies, which, like fo many brilliant ftuds,
are difperfed throughout the whole heavens. The ftars
are diftinguifhed, from the phenomena of their motion,
&c. into fixed, and erratic or wandering ftars : thefe laft
are again diftinguilhed into the greater luminaries, viz.
the fun and moon } the planets, or wandering ftars, pro¬
perly fo called, and the comets j which have been all
fully confidered and explained under the article Astro¬
nomy. As to the fixed ftars, they are fo called, be-
caufe they feem to be fixed, or perfectly at reft, and
confequently appear always at the fame diftance from
each other.
Falling STARS, in Meteorology, fiery meteors which
dart through the Iky in form of a ftar. See Meteor.
Twinkling of the Stars. See Optics.
Star, is alfb a badge of honour, worn by the knights
of the garter, bath, and thiftle. See Garter.
Star of Bethlehem. See Ornithogalum, Botany
Index
Star, in Fortification, denotes a fmall fort, having
five or more points, or faliant and re-entering angles,
flanking one another, and their faces 90 or 100 feet
long.
Court of STAR-CHAMBER, (camera Jlellataf a fa¬
mous, or rather infamous, Englilh tribunal, faid to have
been fo called either from a Saxon word fignifying to
fleer or govern; or from its puniftving the crimenJlellio-
natus, or cofenage ; or becaufe the room wherein it fat,
the old council-chamber of the palace of Weftminfter,
(Lamb. 148.) which is now converted into the lottery-
office, and forms the eaftern fide of New-Palace yard,
wTas full of windows; or, (to which Sir Edward Coke,
4 Inft. 66. accedes), becaufe haply the roof thereof was
at the firft garnifhed with gilded jlars. As all thefe are
merely conjeftures, (for no ftars are now in the roof,
nor are any faid to have remained there fo late as the
reign of Queen Elizabeth), it may be allowable to pro-
pofe another conjeftural etymology, as plaufible perhaps
as any of them. It is well known, that, before the ba-
jy^l/^^niftiment of the Jews under Edward I. their contrafts
Comment, and obligations were denominated in our ancient records
vol. iv. Jlarra or Jlarrs, from a corruption of the Hebrew word,
f. 266. fhetar, a covenant. {fYove.fs Angl. Judaic. 32. Selden..
tit. of hon. ii. 34. IJxor Ebraic. i. 14.). Thefe ftarrs,
by an ordinance of Richard I. preferved by Hoveden,
were eontmanded to be enrolled and depofited in chefts
under three keys in certain places ; one, and the mod Star,
confiderable, of which was in the king’s exchequer at l“’—y—
Weftminfter : and no ftarr was allowed to be valid, un-
lefs it were found in fome of the faid repofitories. (Me-
morand. in ScaC P. 6. Edw. 1. prefixed to Maynard’s
year-book of Edw. II. fol. 8. Madox hift. exch. c. vii.
§ 4, 5, 6.). The room at the exchequer, where the
chefts containing thefe ftarrs were kept, was probably
called theJlar-cliamber; and, when the Jews were ex¬
pelled the kingdom, was applied to the ufe of the king’s
council, fitting in their judicial capacity. To confirm,
this, the firft time the ftar-chamber is mentioned in any
record, it is faid to have been fituated near the receipt
of the exchequer at Weftminfter: (the king’s council,
his chancellor, treafurer, juftices, and other fages, were^
affembled en la chaumbre des ejleilles pres la refeeipt al
Wejlminjler. Clauf. 41 Edw. III. m. 13.). For in pro-
cefs of time, when the meaning of the JewtftiJlarrs were
forgotten, the vjoxdL fiar-chamber was naturally rendered
in law French, la chaumbre des ejleilles, and in law La¬
tin camera Jlellata ; w?hich continued to be the ftyle int
Latin till the diffolution of that court.
This was a court of very ancient original; but new-
modelled by ftatutes 3 Hen. VII. c. 1. and 21 Hen¬
ry VIII. c. 20. confifting of divers lords fpiritual and
temporal, being privy-counfellors, together with two
judges of the courts of common law, without the inter¬
vention of any jury. Their jurifdiftion extended legally
over riots, perjury, mifbehaviour of ftieriffs, and other
notorious mifdemeanors, contrary to the lawrs of the
land. Yet this wras afterwards (as Lord Clarendon in¬
forms us) ftretched “ to the afferting of all proclama¬
tions and orders of ftate; to the vindicating of illegal
commiflions and grants of monopolies ; holding for ho¬
nourable that which pleafed, and for juft that which
profited ; and becoming both a court of law to determine
civil rights, and a court of revenue to enrich the trea-
fury : the council-table by proclamations enjoining to
the people that which was not enjoined by the laws, and
prohibiting that which was not prohibited ; and the ftar-
chamber, which confifted of the fame perfons in different
rooms, cenfuring the breach and difobedience to thofe
proclamations by very great fines, imprifonments, and
corporal feverities : fo that any dilrefpedt to any a£l:s of
ftate, or to the perfons of ftatefmen, was in no time
more penal, and the foundations of right never more in
danger to be deftroyed.” For which reafons, it w-as fi¬
nally aboliftied by ftatute 16 Car. I. c. 10. to the gene¬
ral joy of the whole nation. See King's-Bench. There
is in the Britifti Mufeum (Harl. MSS. vol. i. N° 126.)-
a very full, methodical, and accurate account of the
conftitution and courfe of this court, compiled by Wil¬
liam Hudfon of Gray’s Inn, an eminent pradlitioner
therein. A (hort account of the fame, with copies of
all its procefs, may alfo be found in 18 Rym. Foed. 192,
&c.
STAR-Board, the right fide of the Ihip when the eye
of the fpedlator is diredted forward.
STAR-Fifh. See Asterias, Helminthology In¬
dex.
STAR-Shot, a gelatinous fubftance frequently found
in fields, and fuppofed by the vulgar to have been
produced from the meteor called a falling-Jlar: but,
in reality, is the half-digefted food of herons, fea-mews,
and-
S T A
[ 63
■Star,
Starch.
Plate
D.
Fig. r.
and the like birds \ for thefe birds have been found
when newly fhot, to difgorge a fubttance of the lame
kind.
STAR-Stone, in Natural Hjlonj, a name given to cer¬
tain extraneous follil Hones, in form of lliort, and com¬
monly fomewhat crooked columns, compoled of ieveral
joints, each refembling the figure of a radiated liar, with
a greater or fmaller number of rays in the different fpe-
cies : they are ufually found of about an inch in length,
and of the thicknefs of a goofe-quill. Some of them
have five angles or rays, and others only four ; and in
fome the angles are equidiftant, while in others they are
irregularly fo : in fome alfo they are Ihort and blunt,
while in others they are long, narrow, and pointed } and
fome have their angles very (hort and obtufe. The fe-
veral joints in the fame fpecimen are ufually all of the
fame thicknefs •, this, however, is not always the cafe;
but in fome they are larger at one end, and in others at
the middle, than in any other part of the body ; and
fome fpecies have one of the rays bifid, fo as to emulate
the appearance of a fix-raved kind.
STAB-nifllc. See Cehtaurea,-) BoTANy
Star-WoH. See Aster, $
STARCH, a fecula or fediment, found at the bot¬
tom of veffels wherein wheat has been ffeeped in water,
of which fecula, aftpr feparating the bran from it, by
palling it through fieves, they form 'a kind of loaves,
which being dried in the fun or an oven, is afterwards
cut into little pieces, and fo fold. The belt ft arch is
white, foft, and friable, and eafily broken into powder.
Such as require fine ftarch, do not content themfelves,
like the ftarchmen, with refufe wheat, but ufe the fineft
grain. The procefs is as follow's : The grain, being
well cleaned, is put to ferment in veffels full of water,
which they expofe to the fun while in its greateft heat;
changing the water twice a-day, for the fpace of eight
or twelve days, according to the feafon. When the
grain burfts eafily under the finger, they judge it fuffi-
ciently fermented. The fermentation perfefted, and
the grain thus foftened, it is put, handful by handful,
into a canvas-bag, to feparate the flour from the hulks;
which is done by rubbing and beating it on a plank
laid acrofs the mouth of an empty veffel that is to re¬
ceive the flour.
As the veffels are filled with this liquid flour, there is
feen fwimming at top a reddilh rvater, which is to be
carc/ully fcummed off from time to time, and clean wa¬
ter is to be put in its place, which, after ftirring the
whole together, is alfo to be (trained through a cloth
or fieve, and what is left behind put into the veffel with
new water, and expofed to the fun for fome time. As
the fediment thickens at the bottom, they drain oft' the
water four or five times, by inclining the veffel, but
without palling it through the fieve. What remains at
% bottom is the ftarch, which is cut in pieces to get out,
and left to dry in the fun. When dry, it is laid up
for ufe.
The following mill, was invented by M. Baume for
grinding potatoes, with a view to extract ftarch from
them.
He had a grater made of plate iron, in a cylindrical
form (fig. 1 ) about feven inches in diameter, and about
eight inchec high ; the burs made by flumping the holes
are on the iufide. This grater is fupported upon three
feet AAA, made of flat iron bars, feven feet high,
2 ] S T A
ftrongly rivetted to the grater; the bottom of each Starch
foot is bent horizontally, and has a hole in it which re- '“"““V'
ceives a ferew, as at A, fig. 4. A little below7 the up¬
per end of the three feet is fixed a crofs piece B (fig. 1.
and 4.), divided into three brandies, and rivetted to the
feet. This crofs piece not only ferves to keep the feet
at a proper diltance from each other, and to prevent
their bending ; but the centre of it having a hole cut in
it, ferves to fupport an axis or fpindle of iron, to be pre¬
fen tly deferibed.
The upper end of this cylindrical grater has a diver¬
ging border of iron C (fig. 1.4. and 7.), about 10 inches
in diameter at the top, and five inches in height.
Within this cylindrical grater is placed a fecond gra¬
ter (fig. 2. and 3.), in the form of a cone, the point of
•which is cut off. The latter is made of thick plate iron,
and the burs of the holes are on the outfide ; it is fixed,
with the broad end at the bottom, as in fig. 4. At the
upper end of the cone is rivetted a fmall triangle, or
crofs piece of iron, confifting of three branches D
(fig. 2.), in the middle of which is made, a fquare hole,
to receive an axis or fpindle ; to give more refiftance to
this part of the cone, it is ftrengthened by means of a
cap of iron E, which is fixed to the grater by means of
rivets, and has alfo a fquare hole made in it, to let the
axis pafs through.
Fig. 3. reprefents the fame cone feen in front ; the
bafe F has alfo a crofs piece of three branches, rivetted
to a hoop of iron, wdiich is fixed to the inner furface of
the cone •, the centre of this crofs piece has alfo a fquare
hole for the paffage of the axis.
Fig. 5. is a fpindle or axis itfelf; it is a fquare bar of
iron about 16 inches long, and more than half an inch
thick 5 round at the bottom, and alfo tovrards the top,
where it fits into the crofs piece I, fig. 7. and B, fig. 1.
and 4. } in thefe pieces it turns round, and by them it is
kept in its place. It muft be fquare at its upper extre¬
mity, that it may have a handle, about nine inches long,
fixed to it, by means of which the conical grater is turn¬
ed round. At G, (fig. 5.), a fmall hole is made through
the axis, to receive a pin H, by means of which the co¬
nical grater is kept at its proper height within the cylin¬
drical one.
Fig. 6. is a bird’s-eye view, in which the mill is re-
prefented placed in an oval tub, like a bathing-tub. I
is the fore-mentioned triangular iron crofs, fixed with
fcrew7s to the fide of the tub ; the centre of it has a
round hole, for the axis of the mill to move in when it
is ufed.
Fig. 7. reprefents the mill in the oval tub 5 it is pla¬
ced at one end of it, that the other end may be left free
for any operation to be performed in it which may be
neceffary. A part of the tub is cut off, that the infide
of it, and the manner of fixing the mill, may be feen.
That the bottom of the tub may not be worn by the
- ferews which pafs through the feet of the mill, a deal
board, about an inch thick, and properly flraped, is pla¬
ced under the mill.
When we with to make ufe of this mill, it is to be
fixed by the feet, in the manner already deferibed ; it is
alfo fixed at the top, by means of the crofs piece I, fig. 6.
and 7. The tub is then to have w7ater poured into it as
high as K, and the top of the mill is to be filled with
potatoes, properly w7afhed and cut •, the handle L is to
be turned round, and the potatoes, after being ground
between
S T -A t 633 3 S T. A
Sfarcli. between tbe two graters, go out gradually at the lower
par^ being affifted by the motion produced in the water
by the adtion of the mill.
To prepare ftarch from potatoes, fays M. Baume, any
quantity of thefe roots may be taken, and foaked in a
tub of water for about an hour 5 they are afterwards to
have their fibres and Ihoots taken off, and then to be
rubbed with a pretty ftrong brulh, that the earth, which
is apt to lodge in the inequalities of their furface, may
be entirely removed •, as this is done, they are to be
walhed, and thrown into another tub full of clean rvater.
When the quantity which we mean to make ufe of has
been thus treated, thofe which are too large are to be
cut into pieces about the fize of eggs, and thrown into
the mill ; that being already fixed in the oval tub, with
the proper quantity of water: the handle is then turned
round, and as the potatoes are grated they pafs out at
the bottom of the mill. The pulp which collects about
the mill mult be taken off from time to time with a
wooden fpoon, and put afide in water.
When all the potatoes are ground, the whole of the
pulp is to be colledted in a tub, and mixed up with a
great quantity of clean water. At the fame time, an¬
other tub, very clean, is to be prepared, on the brim of
w’hich are to be placed two wooden rails, to fupport a
hair fieve, which mult not be too fine. The pulp and
Water are to be thrown into the lieve *, the flour paffes
through with the wrater, and frelh quantities of water
are fucceflively to be poured on the remaining pulp, till
the water runs through as c'ear as it is poured in. In
this way we are to proceed till all the potatoes that were
ground are ufed.
> The pulp is commonly thrown awTay as ufelefs 5 but it
fliould be boiled ir» water, and ufed as food for animals ;
for it is very nourifliing, and is about -|fhs of the whole
- quantity of potatoes ufed.
It is farther to be obferved that the liquor which has
pafled through the fieve is turbid, and of a brownifli
colour, on account of the extractive matter which
is difiolved in it ; it depofits, in the fpace of five or
fix hours, the flour w’hich was fufpended in it. When
all the flour is fettled to the bottom, the liquor is to be
poured off and thrown away, being ufelcfs •, a great
quantity of very clean water is then to be poured upon
the flour remaining at the bottom of the tub, which is
to be flirred up in the w7ater, that it may be wafhed,
and the whole is to ftand quiet till the day following.
The flour will then be found to have fettled at the bot¬
tom of the tub ; the water is again to be poured off as
iilelefs, the flour walked in a frelh quantity of pure wa¬
ter, and the mixture pafled through a filk fieve pretty
fine, which will retain any fmall quantity of pulp which
may have paffed through the hair fieve. The whole
muff once more be fuffered to Hand quiet till the flour is
entirely fettled •, if the water above it is perfectly clear
and colourlefs, the flour has been fufficiently walhed ;
but if the water has any fenfible appearances either of
colour or of tafle, the flour muft be again walhed, as it
is abfolutely neceffary that none of the extractive matter
be fuffered to remain.
When the flour is fulficiently wTalhed, it may be ta¬
ken out of the tub with a wooden fpoon j it is to be
placed upon wicker frames covered with paper, and
dried, properly defended from dull. When it is tho¬
roughly dry, it is to be paffed through a filk fieve, that
Vol. XIX. Part II.
if any clotted lumps Ihould have been formed they may Stardi,
be divided. It is to be kept in glafs-veffels flopped with Stark.
paper only. w—y—,
A patent wTas granted in 1796 to Lord William Mur¬
ray for his difcovery of a method by which ftarch may
be extracted from horfe-chefnuts. It is as follows :
Take the horfe-chefnuts out of the outward green
prickly hulks ; and either by hand, with a knife, or
other tool, or elfe with a mill adapted for that purpofe,
very carefully pare off the brown rind, being particular
not to leave the fmalleft fpeck, and to entirely eradicate
the fprout or growth. Next take the nuts, and rafp,
grate, or grind them fine into water, either by hand, or
by a mill adapted for that purpofe. Walh the pulp,
which is thereby formed in this w’ater, as clean as poffi-
ble, through a coarfe horfe-hair fieve ; this again walh
through a finer fieve, and then again through a ftill
finer, conftantly adding clean wTater, to prevent any
ftarch from adhering to the pulp. The laft procefs is,
to put it with a large quantity of water (about four gal¬
lons to a pound of llarch) through a fine gauze, muffin,
or lawn, fo as entirely to clear it of ail bran or other
impurities. As foon as it fettles, pour off the water j
then mix it up with clean water, repeating this opera¬
tion till it no longer imparts any green, yellow, or other
colour to the water. Then drain it off till nearly dry,
and fet it to bake, either in the ufual mode of baking
ftarch, or elfe fpread out before a brifk fire; being very-
attentive to ftir it frequently to prevent its horning, that
is to fay, turning to a pafte or jelly, which, on being
dried, turns hard like horn. The whole procefs fhould
be conduced as quickly as pollible.
Mention is here made of a mill which may be em¬
ployed to grind the horfe-chefnuts ; but it is not defcrib-
ed j perhaps the one defcribed above for grinding pota¬
toes might anfwer the purpofe.
STARK, Dr William, known to the public by
a volume containing Clinical and Anatomical Obferva-
tions, with feme curious Experiments on Diet, was born
at Manchefter in the month of July 1740 ; but the fa¬
mily from which he fprang was Scotch, and refpe&able
for its antiquity. His grandfather John Stark of Killer-
mont was a covenanter ; and having appeared in arms
againft his fovereigh at the battle of Bothwel bridge in
the year 1679, became obnoxious to the government,
and, to conceal himfelf, withdrew into Ireland. There
is reafon to believe that he had not imbibed either the
extravagant zeal or the favage manners of the political
and religious party to which he adhered ; for after refid-
ing a few years in the country which he had chofen for
the feene of his banifhment, he married Elizabeth daugh¬
ter of Thomas Stewart, Efq. of Balydrone in the north
of Ireland j who, being defeended of the noble family
of Galloway, would not probably have matched his
daughter to fuch an exile as a ruthlefs fanatic of the laft:
century. By this lady Mr Stark had feveral children j
and his feeond fon Thomas, who fettled at Manchefter
as a wholefale linen-draper, and married Margaret Stir¬
ling, daughter of William Stirling, Efq. of Northwood-
fide, in the neighbourhood of Glafgow, was the father
of the fubjeCt of this article. Another of his fons, the
reverend John Stark, was minifter of Lecropt in Perth-
ftiire ; and it was under the care of this gentleman that
our author received the rudiments of his education,
which, when we confider the charafter of the mafter,
4 k an'4
S T A [ 634. ] S T A
Stark, and refleft on the relation between him and his pupil,
'—~v " ■’ we may prefume was calculated to ftore the mind of Dr
Stark with thole virtuous principles which intluenced his
conduft through life.
From Lecropt young Stark was fent to the univerfity
of Glafgow, where, under the tuition of the doctors
Smith and Black, with other eminent mailers, he learn¬
ed the rudiments of fcience, and acquired that mathe¬
matical accuracy, that logical precilion, and that con¬
tempt of hypothefes, with which he profecuted all his
future ftudies. Having chofen phylic for his profeffion.
he removed from the univerfity of Glafgow to that of
Edinburgh, where he was foon diftinguilhed, and ho¬
noured with the friendlhip of the late Dr Cullen j a man
wEo was not more eminently confpicuous for the fuperi-
ority of his own genius, than quick-lighted in perceiv¬
ing, and liberal in encouraging, genius in his pupils.
Having finifhed his lludies at Edinburgh, though he
took there no degree, Mr Stark, in the year 1765, wrent
to London, and devoted himfelf entirely to the lludy of
phyfic and the elements of forgery ; and looking upon
anatomy as one of the principal pillars of both thefe
arts, he endeavoured to complete with Dr Hunter what
he had begun with Dr Monro 5 and under thefe two
eminent profetTors he appears to have acquired a Ingh de¬
gree of anatomical knowledge. He likewife entered
himfelf about this time a pupil at St George’s hcfpital ;
for being difgufted, as he often confeffed, with the in¬
accuracy or want of candour obfervable in the genera¬
lity of practical writers, he determined to obtain an ac¬
quaintance with difeafes at a better fchool and from an
abler mailer; and to have from his own experience a lland-
ard, by which he might judge of the experience of others.
With what indullry he profecuted this plan, and with
what fuccefs his labours were crowned, may be feen in a
feries of Clinical and Anatomical Oblervations, which
were made by him during his attendance at the hofpital,
and were publilhed after his death by bus friend Dr Car¬
michael Smyth. Thefe obfervations give the public no
caufe to complain of want of candour in their author;
tor whatever delicacy he may have obferved, when re¬
lating the cafes of patients treated by other phyficians,
he has related thofe treated by himfelf with the utmolt
impartiality. Whilft attending the hofpitai, he likewife
employed himfelf in making experiments on the blood,
and other animal fluids •, and alfo in a courfe of experi¬
ments in chemical pharmacy ; but though accounts of
thefe experiments were left behind him, we believe they
have not yet been given to the public.
In the year 1767 Mr Stark went abroad, and obtain¬
ed the degree of M. D in the univerfity of Leyden,
publilhing rn inaugural differtalion on the dyfentery.
On his return to London, he recommenced bis ftudies
at the hofpital ; and when Dr Black was called to the
chemical chair in Edinburgh, which he has long filled
with fo much honour to himfelf and credit to the uni¬
verfity, Dr Stark was folicited by feveral members of
the univerfity of Glafgow to fland a candidate for their
profefforfhip of the theory and pradlice of phyfic, ren¬
dered vacant by Dr Black’s removal to Ldinburgh.
This however Dr Stark declined, being influenced by
the advice of his Englifn fiends, who wiflied to detain
him in London, and having likewife fome profpedts of
an appointment in the hofpital.
In the mean time he had commenced (1769) a feries
of experiments on diet, which he was encouraged to un- Stark
dertake by Sir John Pringle and Dr Franklin, wdrofe lj.
friendflrip he enjoyed, and from whom he received many, ^tar^nss'1
hints refpefliRg both the plan and its execution. Thefe
experiments, or rather the imprudent zeal with which
he profecuted them, proved, in the opinion of his friends,
fatal to himfelf*, for he began them on the 12th of July
1769 in perfect health and vigour, and from that day,
though his health varied, it was feldom if ever good,
till the 23d of February 1770, when he died, after
fuflfering much uneafineh. His friend and biographer
Dr Smyth thinks, that other caufes, particularly cha¬
grin and difappointment, had no fmall lhare in halteningK
his death ; and as the Dodtor was intimately acquaint¬
ed with his character and diipofition, his opinion is pro¬
bably •well-founded, though the pernicious effedts of the
experiments are vifible in Dr Stark’s own journal. When
he entered upon them, the weight of his body w*as 12
ft one 3 lb. avoirdupois, which in a very few days wms
reduced to n ftone 10 lb. 8oz.: and though fome kinds
of food increafed it, by much the greater part of what
he ufed had a contrary effedl, and it continued on the
whole to decreafe till the day of his death. This in¬
deed can excite no wonder. Though the profeflfed ob-
iedt of his experiments was to prove that a plcafant and
varied diet is equally conducive to health with a more
ftridl and Ample one, rnoft of the diflies which he ate
during thefe experiments were neither pleafant nor
Ample, but compounds, fuch as every ftomach muft
naufeate. He began with bread and water ; from which
he proceeded to bre/id, water, and fugar ; then to bread,
water, and oil of olives ; then to bread and water with
milk ; afterwards he tried bread and water with roofed
goofe ; bread and water with boiled beef; fewed lean of
beef with the gravij and water without bread ; fewed
lean of beef with the gravy, oil of fat or fuel and water;
flour, oil of fuel, water and fait; flour, water, and fait ;
and a number of others infinitely more difagreeable to
the ftomach than even thefe, Inch as bread, fat of bacon
ham, infuflon of tea with fugar; and bread os four with
honey and the infufion of rofemary. But though we con-
fider Dr Stark’s experiments as whimfical, it cannot be
denied that they indicate eccentricity of genius in the
perfon who made them *, and fuch of our readers as think
genius hereditary, may perhaps be of opinion, that he
derived a ray from the celebrated Napier the inventor
of the logarithms, who was his anceitor by both pa¬
rents. At any rate, thefe experiments, of which a full
account is given in the fame volume with his clinical
and anatomical obfervations, difplay an uncommon de¬
gree of fortitude, perfeverance, lelf-denial, and zeal for
the promoting of ufeful knowledge in their author j
and with refpeft to his moral character, we believe it is
with great juftice that Dr Smyth compares him to Cato,
by applying to him what was faid'of that virtuous Ro¬
man by Salluft—“ Non divitiis cum divite, neque fac-
tione cum faftiofo; fed cum ftrenuo virtute, cum mc-
defto pudore, cum innocente abftinentia certabat ; efie,
quam videri, bonus malebat *Bellufn
STARLING. See Sturnus, Ornithology In-CatilinarU
dex. _ um'
STARLINGS, or Sterlings, the name given to
the ftvong pieces of timber which were driven into tne
bed of the river to proleft the piles, on the top of
which were laid the flat beams upon which were built
the
S T A [63
Starlings the bafes of the (tone piers that fupport the arches of
ll. London bridge. In general, ftarlings are large piles
Statlcs' placed on the outfide of the foundation of the piers of
bridges, to break the force of the water, and to protect
the llone work from injury by floating ice. They are
otherwife called jettcs, and their place is often fupplied
by large flones thrown at random round the piers of
bridges, as may be fecn at Stirling bridge when the ri¬
ver is low •, and as was done by Mr Smeaton’s direction
round the piers of the centre arch of London bridge,
when it was thought in danger of being undermined by
the current.
STATE of a Controversy. See Oratory, Part
I. N° 14.
STATES, or Estates, a term applied to feveral or¬
ders or claffes of people affembled to confult of matters
for the public good.
Thus flates-generals, in the old government of Hol¬
land, is the name of an affembly confiding of the depu¬
ties of the feven United Provinces. Thefe were ufual-
ly 30 in number, fome provinces fending two, others
more 5 and whatever refolution the ftates-general took
was confirmed by every province, and by every city and
republic in that province, before it had the force of a
law. The deputies of each province, of what number
foever they were, had only one voice, and were elleem-
ed as but one perfon, the votes being given by provin¬
ces. Each province prefided in the affembly in its turn,
according to the order fettled among them. Guelder-
land prefided firft, then Holland, &c.
States of Holland were the deputies of eighteen cities,
and one reprefentalive of the nobility, conftituting the
dates of the province of Holland : the other provinces
had likewife their ftates, reprefenting their fovereignty ;
deputies from which made what was called the flates-ge-
neral. In an affembly of the ftates of a particular pro¬
vince, one diffenting voice prevented their coming to
any refoluticn.
STATICE, Thrift, a genus of plants belonging to
the clafs of pentandria, and order of pentagynia 5 and in
the natural fyftem ranging under the 481!! order, Aggre¬
gates. See Botany Index.
STATICS, a terra which the modem improvements
m knowledge have made it neceffary to introduce into
phyfico-mathematical fcience. It was found convenient
to diftribute the doeftrines of univerfal mechanics into
two claffes, which required both a different mode of con-
fideration and different principles of reafoning.
Till the time of Archimedes little fcience of this
kind was poffeffed by the ancients, from whom we
have received the firft rudiments. His inveftigation of
the centre of gravity, and his theory of the lever, are
the foundations of our knowledge of common mecha¬
nics ; and his theory of the equilibrium of floating bodies
contains the greateft part of our hydroftatical know¬
ledge. But it was as yet limited to the limpleft cales j
and there were fome in which Archimedes was igno¬
rant, or was miftaken. The marquis Guido Ubuldi, in
1^78, publifhed his theory of mechanics, in which the
doctrines of Archimedes were well explained and cor.fi-
derably augmented. Stevinus, the celebrated Dutch
engineer, publilhed about 20 years after an excellent
fyftem of mechanics, containing the chief principles
which now form the fcience of equilibrium among folid
bodies. In particular, he gave the theory of inclined
5 ] S T A
planes, which was unknown to the ancients, though it Stat
is of the very firft importance in almoft every machine.' v
He even ftates in the moft exprefs terms the principle
afterwards made the foundation of the whole of mecha¬
nics, and publiftied as a valuable dii’covery by Varig-
non, viz. that three forces, whofe direftions and inten-
fities are as the fides of a triangle, balance each other.
His theory of the preffure of fluids, or hydroftatics, is
no lefs eftimable, including every thing that is now re¬
ceived as a leading principle in the fcience. When we
confider the ignorance, even of the molt learned, of
that age, in mechanical or phyfico-mathematical know¬
ledge, we muft confider thele performances as the works
of a great genius; and we regret that they are fo little
known, being loft in a crowd of good writings on thole
fubjedts which appeared foon after.
Hitherto the attention had been turned entirely to
equilibrium, and the circumftances neceffary for produ¬
cing it. Mechanicians indeed faw, that the energy of a
machine might be fomehow meafured by the force
which could be oppofed or overcome by its interven¬
tion : but they did not remark, that the force which
prevented its motion, but did no more than prevent it,
was an exaB meafure of its energy, becaufe it was in
immediate equilibrio with the preffure exerted by that
part of the machine with which it was connected. - If
this oppofed force veas iefs, or the force acting at the
other extremity of the machine was greater, the me¬
chanicians knew that the machine would move, and
that work would be performed ; but what would be
the rate of its motion or its performance, they hardly
pretended to conjeUure. They had not ftudied the ac¬
tion of moving forces, nor conceived what was done
when motion was communicated.
The great Galileo opened a new field of fpeculation
in his work on Local Motion. He there confiders
a change of motion as the indication and exasft and ade¬
quate meafure of a moving force ; and he confiders every
kind of preflure as competent to the produ&ion of fuch
changes.—He contented himfelf with the application of
this principle to the motion of bodies by the atftion of
gravity, and gave the theory of projectiles, which re¬
mains to this day without change, and only improved,
by confidering the changes which are produced in it by
the refiftance of the air.
Sir Ifaac Newton took up this fubjeft nearly as Ga¬
lileo had left it. For, if we except the theory of the
centrifugal forces arifing from rotation, and the theory
of pendulums, publilhed by Huygens, hardly any thing
had been added to the fcience of motion. Newton con-
fidered the fubjeift in its utmoft extent ; and in his ma¬
thematical principles of natural phiiofophy he confiders
every conceivable variation of moving force, and deter¬
mines the motion refulting from its a£lion.—His firft;
application of thefe dodtrines was to explain the celefti-
al motions; and the magnificence of this fubjedl; caufed
it to occupy for a while the whole attention of the ma¬
thematicians. But the lame wmrk contained propofi-
tions equally conducive to the improvement of common
mechanics, and to the complete underftanding of the me¬
chanical aftions of bodies. Philofophers began to make
thefe applications alfo. They law that every kind of work
which is to be performed by a machine may be confider-
ed abftrafledly as a retarding force ; that the impulfe of
water or wind, which are employed as moving powers,
4 L 2 a£I
S T A f 636 3 s T A
act by means of preflures which they exert on the im¬
pelled point of the machine 5 and that the machine it-
lelt may be confidered as an afifemblage of bodies move¬
able in certain limited circumdances, with determined
direftions and proportions of velocity. From all thefe
con ^derations refulted a general abdracl condition of a
body afted on by known powers. And they found,
that after all conditions of equilibrium were fatisfied,
there remains a furplus of moving force. They could
now Hate the motion which will enfue, the new refiftance
v/hich this will excite, the additional power which this
will abforb ; and they at laft determined a new kind of
equilibrium, not thought of by the ancient mechanici¬
ans, between the refiftance to the machine performing
work and the moving power, which exadlly balance
each other, and is indicated, not by the rc/?, but by the
uniform motion of the machine.—In like manner, the
mathematician was enabled to calculate that precife
motion of water which would completely abforb, or, in
the new language, balance the fuperiority of prefiure
by which water is forced through a fluice, a pipe, or
canal, with a conlfant velocity.
Thus the general doflrines of motion came to be con-
finered in two points of view, according as they balan¬
ced each other in a ftate of reft or of uniform motion.
Thefe twro ways of confidering the fame fubjeft requi¬
red both different principles and a different manner of
reafoning. The firft has been named Jiatics, as expref-
fing that reft which is the left of this kind of equi-
libtium. The fecond has been called DYNAMICS or
Universal Mechanics, becaufe the different kinds
of motion ax-e chara&eriftic of the powers or forces
which produce them. A knowledge of both is indif-
penfably necefiary for acquiring any ufeful practical
knowledge of machines ; and it wras ignorance of the
doftrines of accelerated and retarded motions w'hich
made the progrefs of praftical mechanical knowledge
fo very flow and imperfefl. The mechanics, even of
the moderns, before Galileo, went no further than to
ftale the proportion of the power and refiftance which
would be balanced by the intervention of a given
machine, or the proportion of the parts of a machine
by which two known forces may balance each other.
This view of the matter introduced a principle, which
even Galileo confidered as a mechanical axiom, viz.
that what is gained in force by means of a machine is
exaEily compenfated by the additional time which it obliges
us to employ. This is falie in every inftance, and not
only prevents improvement in the conftruftion of ma¬
chines, but leads us into erroneous maxims of conftruc-
tion. The true principles of dynamics teach us, that
there is a certain proportion of the machine, dependent
on the kind and proportion of the power and refiftance,
which enables the machine to perform the greateft pof-
•fcble work.
It is highly proper therefore to keep feparate thefe
twro ways of confidering machines, that both may be
improved to the utmoft, and theR to blend them toge¬
ther in every praffical difcuffion.
Statics therefore is preparatory to the proper ftudy
of mechanics ; but it does not hence derive all its im¬
portance. It is the foie foundation of many ufeful parts
of knowledge. This will be beft feen by a brief enu¬
meration.
l. It comprehends all the do&rines of the excitement
and propagation of prefture through the parts of folid
bodies, by which the energies of machines are produced.
A preflure is exerted on the impelled point of a machine, .
Inch as the tloat-boards or buckets of a mill-wheel.
This excites ,a preffure at the pivots of its axle, which
a£t on the points of fupport. This muft be underftood,
both as to direction and intenfity, that it may be effec¬
tually refifted. A preffure is alio excited at the acting
tooth of the cog-wheel on the fame axle, by which it
urges round another wheel, exciting fimilar preffures on
its pivots and on the adting tooth perhaps of a third
wheel.—Thus a preffure is ultimately excited in the
working point of the machine, perhaps a wiper, which
lifts a heavy Hamper, to let it fall again on fome matter
to be pounded. Now ftatics teaches us the intenfities
and diredtion of all thole preffures, and therefore how
much remains at the working point of the machine un¬
balanced by refillance.
2. It. comprehends every circumftance which influ¬
ences the liability oi heavy bodies; the inveftigation and
properties of the centre ol gravity ; the theory of the
conftrudlion of arches, vaults, and domes; the attitudes
of animals.
3. The ftrength of materials, and the principles of
conftrudlion, fo as to make the proper adjuftroent of
ilrength and ftrain in every part of a machine, edifice,
or ftruclure of any kind. Statics therefore furnilhes
us with what may be called a theory of carpentry, and
gives us proper inftructions for framing floors, roofs,
centres, &c.
4. Statics comprehends the whole dodlrine of the
prefiure of fluids, whether liquid or aeriform, whether
arifing from their weight or from any external adlion.
Hence therefore we derive our knowledge of the liabili¬
ty of (hips, or their power of maintaining themfelves in
a pofition nearly upright, in oppofition to the adlion of
the wind on their fails. Me learn on what circumllances
of figure and ilowage this quality depends, and what
will augment or diminilh it.
Very complete examples will be given in the remain¬
ing part of this work of the advantages of this feparate
confideration of the condition of a machine at reft and
in working motion ; and in what yet remains to be
delivered of the hydraulic doftrines in our account of
WATER-Works in general, will be perceived the proprie¬
ty of Hating apart the equilibrium which is indicated by
the uniform motion of the fluid. The obfervations too
which we have to make on the Ilrength of the materi¬
als employed in our edifices or mechanical ftruflures,
will be examples of the inveftigation of thofe powers,
preffures, or ftrains, which are excited in all their
parts.
STATIONARY, in Jlflronomy, the Hate of a pla¬
net when, to an obferver on the earth, it appears for
fome time to Hand ftill, or remain immoveable in the
fame place in the heavens. For as the planets, to fuch
an obferver, have fometimes a progreffive motion, and
fometimes a retrograde one, there mull be fome point
between the two where they muft appear ftationary.
STATISTICS, a word lately introduced to exprefs
a view or furvey of any kingdom, county, or parifh.
A Statiftical view of Germany was publilhed in 179Q
by Mr B. Clarke : giving an account of the imperial and
territorial conftitutions, forms of government, legifla-
tion, adminiftration of juftice, and of the ecclefiaflical
ftate;,
S T A [ 637 j S T A
Statiftic*. flate j with a fiietch of the chara&er and genius of the
^ Germans j a (hort inquiry into the ftate of their trade
and commerce ; and giving a diilinft view of the domi¬
nions, extent, number of inhabitants to a fquare mile ;
chief towns, with their fize and population j revenues,
expences, debts, and military ftrength of each hate. In
Pruffia, in Saxony, Sardinia, and Tufcany, attempts have
alio been made to draw up ftadftical accounts j but they
were done rather with a view of afcertaining the prefent
fiate of thefe countries, than as the means of future im¬
provement.
A grand and extenfive work of this kind, founded
on a judicious plan, condufted by the moff patrio¬
tic and enlightened motives, and drawn up from the
communications of the whole body of the clergy, was
undertaken in Scotland in the year 1790 by S r John
Sinclair of Ulbiter, one of the moft ufeful members of
his country. Many prailes are heaped upon genius and
learning ; but to genius and learning no applause is due,
except when exerted for the benefit of mankind : but
gratitude and praile is due to him whofe talents fhine
only in great undertakings, whofe happiuefs feems to
confift in partriotic exertions, and whofe judgement is
uniformly approved by his fuccefs. A work of this
kind, fo important in its objeft, fo comprehenfive in its
range, fo judicious in its plan, and drawn up by more
than 900 men of literary education, many of them men
of great genius and learning, muft be of immenfe value.
It was completed about 1799, in 21 volumes 8vo.
The great object of this work is to give an accurate
view of the Rate of the country, its, agriculture, its
manuiaftures, and its commerce 5 the means of improve¬
ment, of which they are refpe£lively capable j the amount
of the population of a ftate, and the caufes of its increafe
or decreale ; the manner in which the territory of a coun¬
try is polieffed and cultivated •, the nature and amount
of the various productions of the foil; the value of the
perfonal wealth or flock of the inhabitants, and how it
can be augmented ; the difeafes to which the people are
lubje£l, their caufes and their cure •, the occupations of
the people $ where they are entitled to encouragement,
and -where they ought to be fupprelTed ; the condition
of the poor, the belt mode of maintaining them, and of
giving them employment j the Hate of fchools, and other
inllitutions, formed for purpofes of public utility ; the
Hate of the villages and towns, and the regulations bell
calculated for their police and good government ; the
ftate of the manners, the morals, and the religious prin¬
ciples of the people, and the means by which their tem¬
poral and eternal interefb can bed be promoted.
To Inch of our readers as have not an opportunity
of perufing this national work, or of examining its plan,
we will prefent the fcheme for the ftath'fical account of
a parochial dutrift which Sir John Sinclair publifhed
for the confideratron of the clergy, and which has been
generally followed by them, though often with great
improvements.
The name of the parifh and its origin ; fituation and
extents of the parifh j number of acres; defcription of
the fail and furface j nature and extent of the fea coaft ;
lakes, rivers, iflands, hills, rocks, caves, wood, orchards,
&c. ; climate and difeafes j inilances of longevity ; ftate
of property; number of proprietors; number of redding
proprietors; mode of cultivation; implements of hufban-
«lry y manures j. feedtime and harveft j remarkable in-
ftances of good and bad feafons ; quantity and value of StatilHcs
each fpecies of crop j total value of the whole produce II
of the diftrifl ; total quantity of grain and other articles Stat^ary*
confumed in the parifli j wages and price of labour j fer-
vices, whether exa6led or abolilhed j commerce ; manu¬
factures ; manufacture of kelp, its amount, and the
number of people employed in it 5 filheries j towns and
villages ; police j inns and alehoufes $ roads and bridges j
harbours, ferries, and their Hate ; number of (hips and
veflels y number of fearaen y Hate of the church y fti-
pend, manle, glebe, and patron 5 number of poor y pa¬
rochial funds, and the management of them y Hate of
the fchools, and number of fcholars y ancient ftate of
population y caufes of its increafe or decreafe y number
of families y exact amount of the number of fouls now
living •, diviflon of the inhabitants y 1. By the place of
their birth j 2. By their ages j 3. By their religious
periuafions y 4. By their occupations and lituation in
life y 5. By their refidence, whether in town, village, or
in the country y number of houfes y number of uninha¬
bited houfes y number of dove-cots, and to what extent
they ^are deltruCtive to the crops y number of horfes,
their nature and value y number of cattle, their nature
and value y number of ftieep, their nature and value y
number of fwine, their nature and value y minerals in
general ; mineral fprings y coal and fuel •, eminent men 5
antiquities y parochial records y mifcellaneous obferva-
tions y character of the people y their manners, cuftoms,
ftature, &c. y advantages and difadvantages4 means by
which their fituation could be meliorated.
If fimilar furveys (fays the public-fpirited editor of
this work) were inftituted in the other kingdoms of
Europe, it might be the means of eftablilhing, on fure
foundations, the principles of that mod important of all
fciences, viz. political or ftatillical philofophy y that is,
the fcience, which, in preference to every other, ought
to be held in reverence. No fcience can furnith, to any
mind capable of receiving ufeful information, fo much
real entertainment, none can yield fuch important hints
for the improvement of agriculture, for the extenfion of
commercial induftry, for regulating the conduCt of in¬
dividuals, or for extending the profperity of the ftate; .
none can tend fo much to promote the general happi-
nefs of the fpecies.
STATIUS, Publius Papinius, a celebrated Latin
poet of the firit century, was born at Naples, and was
the fon of Statius, a native of Epirus, who -went to >
Rome to teach poetry and eloquence, and had Eomi-
tian for his fcholar. Statius the poet alfo obtained the
favour and friendfhip of that prince y and dedicated to
him his Thebais and Achilleis y the firft in twelve books,
and the laft in two. He died at Naples about the year
100. Befides the above poems, there are alfo ftill ex¬
tant his Sylvce, in five books y the ftyle of which is
purer, more agreeable, and more natural, than that of
his Thebais and Achilleis.
STATUARY, a branch of fculpture, employed in
the making of ftatues. See Sculpture and the next
article.
Statuary is one of thofe arts wherein the ancients
furpaffed the moderns y and indeed it was much more
popular, and more cultivated, among the former than ■
the latter. It is difputed between ftatuary and paint-,
ing, which of the two is the moft difficult and the moft-:
artful,
Statnaiy ;v
S' T A [ 638 ] S T E
Statuary is alfo ufed for the artificer who makes
ftatues. Phidias was the greateft fhatuary among the
ancients, and Michael Angelo among the moderns.
. STATUE, is defined to be a piece of fculpture in
full relievo, reprefenting a human figure. Daviler more
fcientifically defines llatue a reprefentation, in high re¬
lievo and infulate, of fome peiion diftinguifhed by his
birth, merit, or great aftions, placed as an ornament in
a fine building, or expofed in a public place, to preferve
the memory of his worth. In Greece one of the higheft
honours to which a citizen could afpire was to obtain a
ftatue.
Statues are formed with the chifel, of feveral matters,
as Hone, marble, plafter, &x. They are alfo call of
various kinds of metal, particularly gold, filver, brafs,
and lead. For the method of calling ilatues, fee the
article FOUNDER T of Statues.
Statues are ufually diftinguilhed into four general
kinds. The firfl are thofe lefs than the life j of which
kind we have feveral ftatues of gr eat men, of kings, and
of gods themfelves. The fecond are thofe equal to the
life ; in which manner it was that the ancients, at the
public expence, ufed to make Ilatues of perfons emi¬
nent for virtue, learning, or the fervices they had done.
The third are thofe that exceed the life ; among which
thofe that furpafled the life once and a half were for
kings and emperors 5 and thofe double the life, for he¬
roes. The fourth kind were thofe that exceeded the
life twice, thrice, and even more, and were called colof-
fufes. See Colossus.
Every ffatue refembling the perfon whom it is intend¬
ed to reprefent, is called Jiatua iconica. Statues acquire
various other denominations. 1. Thus, allegorical fta¬
tue is that which, under a human figure, or other fym-
bol, reprefents fomething of another kind ; as a part of
the earth, a feafon, age, element, temperament, hour,
&c. 2. Curule ftatues, are thofe which are reprefented
in chariots drawn by biga; or quadrigae, that is, by two
or four horfes ; of which kind there were feveral in the
circufes, hippodromes, &c. or in cars, as we fee fome,
with triumphal arches on antique medals. 3. Equeftri-
an ftatue, that which reprefents fome illuftrious perfon
on horfeback, as that famous one of Marcus Aurelius
at Rome ; that of King Charles I. at Charing-crofs ;
King George II. in Leicefter-Square, &c. 4. Greek
ftatue, denotes a figure that is naked and antique ; it
being in this manner the Greeks reprefented their deities,
athletae of the Olympic games, and heroes; the ftatues
of heroes were particularly called Achillean fatues, by
reafon of the great number of figures of Achilles in
moft of the cities of Greece. 5. Hydraulic ftatue, is
any figure placed as an ornament of a fountain or grot¬
to, or that does the office of a jet d'eau, a cock, fpout,
or the like, by any of its parts, or by any attribute it
holds : the like is to be underftood of any animal fer-
ving for the fame ufe. 6. Pedeftrian ftatue, a ftatue
Handing on foot ; as that of King Charles II. in the
Royal Exchange, and of King James II. in the Privy-
Gardens. 7. Roman ftatue, is an appellation given to
fuch as are clothed, and which receive various names
from their various dreffes. Thofe of emperors, with
long gowns over their armour, were called ftatuce pa-
ludatce : thofe of captains and cavaliers, with coats of
arms, thoracatce ; thofe of foldicrs with cuiraffes, lori-
cates, thofe of fenators and augurs, traheatce; thofe of
4
magiftrates with long robes, togetee ; thofe of the people Statue
with a plain tunica, tunicatce ; and, laftly, thofe of wo- II
men with long trains.yfo/aAe. ’ , Steam»
In repairing a ftatue call in a mould, they touch it
up with a chiiel, graver, or other inftrument, to finifh
the places which have not come well off: they alfo
clear off the barb, and what is redundant in the joints,
and projedtures.
STATURE. See Dwarf and Giant.
S1 A 1 U I E, in its general fenfe, fignifies a lawq
ordinance, decree, &c. See Law, &.c.
Statute, in our laws and cuftoms, more immedi¬
ately fignifies an a£l of parliament made by the three
eftates of the realm ; and fuch ftatutes are either gene¬
ral, of which the courts at Weftminfter muft take notice
without pleading them; or they are fpecial and private,
which laft muft be pleaded.
STAVESACRE, a fpecies of Delphinium, which
fee, Botany Index.
STAY, a large ftreng rope employed to fupport the
matt on the fore part, by extending from its upper end
towards the fore part of the fhip, as the fhrouds are ex¬
tended to the right and left, and behind it. See Mast,
Rigging, and Shroud.
The ftay of the fore-maft, which is called the fore-
fay, reaches from the maft-head towards the bowfpirit
end : the main ftay extends over the forecaftle to the
ftiip’s ftem ; and the mizen-ftay is ftretched down to
that part of the main-maft which lies immediately above
the quarter-deck : the fore-top-maft-ftay comes alfo to
the end of the bowfpirit, a little beyond the fore-ftay :
the main-top-maft ftay is attached to the head or hounds
of the fore-maft 5 and the mizen-top-maft ftay comes al¬
fo to the hounds of the main-maft : the fore-top-gallant
ftay comes to the outer end of the jib-boom ; and the
main-top-gallant ftay is extended to the head of the fore-
top-maft.
Sl'AT-Sail, a fort of triangular fail extended upon a
ftay. See Sail. r
STEAM, is the name given in our language to theDefinitios
vifible moift vapour wdiich arifes from all bodies which
contain juices eafily expelled from them by heats not
fufficient for their combuftion. Thus we fay, the fteam
of boiling water, of malt, of a tan-bed, &c. It is dif-
tinguilhed from fmoke by its not having been produced
by combuftion, by not containing any foot, and by its
being condenfible by cold into w'ater, oil, inflammable
fpirits, or liquids compofed of thefe. 2
We fee it rife in great abundance from bodies when Appeals
they are heated, forming a white cloud, which diffufeshke a
itfeli and difappears at no very great diftance from the^1’16
body from which it was produced. In this cafe theL‘jUU
furrounding air is found loaded with the water or other
juices which feem to have produced it, and the fleam
feems to be completely foluble in air, as fait is in water,
compofing while thus united a tranfparent elaftic fluid. ?
But in order to its appearance in the form of an when dif-
opaque white cloud, the mixture with or difleminationhminated
in air feems abfolutely neceflary. If a tea-kettle boilsin a*r'
violently, fo that the fteam is formed at the fpout in
great abundance, it may be obferved, that the vifible
cloud is not formed at the very mouth of the fpout,
but at a fmall diftance before it, and that the vapour is
perfeflly tranfparent at its firft emiflion. This is ren¬
dered ftill more evident by fitting to the fpout cf the
tea-kettle
Steam.
4.
Is again
converted
into water
by cold.
S
Its appear¬
ances ex¬
plained.
6
and the
caufe of its
eonverlion,
by Dr
Black’s dif.
covery of
latent heat.
S T E [ 639 ] S T E
tea-kettle a glafs pipe of any length, and of as large a
diameter as we pleafe. The fleam is produced as co-
piouily as without this pipe, but the vapour is tranfpa-
rent through the whole length of the pipe. Nay, if
this pipe communicate with a glafs vcfifcl terminating
in another pipe, and if the veffel be kept fufficiently
hot, the fleam will be as abundantly produced at the
mouth of this fecond pipe as before, and the vefiel will
be quite tranfparent. The vifibility therefore of the
matter which conftitutes the ileam is an accidental or
extraneous circumftance, and requires the admixture
with air; yet this quality again leaves it when united
with air by folution. It appears therefore to require a
dijfemination in the air. The appearances are quite
agreeable to this notion : for we know that one per-
fedlly tranfparent body, when minutely divided and
diffufed among the parts of another tranfparent body,
but not diffolved in it, makes a mafs which is vifible.
Thus oil beaten up with water makes a white opaque
mafs.
In the mean time, as fleam is produced, the water
gradually wattes in the tea kettle, and will foon be to¬
tally expended, if we continue it on the fire. It is rea-
fonable therefore to fuppofe, that this fleam is nothing
but wTater changed by heat into an aerial or elaftic
form. If fo, we fhould expe£t that the privation of
this heat would leave it in the form of water again.
Accordingly this is fully verified by experiment; for if
the pipe fitted to the fpout of the tea kettle be furround-
ed with cold water, no fleam will iiTue, but water wall
continually trickle from it in drops : and if the procefs
be conducted with the proper precautions, the w^ater
which we thus obtain from the pipe will be found
equal in quantity to that which difappears from the tea¬
kettle.
This is evidently the common procefs for diftilling ;
and the wdrole appearances may be explained by faying,
that the water is converted by heat into an elaftic va¬
pour, and that this, meeting with colder air, imparts to
it the heat which it carried off as it arofe from the heat¬
ed water, and being deprived of its heat it is again wa¬
ter. The particles of this wrater being vaflly more re¬
mote from each other than when they were in the tea¬
kettle, and thus being diffeminated in the air, become
vlfible, by refledting light from their anterior and pofle-
rior furfaces, in the fame manner as a tranfparent ialt
becomes vifible when reduced to a fine powrder. This
diffeminated water being prefented to the air in a very
extended furface, is quickly diffolved by it, as pounded
fait is in water, and again becomes a tranfparent fluid,
but of a dift’erent nature from wThat it was before, be¬
ing no longer convertible into water by depriving it of
its heat.
Accordingly this opinion, or fomething very like it,
has been long entertained. Mufchenbroeck exprefsly
fays, that the water in the form of vapour carries off
with it all the heat which is continually thrown in by
the fuel. But Dr Black was the full who attended
minutely to the whole phenomena, and enabled us to
form difiindi notions of the fubjedt. He had difeover-
ed that it was not fufficient for converting ice into wa¬
ter that it be raifed to that temperature in which it can
no longer remain in the form of ice. A piece of ice of
the temperature 3 2° of Fahrenheit’s thermometer will
remain a very long while in air of the temperature 30°
before it be all melted, remaining all the while of the Steam,
temperature 3 2°, and therefore continually abforbing v—
heat from the furrounding air. By comparing the time
in which the ice had its temperature changed from 28°
to 3 2° with the fubfequent time of its complete lique-
fadtion, he found that it abforb'ed about 130 or 140
times as much heat as wmuld raife its temperature one
degree j and he found that one pound of ice, when
mixed with one pound of water 140 degrees warmer,
was juft melted, but without rifing in its temperature
above 3 2°. Hence he juftly concluded, that water dif¬
fered from ice of the fame temperature by containing,
as a conftituent ingredient, a great quantity of fire, or
of the caufe of heat, united with it in fuch a way as
not to quit it for another colder body, and therefore fo
as not to go into the liquor of the thermometer and ex¬
pand it. Confidered therefore as the poflible caufe of
heat, it w^as latent, which Dr Black expreffed by the
abbreviated term latent heat. If any more heat was
added to the water it was not latent, but would readily
quit it for the thermometer, and, by expanding the ther¬
mometer, wTould ftiow w'hat is the degree of this re¬
dundant heat, while fluidity alone is the indication of
the combined and latent heat.
Dr Black, in like manner, concluded, that in order to
convert w'ater into an elaftic vapour, it wras necefiary,
not only to increafe its uncombined heat till its tempe¬
rature is 2120, in w'hich ftate it is juft ready to become
elaftic 5 but alfo to piour into it a great quantity of fire,
or the caufe of heat, which combines with every par¬
ticle of it, fo as to make it repel, or to recede from, its
adjoining particles, and thus to make it a particle of an
elaftic fluid. He fuppofed that this additional heat
might be combined with it fo as not to quit it for the
thermometer ; and therefore fo as to be in a latent ftate,
having elaftic fluidity for its foie indication. 7
This opinion was very confident with the phenome- The tem-
non of boiling oft a quantity of water. The applica-Perature
tion of heat to it caufes it gradually to rife in its tem-wh‘c^^’s
perature till it reaches the temperature 212°. It then j^the ’
begins to fend off elaftic vapour, and is Howdy expend- quantity of
ed in this way, continuing all the while of the fame heat which
temperature. The fteam alfo is of no higher tempera-'£
ture, as appears by holding a thermometer in it. We
muft conclude that this fteam contains all the heat
which is expended in its formation. Accordingly the
fealding power of fleam is well known ; but it is ex¬
tremely difficult to obtain precife meafures of the quan¬
tity oi heat abforbed by water during its converfion in¬
to fteam. Dr Black endeavoured to afeertain this point,
by comparing the time of railing its temperature a cer¬
tain number of degrees with the time of boiling it oft"
by the fame external heat 5 and he found that the heat
latent in fteam, which balanced the preffure of the at-
mofphere, was not lefs than 800 degrees. He alfo di¬
rected Dr Irvine of Glafgow to the form of an experi¬
ment for meafuring the heat actually extricated from
fuch fteam during its condenfation in the refrigeratory
of a ftill, which wras found to be not lefs than 774 de¬
grees. Dr Black was afterwards informed by Mr
Watt, that a courfe of experiments, which he had made
in each of thefe ways with great precifion, determined
the latent heat of fteam under the ordinary preffure of
the atmofphere to be about 948 or 9^0 degrees. Mr
Watt alfo found that water would diftil with great eafe
- in
-Sicam.
Steam, by
being’ com¬
bined with
heat, be¬
comes eia-
ftic and
light,
9
and pro¬
duces ttie
phenome¬
non of boil-
pig.
S T E
in vacuo when ®f the temperature 70°
cafe the latent heat of the fteam is not lefs than l 200
or 1300 degrees: and a train of experiments, which he
had made by diftilling in different temperatures, made
-him conclude that the fum of the fenfible and latent
•heats is a conftant quantity. This is a curious and not
an improbable circumllance ; but we have no informa¬
tion of the particulars of thefe experiments. The con-
clufion evidently prefuppofes a knowledge of that parti¬
cular temperature in which the water has no heat} but
this is a point which is Hill fub judice.
This converfion of liquids (for it is not confined to
water, but obtains alfo in ardent fpirits, oils, mercury,
&c.) is the caufe of their boiling. The heat is applied
to the bottom and fides of the veffel, and gradually ac¬
cumulates in the fluid, in a fenfible ftate, uncombined,
and ready to quit it and to enter into any body that is
colder, and to diffufe itfelf between them. Thus it en¬
ters into the fluid of a thermometer, expands it, and
thus gives us the indication of the degree in which it
has been accumulated in the water ; for the thermome¬
ter fwells as long as it continues to abforb fenfible heat
from the water : and when the fenfible heat in both is
in equilibrio, in a proportion depending on the nature
of the two fluids, the thermometer rifes no more, becaufe
it abforbs no more heat or fire from the water j for the
particles of water which are in immediate contact with
the bottom, are now (by this gradual expanfion of liqui¬
dity) at fuch diftance from each other, that their laws
of attra&ion for each other and for heat are totally
changed. Each particle either no longer attrafis, or
perhaps it repels its adjoining particle, and now accu¬
mulates round itfelf a great number of the particles of
heat, and forms a particle of elaflic fluid, fo related to
the adjoining new formed particles, as to repel them
to a diftance at leaft a hundred times greater than their
diftances in the ftate of water. Thus a mafs of elaftic
vapour of fenfible magnitude is formed. Being at leaft
ten thoufand times lighter than an equal bulk of wa¬
ter, it muft rife up through it, as a cork would do, in
form of a tranfparent ball or bubble, and getting to
the top, it diflipates, filling the upper part of the veflel
with vapour or fteam. Thus, by tofling the liquid in¬
to bubbles, which are produced all over the bottom and
fides of the veffel, it produces the phenomenon of ebulli¬
tion or boiling. Obferve, that during its paffage up
through the water, it is not changed or condenfed ; for
the furrounding water is already fo hot that the fenfible
or uncombined heat in it, is in equilibrio with that in the
vapour, and therefore it is not difpofed to abforb any
of that heat which is combined as an ingredient of this
vapour, and gives it its elafticity. For this reafon, it
[ 640 ] S T E
and that in this happens that water will not boil till its whole mafs be Steata.'
heated up to 212° j for if the upper part be colder, it J
robs the rifing bubble of that heat which is neceffary
for its elafticity, fo that it immediately collapfes again,
and the lurface of the water x'emains ftill. This may
be perceived by holding water in a Florence flalk over
a lamp or choffer. It will be obferved, feme time be¬
fore the real ebullition, that fome bubbles are formed
at the bottom, and get up a very little way, and then
difappear. The diftances which they reach before col-
lapfing increafe as the water continues to warm farther
up the mafs, till at laft it breaks out into boili ng. If
the handle of a tea-kettle be grafped with the hand,
a tremor will be felt for fome little time before boiling,
ariling from the little fuccuflions which are produced by
the collapfing of the bubbles of vapour. This is much
more violent, and is really a remarkable phenomenon, if
we fuddenly plunge a lump of red hot iron into a veffel
of cold water, taking care that no red part be near the
furface. If the hand be now applied to the fide of the
veffel, a moft violent tremor is felt, and fometimes ftrong*
thumps : thefe arife from the collapfing of very large
bubbles. If the upper part of the iron be too hot, it
warms the furrounding water fo much, that the bubbles
from below come up through it uncondenfed, and pro¬
duce ebullition without this luccuftion. The great re-
femblance of this tremor to the feeling which we have
during the ftrock of an earthquake has led many to fup-
pofe that thefe laft are produced in the fame way, and
their hypotheirs, notwithftanding the objections which
we have elfewhere ftated to it, is by no means unfea-
fible. IC)
It is ownng to a fimilar caufe that violent thumps are The noife
fometimes felt on the bottom of a tea-kettle, efpecially 0brtrvef* m
one which has been long in ufe. Such are frequently ^a^'a n“
crufted on the bottom with a ftony concretion. This kett[e ex.
fometimes is detached in little feales. When one of plained,
thefe is adhering by one end to the bottom, the wa¬
ter gets between them in a thin film. Hence it may be
heated confiderably above the boiling temperature, and
it fuddenly rifes up in a large bubble, w-hich collapfes
immediately. A fmooth (hilling lying on the bottom
will produce this appearance very violently, or a thimble
with the mouth down. Ir
In order to make water boil, the fire muft be ap- Water will
plied to the bottom or fides of the veffel. If thenot un*
heat be applied at the top of the water, it will rvafte
aw-ay without boiling} for the very fuperficial particles.t0 tjiePbot.
are firft fupplied with the heat neceffary for rendering tom or fides
them elaftic, and they fly off without agitating the of the vef.
reft (a). ^ _ fel*
Since this difengagement of vapour is the effe6I of
its
(a) We explained the opaque and cloudy appearance of fteam, by faying that the vapour is condenfed by co¬
ming into contaft with the cooler air. There is fomething in the form of this cloud which is very inexplicable.
The particles of it are fometimes very diftinguiftrable by the eye } but they have not the fmart ftar-like brilliancy
of very fmall drops of water, but give the fainter refleftion of a very thin film or veficle like a foap bubble. If we
attend alfo to their motion, wre fee them defeending very flowly in comparifon with the defeent of a folid drop ; and
this veficular conftitution is eftablifhed beyond a doubt by looking at a candle through a cloud of fteam. It is feen
furrounded by a faint halo with prifmatical colours, precifely fuch as we can demonftrate by optical laws to belong
to a colleftion of veficles, but totally different from the halo which would be produced by a colleftion of folid
drops. It is very difficult to conceive how thefe veficles can be formed of watery particles, each of which was fur-
2 . " rounded
S T E
Steam.
No fluid
ctinibent
bodies.
Fiate
DL
Fj£. i.
its elafticity, and fince this elafticity is a determined
! force when the temperature is given, it follows, that
fluids cannot boil till the elafticity of the vapour over¬
ran "boii tiiiccmes the preflure of the incumbent fluid and of the at-
theeiaflici- mofphere. Therefore, when this preffare is removed or
ty ot the diminiihed, the fluids muft fooner overcome what re-
ma5ns» and ,3oil at a lower temperature. Accordingly
the preflure **- 15 oblerved that water will bon in an exhaufted recei-
of the in- ver when of the heat of the human body. If two glafs
balls A and E (fig. i.) be connected by a fiender tube,
and one of them A be filled with water (a fraall open¬
ing or pipe b being left at top of the other), and this
be made to boil, the vapour produced from it will drive
all the air out of the other, and will at lafl come out
itfelf, producing fleam at the mouth of the pipe. When
Uie ball B is obferved to be occupied by tranfparent va¬
pour, we may conclude that the air is completely ex¬
pelled. Now fhut the pipe by flicking it into a piece
of tallow or bees-wax ; the vapour in B will foon con-
denfe, and there will be a vacuum. The flame of a
lamp and blow-pipe being dire&ed to the little pipe,
will caufe it immediately to clofe and feal hermetically.
We now have a pretty inflrument or toy called a Pulse
GLASS. Grafp the ball A in the hollow of the hand }
the heat of the hand will immediately expand the bub¬
ble of vapour which may be in it, and this vapour will
drive the water into B, and then will blow up through
it for a long while, keeping it in a flate of violent ebul¬
lition, as long as there remains a drop or film of wrater
in A. But care muff be taken that B is all the while
kept cold, that it may condenfe the vapour as fall as it
rifes through the water. Touching B with the hand,
or breathing warm on it, wall immediately flop the ebul¬
lition in it. When the water in A has thus been difli-
pated, grafp B in the band ; the water will be driven in¬
to A, and the ebullition will take place there as it did
in B. Putting one of the balls into the mouth will
make the ebullition more violent in the other, and the
one in the mouth will feel very cold. This is a pretty
illuflration of the rapid abforption of the heat by the
particles of water which are thus converted into elaflic
vapour. We have feen this little toy fufpended by the
middle of the tube like a balance, and thus placed in
the infide of a window, having two holes a and b cut in
the pane, in fuch a fituation that when A is full of wa¬
ter and preponderates, B is oppofite to the hole b.
Whenever the room became fufficiently warm, the va¬
pour was formed in A, and immediately drove the wTa-
ter into B, which was kept cool by the air coming into
the room through the hole b. By this means B was
made to preponderate in its turn, and A was then op¬
pofite to the hole a. and the procefs was now repeated
in the oppofite diredh’on ; and this amufement continued
13 as long as the room was warm enough.
fbiMinirh "in We know that liquors differ exceedingly in the tem-
the tempe- peratures neceffary for their ebullition. This forms the
rature no- VOL, XIX. Part II.
sefiary for
their ebul-    
lition.
[ 641 3
S T k
great chemical diftimftion between volatile and fixed bo- Steam,
dies. But the difterence of temperature in which they ■v—
boil, or are converted into permanently elaflic vapour,
under the preffure of the atmofphere, is not a certain
meafure of their differences of volatility. The natural
boiling point of a body is that in which it will be con¬
verted into elaflic vapour under no prefiure, or in vacuo-.
The boiling point in the open air depends on the law of
the elaflicity of the vapour in relation to its heat. A
fluid A may be lefs volatile, that is, may require more
heat to make it boil in vacuo, than a fluid B : But if
the elaflicity of the vapour of A be more increafed by
an increafe of temperature than that of the vapour of
B, A may boil at as low, or even at a lower tempera¬
ture, in the open air, than B does ; for the increafed
elafticity of the vapour of A may fooner overcome the
preffure of the atmofphere. Few experiments have been
made on the relation between the temperature and the
elafticity of dift’erent vapours. So long ago as the year
1765, we had occaflon to examine the boiling points of
all fuch liquors as we could manage in an air-pump ;
that is, fuch as did not produce vapours which deftroy-
ed the valves and the leathers of the piftons : and we
thought that the experiments gave us reafon to conclude,
that the elaflicity of ail the vapours was affedled by heat
nearly in the fame degree. For we found that the dif- Difference
ference between their boiling points in the air and in between
vacuo was nearly the fame in all, namely, about 120 de-1*16'1-
grees of Fahrenheit’s thermometer. It is exceedingly
difficult to make experiments of this kind : The va-vacuo a-
pours are fo condenfible, and change their elafti-city fo bout 120°.
prodigioufly by a trifling change of temperature, that
it is almofl impoffible to examine this point with preci-
fion. It i«, however, as we fliall fee by and bye, a fub-
jetfl of confiderable pradfical importance in the mechanic
arts 5 and an accurate knowledge of the relation would
be of great ufe alfo to the diltiller : and it rvould be
no lefs important to difeover the relation of their elafti¬
city and denfity, by examining their compreflibility, in
the fame manner as we have afeertained the relation in
the cafe of what we call aerialfluids, that is, fuch as we
have never obferved in the form of liquids or folids, ex¬
cept in confequence of their union with each other or
with other bodies. In the article PNEUMATICS we
took notice of it as fomething like a natural law, that
all thefe airs, or gafes as they are now called, had their
elaflicity very nearly, if not exactly proportional to their
denfity. This appears from the experiments of Achard,
of Fontana, and others, on vital air, inflammable air,
fixed air, and fome others. It gives us fome prefump-
tion to fuppofe that it holds in all elaftic vapours what¬
ever, and that it is connected with their elaflicity ; and
it renders it fomewhat probable that they are all elaftic,
only becaufe the caufe of heat (the matter of fire if you
will) is elaftic, and that their law of elafticity, in refpeft
of denfity, is the fame with that of fire. But it mult
4 M be
rounded with many particles of fire, now communicated to the air, and how each of thefe veficles fliall include with¬
in it a ball of air •, but we cannot refufe the fadl. We know, that if, while linfeed oil is boiling or nearly boiling,
the furface be obliquely ftruck with the ladle, it will be dallied into a prodigious number of exceedingly fmall ve¬
ficles, which will float about in the air for a long while. Mr Sauffure was (we think) the firft who diftimflly ob¬
ferved this veficular form of mifts and clouds) and he makes confidejrable ufe of it in explaining feveral phenomena
of the atmofphere.
Stfam.
ing
S T E ,[ 64
be obferved, that although we thus affign the elafticity
of fire as the immediate caufe of the elatticity of vapour,
in the fame way, and on the fame grounds, that we
afcribe the fluidity of brine to the fluidity of the water
city of fluids which holds the folid fait in folution, it does not follow
may be ow- that this is owing, as is commonly fuppofed, to a repul-
fion or tendency to recede from each other exerted by
the particles of fire. We are as much entitled to infer
a repulfion of unlimited extent between the particles of
water ; for we fee that by its means a Angle particle of
fca-falt becomes difieminated through the whole of a
very large veflTel. If water had not been a vifible and
palpable fubftance, and the fait only had been vifible
and palpable, we might have formed a fimilar notion of
chemical folution. But we, on the contrary, have con-
fidered the quaquaverfum motion or expanfion of the
fait as a diflemination among the particles of water •, and
we have afcribed it to the ftrong attradlion of the atoms
of fait for the atoms of water, and the attraflion of
thefe laft for each other, thinking that each atom of fait
accumulates round itfelf a multitude of watery atoms,
and by fo doing mull; recede from the other faline atoms.
Nay, we farther fee, that by forces which we naturally
conlider as attraftions, an expanfion may be produced of
the whole mafs, which will a£l againft external me¬
chanical forces. It is thus that wood fwells with al-
moft infuperable force by imbibing moifture ; it is thus
that a fponge immerfed in water becomes really an ela-
ffic compretlible body 5 refembling a blown bladder j
and there are appearances which warrant us to apply
this mode of conception to elaftic fluids.—When air is
fuddenly comprefied, a thermometer included in it fhows
a rife of temperature •, that is, an appearance of heat
now redundant which was formerly combined. The heat
leems to be fqueezed out as the wrater from the fponge.
Accordingly this opinion, that the elaflicity of fleam
Afcribed by and other vapours is owing merely to the attradlion for
tome to at- firej ancJ confequent diflemination of their particles
through the whole mafs of fire, has been entertained by
many naturalifts, and it has been afcribed entirely to
attradfion. We by no means pretend to decide ; but
we think the analogy by far too flight to found any
confident opinion on it. The aim is to folve phenomena
by attraflion only, as if it were of more eafy concep¬
tion than repulfion. Confidered merely as fadls, they
are quite on a par. The appearances of nature in
which we obferve adfual recefles of the parts of body
from each other, are as diftinft, and as frequent and fa¬
miliar, as the appearances of adlual reproach. And if
we attempt to go farther in our contemplation, and to
conceive the way and the forces by which either the
approximation or receffes of the atoms are produced,
we mutt acknowledge that we have no conception of
the matter; and we can only fay, that there is a caufe
of thefe motions, and we call it a force, as in every cafe
of the production of motion. We call it attraction or
repulfion juft as we happen to contemplate an accefs or
a recefs. But the analogy here is not only flight, but
imperfeCt, and fails moft in thofe cafes which are moft
Ample, and where we fhould expeCt it to be molt com¬
plete. We can fqueeze water out of a fponge, it is
true, or out of a piece of green wood ; but when the
white of an egg, the tremella, or fome gums, fwell to
a hundred times their dry dimenfions by imbibing water,
we cannot fqueeze out a particle. If fluidity (for the
]
S T E
Steam.
16
tradtion,
but imprO'
perly.
*7
reafoning mult equally apply to this as to vapourouf-
nefs) be owing to an accumulation of the extendedv
matter of fire, which gradually expanded the folid by
its very minute additions; and if the accumulation round
a particle of ice, which is neceffary for making it a par¬
ticle of water, be fo great in comparifon of what gives
it the expanfion of one degree, as experiment obliges
us to conclude—it feems an inevitable confequence that
all fluids flrould be many times rarer than the folids from
which they are produced. But we know that the dif¬
ference is trifling in all cafes, and in fome (water, for
inftance, and iron) the folid is rarer than the fluid.
Many other arguments, (each of them perhaps of little
weight when taken alone, but which are all fyftemati- More pro-
cally connefted) concur in rendering it much more <)W"
probable that the matter of fire, in caufing elafticity, ^atu°a]are-
afts immediately by its own elaflicity, which we cannot pulfion be-
conceive. in any other way than as a mutual tendency intv'een the
its particles to receive from each other ; and we doubt ha‘t‘c!t’s Cjr
not but that, if it could be obtained alone, we fhould
find it an elaftic fluid like air. We even think that
there are cafes in which it is obferved in this ftate. The
elaftic force of gunpowder is very much beyond the
elafticity of all the vapours which are produced in its
deflagration, each of them being expanded as much as
we can reafonably fuppofe by the great heat to which
they are expofed. The writer of this article exploded
fome gunpowder mixed with a confiderable portion of
finely powdered quartz, and another parcel mixed with
fine filings of copper. The elafticity was meafured by
the penetration of the ball which was difeharged, and
was great in the degree now mentioned. The experi¬
ment was fo conduced, that much of the quartz and
copper was colledted ; none of the quartz had been
melted, and fome of the copper was not melted. The
heat, therefore, could not be fuch as to explain the
elafticity by expanfion of the vapours; and it became
not improbable that fire was adling here as a detached
chemical fluid by its own elaflicity. But to return to
our fubjeft.
There is one circumftance in which we think our is
own experiments (how a remarkable diffei'ence (at lead Probably
in degree) between the condenfible and incondenfiblea Srfcat
vapours. It is well known, that when air is very fud-^~ (I,tL
r . 7 J , tween con-
denly expanded, cold is produced, and heat when it is Gobble
fuddenly condenfed. When making experiments with and incen¬
tire hopes of difeovering the connexion between the denfible va-
elafticity and denfity of the vapours of boiling water, Pours ’
and alfo of boiling fpirits of turpentine, we found the
change of denfity accompanied by a change of tempera¬
ture vaflly greater than in the cafe of incoercible gafes.
When the vapour of boiling water was fuddenly allowed
to expand into five times its bulk, we obferved the de-
preflion of a large and fenfible air thermometer to be
at leaft four or five times greater than in a fimilar ex¬
panfion of common air of the fame temperature. The
chemical reader will readily fee reafons for expelling,
on the contrary, a fmaller alteration of temperature,
both on account of the much greater rarity of the fluid,
and on account of a partial condenfation of its water 19
and the confequent difengagement of combined heat. ar'^ alf'0
This difference in the quantity of-fire which is cora-[°me c“‘~
bined in vapours and gafes isffo confiderable, -as to au-the chen;i-
thorize us to fuppofe that there is fome difference in the cal confti-
chemical conflitution of vapours and gafes, and that thetut'onof
conne&ion v?puux*
S T E
[ 643 ]
S T E
Steam.
General
C)bserva-
TIONS.
•am rifss
difFt rent
npera-
•e.% ac-
•cliiiir as
■ air is
avy or
connexion between the fpecific bales of the vapour and
the fire which it contains is not the fame in air, for in-
ftance, as in the vapour of boiling water ; and this dif¬
ference may be the reafon why the one is eafily conden-
fible by cold, while the other has never been exhibited in
a liquid or folid form, except by means of its chemical
union with other fubftances. In this particular inftance
we know that there is an effential difference—that in
vital or atmofpheric air there is not only a prodigious
quantity of fire which is not in the vapour of water, but
that it alfo contains light, or the caule of light, in a
combined ftate. This is fully evinced by the great
difeovery of Mr Cavendilh of the compofition of water.
Here we are taught that water (and confequently its
vapour) confifts of air from which the light and greateft
part of the fire have been feparated. And the fubfe-
quent difeoveries of the celebrated Lavoifier (liowg that
almoft all the condenfible gafes with which u'e are ac¬
quainted confiff either of airs which have already loft
much of their fire (and perhaps light too), or of matters
in which we have no evidence of fire or light being com¬
bined in this manner.
This confideration may go far in explaining this dif¬
ference in the condenfibility of thefe different fpecies of
aerial fluids, the gafes and the vapours ; and it is with
this qualification only that we are difpofed to allow that
all bodies are condenfible into liquids or folids by ab-
ftra61ing the heat. In order that vital air may become
liquid or folid, we bold that it is not fufticient that a
body be prefented to it which {hall limply abftract its
beat. This would only abftradt its uncombined fire.
But another and much larger portion remains chemically
combined by means of light. A chemical affinity muft
be brought into aftion which may abftraft, not the
fire from the oxygen (to fpeak the language of Mr La¬
voifier), but the oxygen from the fire and light. And
our produdlion is not the detached balls of air, but de¬
tached heat and light, and the formation of an oxide of
feme kind.
To profecute the chemical confideration of Steams
farther than thefe general obfervations, which are ap¬
plicable to all, would be almoft to write a treatife of
chemitlry, and would be a repetition of many things
which have been treated of in fufficient detail in other
articles of this work. We ffiall therefore conclude this
article rvith fome other obfervations, which are alfo ge¬
neral, with refpeft to the different kinds of coercible
vapours, but which have a particular relation to the fol¬
lowing article.
Steam or vapour is an elaftic fluid, whofe elafticity
balances the preffure of the atmofphere ; and it has been
produced from a folid or liquid body raifed to a fufficient
temperature for giving it this elafticity ; that is, for
canfing the fluid to boil. This temperature muft vary
with the preffure of the air. Accordingly it is found,
that when the air is light (indicated by the barometer
being low), the fluid will boil fooner. When the ba¬
rometer hands at 30 inches, water boils at the tempe¬
rature n 2°. If it flands fo low as 28 inches, water
will boil at 2084. In the plains of Quito, or at Gon-
dar in Abyflinia, where the barometer hands at about
21 inches, water will boil at 1950. Highly rectified
alcohol will boil at 1600, and vitriolic ether will boil
at 88° or 89°. This is a temperature by no means un¬
common in thefe places ; nay, the air is frequently
warmer. Vitriolic ether, therefore, is a liquor which Steam,
can hardly be known in thole countries. It is hardly v—
poffible to preferve it in that form. If a phial have not
its ftopper firmly tied down, it will be blown out, and
the liquor will boil and be diffipated in fleam. On the
top of Chimbora5ao, the human blood muft be difpofed
to give out air-bubbles.
We faid fome time ago, that we had concluded, from^ ^r;,
fome experiments made in the receiver of an air-pump, koU nncjer
that fluids boil in vacuo at a temperature nearly 120 the preffure
degrees lower than that neceffary for their boiling in of the va-
the open air. But we now fee that this muft have been P°ur
but a grofs approximation j for in thefe experiments
the fluids were boiling under the preflure of the vapour the conclul
which they produced, and which could not be abftracted fion men-
by working the pump. It appears from the experi-fi00^!11
ments of Lord Charles Cavendilh, mentioned in the ar-n H'1S r
ticle Pneumatics, that water of the temperature 7 2° apj^oxfnia-
was converted into elaftic vapour, which balanced a pref- t:on.
fure of ^ths of an inch of mercury, and in this ftate it
occupied the receiver, and did not allow the mercury in
the gauge to fink to the level. As fall as this was ab-
flraffed by working the air-pump, more of it was pro¬
duced from the furface of the water, fo that the preffure
continued the fame, and the water did not boil. Had
it been pofuble to produce a vacuum above this water,
it would have boiled for a moment, and would even have
continued to boil, if the receiver could have been kept
very cold.
Upon reading thefe experiments, and fome very curi-. Q f
ous ones of Mr Nairne, in the Phil. Tranf. vol. lxvii.eXp™(.n L"
the writer of this article was induced to examine more ments to
particularly the relation between the temperature of the determine
vapour and its elafticity, in the followingf manner : Qe Ie^afl°n
ABCD (fig. 2.) is the feftion of a fmall digefter the ternjx>
made of copper. Its lid, which is faftened to the bodyratureof
with ferews, is pierced with three holes, each of which vapour and
had a fmall pipe foldered into it. The firft hole Was’ts eia^lc1''
furniffied with a brafs fafety-valve V, nicely fitted to it p-’0.
by grinding. The area of this valve was exaftly ^th of & *
an inch. There relied on the ftalk at top of this valve
the arm of a fteelyard carrying a Hiding weight. This
arm haft a fcale of equal parts, fo adjufted to the weight
that the number on the fcale correfponded to the inches
of mercury, whofe preffure on the under furface of the
valve is equal to that of the fteelyard on its top *, fo that
when the weight was at the divifion 10, the preffure of
the fteelyard on the valve was juft equal to that of a
column of mercury 10 inches high, and -|th of an inch
bafe. The middle hole contained a thermometer T
firmly fixed into it, fo that no vapour could efcape by
its fides. The ball of this thermometer was but a little
way below the lid. The third hole received occafion-
ally the end of a glafs-pipe SGF, whofe defeending leg
was about 36 inches long. When this fyphon was not
ufed, the hole was properly fliut with a plug.
The veffel was half filled with diftilled water which
had been purged of air by boiling. The lid was then
fixed on, having the third hole S plugged up. A lamp
being placed under the veffel, the water boiled, and the
fleam iffued copioufly by the fafety-valve. The ther¬
mometer flood at 213, and a barometer in the room at
29.9 inches. The weight was then put on the fifth di¬
vifion. The thermometer immediately began to rife ; 1
and when it was at 220, the fleam iffued by the fides
4 M 2 of
S T E
C 644 ]
S T E
of the valve. The weight was removed to the 10th
diviiion ; but before the thermometer could be diftinctly
obferved, the Iteam was iffuing at the valve. Th; lamp
was removed farther from the bottom of the veffel, that
the progrefs of heating might be more moderate; and
when the fleam ceafed to ifl'ue from the valve, the ther¬
mometer was at 227. The weight was now fliifted to
1 y, and by gradually approaching the lamp, the fleam
again iffued, and the thermometer was at 1324. This
mode of trial was continued all the way to the 75t;^
diviiion of the fcale. The experiments w7ere then re¬
peated in the contrary order j that is, the weight being
fufpended at the 75th divifion, and the fleam ifluing
flrongly at the valve, the lamp was withdrawal, and the
moment the fleam ceafed to come out, the thermome¬
ter was obferved. The fame was done at the 70th, 65th,
divifion, &c. Thefe experiments wrere feveral times re¬
peated both ways; and the means of all the refults for
each divifion are expreffed in the following table, where
column jfl exprefles the elaflicity of the fleam, being
the fum of 20.9, and the divifion of the fleelyard j co¬
lumn 2d exprtffes the temperature of the fleam corre-
fponding to this elaflicity.
J.
35 inches.
40
45
5°
55
60
65
70
75
80
85
9°
95
100
105
II.
2190
226
232
237
242
247
251
255
259
263
267
2704
2/44‘
278
281
y, and fo on by every five degrees till it fhould attalti Steam,
the boiling heat. Another obferver noted the corre-' v"™
i’ponding defeents of the mercury by a fcale of inches,
which had its beginning placed at 29.84 from the fur-
face of the mercury in the faucer.
The pounded ice was now removed, and the lamp
placed at a confiderable dillance below the vefiel, fo as
to warm its contents very flowly. Thefe obiervations
being very eafily made, were feveral times repeated, and
their mean refults are fet down in the following table :
Only obferve, that it was found difficult to note down
the defeents for every fifth degree, becaufe they fuc-
ceeded each other fo faff. Every 10th was judged fuf-
ficient for eflablifliing the law of variation. The firft
column of the table contains the temperature, and the
fecond the defeent (in inches) of the mercury from the
mark 29.84.
32"
40
50
60
70
80
90
ICO
110
I 20
130
I40
150
160
170
l8o
J90
200
210
?
0.1
0.2
o-35
o-55
0.82
1.18
1.61
2- 25
3.00
3- 95
5-‘5
6.72
8.65
11.0 c
14.05
17-85
22.62
28.65
A very different procefs wras neceffary for afeertaining
the elafficity of the fleam in lower temperatures, and
confequently under fmaller preffures than that of the
atmofphere. The glafs fyphon SGF was now' fixed in¬
to its hole in the lid of the digefier. The water was
made to boil fmartly for fome time, and the lleam iffued
copioufly both at the valve and at the fyphon. The
low'er end of the fyphon was now- immerfed into a broad
faucer of mercury, and the lamp inlfantly removed,
and every thing wjas allowed to grow cold. By this the
fleam was gradually condenfed, and the mercury rofe
in the fyphon, without fenfibly finking in the faucer.
The valve and all the joints wrere fmeared with a thick
tlammy cement, compofed of oil, tallow, and rofin,
which "effefinally prevented all ingrefs of air. The wea¬
ther was clear and froffy, and the barometer Handing at
29.84, and the thermometer in the vcffel at 4 2°. The
mercury in the fyphon flood at 29-7» or fomewhat
higher, thus ffiowing a very complete ccndenfation.
The whole veffel was furrounded with pounded ice, of
the temperature 32°. This made no fenfible change
in the height of the mercury. A mark was now' made
at the furface of the mercury. One obferver was fla-
tipned at the thermometer, wfith inflruflions to call out
as the thermometer reached the divifions 42, 47, 52,
Four or five numbers at the tsp of the column of
elaflicities are not fo accurate as the others, becaufe tire
mercury paffed pretty quickly through thefe points.
But the progrefs was extremely regular through the re¬
maining points ; fo that the elafticities correfponding to
temperatures above 70° may be confidered as very accu¬
rately afeertained.
Not being altogether fatisfied with the method em¬
ployed for meafuring the elaflicity in temperatures above
that of boiling water, a better form of experiment was
adopted. (Indeed it w'as tbe want of other apparatus
which made irneceffiuy to employ the former). A glafs
tube was procured of the form reprefented in fig. 3. hav- p-i(r_ ^
ing a little ciflcrn L, from the top and bottom of which
proceeded the fyphons K and MN. The ciflern con¬
tained mercury, and the tube MN was of a {lender bore,
and was about fix feet tw'O inches long. The end K was
firmly fixed in the third hole of the lid, and the long
leg of tbe fyphon wras furnifhed with a fcale of inches,
and firmly faftened to an upright poll.
The lamp was now applied at fuch a diflance from
the vefiel as to warm it flowly, and make the water
boil, the fleam efcaping for fome time through the fafe-
ty-valve. A heavy weight was then fufpended cv. the
fleelyard : fuch as it w'as known that the veffel would
fuppovt, and at the fame time, fuch as would not allow
the fleam to force the mercury out of the long tube.
The thermometer began immediately to rife, as alfo the
mercury
S T E
[ 645 ]
S T E
Steam.
mercury in the tube MN. Their correfpondent ftations
are marked in the following table :
Elajlicity.
0.0
n
Which a
gree we!
with the
til Mr A.
tliard.
Temperature,
212°
2 20
23O
240
25O
£6b
270
280
5-9
14.6
2 c.o
36-9
5°-4
64.2
106.0
This Form of the experiment, is much more fufceptible
of accuracy than the other, and the meafures of elallicity
are more to be depended on. In repeating the experi¬
ment, they were found much more conllant •, whereas,
in the former method, differences occurred of two inches
and upwards.
We may now conneft the two fets of experiments in¬
to one table, by adding to the numbers in this laft table
the conftant height 2,9.9, which was the height of the
mercury in the barometer during the laft fet of obler-
vaiions.
Temperature.
3 2°
4°
50
60
70
80
9=
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
J90
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
Elojlicity.
0.0
0.1
0.1
o-35
o-55
0.82
1.25
1.6
2.25
3-°
3-95
5-T5
6.72
8.65
11.05
1/1.0 t
n-Ss
22.62
28.65
35-3
44-7
54 9
66.8
80.3
94.1
105.9
elafticity was 11.05, the water was 1680, and the al¬
cohol I34°.4. Obferving the difference between the
temperatures of equally elaftic vapours of water and al¬
cohol not to be conflant, but gradually to diminifh, in
Mr Achard’s experiments, along with the ela^icity, it
became interefting to difeover whether and at what tem¬
perature this difference would vanifh altogether. Ex¬
periments were accordingly made by the writer of this
article, fimilar to thofe made with v/ater. They were
not made with the fame fcrupulous care, nor repeated
as they deferved, but they furnifhed rather an unexpect¬
ed refult. The following table will give the reader a
diftinCl notion of them :
Steam.
In the memoirs of the Royal Academy of Berlin for
1782, there is an account of fome experiments made by
fe Mr Achard on the elaflic force of fleam, from the tem¬
perature 32° to 212°. They agree extremely well with
thofe mentioned here, rarely differing more than two or
three tenths of an inch. He alfo examined the elafticity
of the vapour produced from alcohol, and found, that
when the elafticity was equal to that of the vapour of
water, the temperature was about 350 lower. Thus,
when the elafticity of both was meafured by 28.1 inches
of mercury, the temperature of the watery vapour was
209°, and that of the fpirituous vapour was 1730. When
the elafticity was 18.5, the temperature of the water
was 189.5, and that of the alcohol 154.6. When the
Temperature.
3 2°
40
60
80
ICO
120
I40
i6q
180
200
220
240
Elajlicity.
0.0
0.1
0.8
0.8
3-9
6.9
12.2
21.3
34-
52-4
78 5
11
We fay that the refult was unexpected ; for as the natu¬
ral boiling point feemed by former experiments to be
in all fluids about 120° or more below their boiling
point in the ordinary preffure of the atmofphere, it was
reafonable to expeCf that the temperature at which they
ceafed to emit fenfibly elaftic fleam would have fome
relation to their temperatures when emitting fleam of
any determinate elafticity. Now as the vapour of alco¬
hol of elafticity 30 has its temperature about 36° lower
than the temperature of water equally elaflic, it was to
be expeCled that the temperature at which it ceafed to
be fenfibly affefled would be feveral degrees lower than
32°. It is evident, however, that this is not the cafe.
But this is a point that deferves more attention, becaufe
it is clofely connecled with the chemical relation be¬
tween the element (if fuch there be) of fire and the
bodies into whofe compofition it feems to enter as a
conftituent part. What is the temperature 3 2°, to
make it peculiarly connected with elafticity i1 It is a
temperature affumed by us for our own conveniency,
on account of the familiarity of water in our experi¬
ments. Ether, we know, boils in a temperature far
below this, as apnears from Dr Cullen’s experiments
narrated in the Eflays Phyfical and Literary of Edin¬
burgh. On the faith of former experiments, wre may
be pretty certain that it will boll in vacuo at the tem¬
perature—140, becaufe in the air it boils at 4-106®.
Therefore wre may be certain, that the fleam or vapour
of ether, when of the temperature 3 2°, will be very fen¬
fibly elaftic. Indeed Mr L'>voifier fays, that if it be
expofed in an exhaufted receiver in winter, its vapour
will fupport mercury at the height of 10 inches. A
feries of experiments on this vapour fimilar to the above
would be very inftruftive. We even with that thofe- on
alcohol were more carefully repeated. If ive draw' a
curve line, of -which the abfclffa is the line of tempera¬
tures, and the ordinates are the correfponding heights of
the mercury in thefe experiments on w?.ter and alcohol,
W
*4'
An unex* .
pedleci rer
fult in com¬
paring the
tempera¬
tures of e-
qually elaf¬
tic vapours
of water
and alco-...
hoi. ,
S T E
[ 646 *]
S T E
Steam.
Thefe ex¬
periments
give rife to
important
reflecitions.
Vol. Ixx.
26
Spontane¬
ous evapo¬
ration pro¬
cured by
the diflo!-
ving power
of the air.
Fig-
we (hall obferve, that although they both fenfibly coin¬
cide at 32°, and have the abfcivfa for their common tan¬
gent, a very fraall error of obfervation may be the caufe
of this, and the curve which expreffes the elafticity of
fpirituous vapour may really interfefl the other, and go
backwards conflderably beyond 3 2°.
This range of experiments gives rife to fome curious
and important reflexions. We now fee that no parti¬
cular temperature is neceffary for water affuming the
form of permanently elaftic vapour and that it is high¬
ly probable that it afiumes this form even at the tempe¬
rature 3 2° j only its elafticity is too fmall to afford us
any fenflble meafure. It ?s well known that even ice
evaporates (fee experiments to this purpofe by Mr Wil-
fon in the Philofophical TranfaXions, when a piece of
poliflaed metal covered with hoar-froft became perfeXly
clear by expofing it to a dry frofty wind).
Even mercury evaporates, or is converted into elaftic
vapour, when all external prefiure is removed. The dim
film which may frequently be obferved in the upper
part of a barometer which (lands near a dream of air,
is* found to be fmall globules of mercury (ticking to the
infide of the lube. They may be feen by the help of
a magnifying glafs, and are the bed left of a wTell made
barometer. They will be entirely removed by caufing
the mercury to rife along the tube. It will lick them
all up. They confift of mercury which had evaporated
in the void fpace, and was afterwards condenfed by the
cold glafs. But the elafticity is too fmall to occafion a
fenfible depreftion of the column, even when confider-
ably warmed by a candle.
Many philofophers accordingly imagine, that fponta-
neous evaporation in low temperatures is produced in
this way. But we cannot be of this opinion, and muft
dill think that this kind of evaporation is produced by
the diflblving power of the air. When mcift air is fud-
denly rarefied, there is always a precipitation of water.
This is mod diftinXly feen when we work an air-pump
brifldy. A mid; is produced, which we fee plainly fall
to the bottom of the receiver. But by this new doc¬
trine the very contrary diould happen, becaufe the' ten¬
dency of water to appear in the elaftic form is promo¬
ted by removing the external preffure ; and we really
imagine that more of it now aXually becomes fimple
elaftic watery vapour. But the mift or precipitation
(hows incontrovertibly, that there had been a previous
folution. Solution is performed by forces which aX in
the way of attraXton ; or, to exprefs it more fafely, fo-
lutions arc accompanied by the mutual approaches of
the particles of the menftruum and folved : all fuch ten¬
dencies are obferved to increafe by a diminution of rii-
ftance. Hence it mvji follow, that air of double denfi-
ty will diffolve more than twice as much water. There¬
fore when we fuddenly rarefy faturated air (even though
its heat (hould not diminifti) fome water muft be let
go. What may be its quantity we know not; but it
via if be more than what would now become elaftic by
this diminution of furrounding preiTure ; and it is not
unlikely but this may have fome effeX in producing
the veficles which we found fo difficult to explain.
Thefe may be filled with pure watery vapour, and be
floating in a fluid compofed of water diiTolved in air.
An experiment of Fontana’s feems to put this matter
out of doubt. A diftilling apparatus AB (fig. 4.)
4
was fo contrived, that the heat was applied above the Steam,
furface of the water in the alembic A. This was done l——v""-"1
by inclofing it in another veffel CC, filled with hot wa¬
ter. In the receiver B there was a fort of barome¬
ter D, with an open ciflern, in order to fee wffiat
preffure there was on the furface of the fluid. While
the receiver and alembic contained air, the heat applied
at A produced no fenhble diftillation during feveral
hours : But on opening a cock E in the receiver at
its bottom, and making the water in the alembic to boil,
fteam was produced which foon expelled all the air,
and followed it through the cock. The cock was now
(hut, and the whole allowed to grow cold by removing
the fire, and applying cold water to the alembic. The
barometer fell to a level nearly. Then warm water
was allowed to get into the outer veffel CC. The ba¬
rometer rofe a little, and the diftillation went on brilkly
without the fmalleft ebullition in the alembic. The con-
clufion is obvious: while there was air in the receiver
and communicating pipe, the diftillation proceeded en¬
tirely by the ditTolving power of this air. Above the
water in the alembic it was quickly faturated ; and this ,
faturation proceeded (lowly along the ftill air in the com¬
municating pipe, and at laft might take place through
the whole of the receiver. The (ides of the receiver
being kept cold, ftiould condenfe part of the water dif-
folved in the air in contaX with them, and this fnould
trickle down the fides and be colleXed. But any per-
fon who has obferved how long a cryftal of blue vi¬
triol will lie at the bottom of a glafs of ftill water be¬
fore the tinge will reach the furface, will fee that it
muft be next to impoffible for diftillation to go on in
thefe circumftances ; and accordingly none was obfer¬
ved. But when the upper part of the apparatus was
filled with pure watery vapour, it was fupplied from
the alembic as faft as it was condenfed in the receiver,
juft as in the pulfe glafs.
Another inference which may be drawn from tbefe , .
i T.T r n- n • A certain
experiments is, that JXaturc teems to afteX a certainiaw t]ie
law in the dilatation of aeriform fluids by heat. They dilatationcf
feem to be dilatable nearly in proportion of their pre- aeriform
fent dilatation. For if we fuppofe that the vapours
referable air, in having their elafticity in any given tem¬
perature proportional to their denfity, we muft fuppofe
that if fteam of the elafticity 60, that is, fupporting 60
inches of mercury, were” fubjeXed to a preflure of 30
inches, it would expand into twice its prefent bulk.
The augmentation of elafticity therefore is the mea¬
fure of the bulk into which it would expand in order
to acquire its former elafticity. Taking the increafe
of elafticity therefore as a meafure of the bulk into
which it would expand under one conftant preiTure,
we fee that equal increments of temperature produce
nearly equal multiplications of bulk. Thus if a certain
diminution of temperature diminifhes its bulk -Jib, ano-
tlier equal diminution of temperature will diminifti this
new bulk -fth very nearly. Thus, in our experiments,
the temperatures no0, 140°, 170°, 200°, 230°, are in
arithmetical progrefficn, having equal differences ; and
we fee that the correfponding elafticities 2.25, 5.15,
11.05, 22 62, 44.7, are very nearly in the continued
proportion of 1 to 2. The elafticity correfponding to
the temperature 260 deviates confiderably from this
law, which would give 88 or 89 inftead'of 80 5 and the
deviation
s T E [ 647
Steam, deviation increafes in the higher temperatures. But
hill we fee that there is a confiderable approximation
to this law ; and it will frequently afflit us to recolleft,
that whatever be the prefent temperature, an increafe
of 30 degrees doubles the elafticity and the bulk of wa¬
tery vapour.
That 40 will increafe the eladicity from
8
10 - .
I 2X
J8
22 - _
24
26
to I
to I
to I
to I
to I
to I
to I
to I
] S T E
the temperature 6o°: but beyond this it needs a cor- St^am.
re&ion ; becaufe air, like the vapour of water, does not''“"''V—
expand in the exaft proportion of its bulk.
We cbferve this law confiderably approximated to in And is
the augmentation of the bulk or elallicity of elallic va-liderably
pours j that is, it is a fa6t that a given increment ofaPPro*‘ma-
temperature makes very nearly the fame proportional^t0 m
augmentation of bulk and elafticity. This gives us fome
notion of the manner in which the fuppofed expanding of the bulk
caufe produces the effeft. When vapour of the bulk°r eladicity
4 is expanded into a bulk 5 by an addition of ic de-ofeial^1G
grees ol fenfible heat, a certain quantity of fire goes in-varoar-’
to it, and is accumulated round each particle, in fuch a
manner that the temperature of each, which formerly
was is now vi-j-1 o. Let it now receive another equal
augmentation of temperature. This is now m-j-20, and
This is fufficiently exadl for moft praftical purpofes.
Thus an engineer finds that the injedlion cools the cy¬
linder of a fteam-engine to 19 20. It therefore leaves
a Ileam whofe elallicity is three-fifths of its full elafticity,
nr 18 inches $ . But it is better at all times to have
recourfe to the table. Obferve, too, that in the lower
temperatures, i. e. below no0, this increment of tem-
2S perature does more than double the elafticity.
Obtains This law obtains more remarkably in the incoercible
more re- vapours j fuch as vital air, atmofpheric air, fixed air,
in'th-hr o-^C' ^ave a^° their eiafticity proportional
eretbie va- to ^ie^r bulk inverfely : and perhaps the deviation from
pours. the law in fleams is connedled with their chemical dif¬
ference of conftitution. If the bulk were always aug¬
mented in the fame proportion by equal augmentations
of temperature, the elallicities would be accurately re-
prefented by the ordinates of a logarithmic curve, of
which the temperatures-are the correfponding abfeiflae $
and we might contrive fuch a fcale for our thermome¬
ter, that the temperatures would be the common loga¬
rithms of the elafticities, or of the bulks having equal
elafticity ; or, with our prefent fcale, we may find fuch
a multiplier m for the number x of degrees of our ther¬
mometer (above that temperature where the elaftici¬
ty is equal to unity), that , this multiple ftiall be the
common logarithm of the elafticity y; fo that mx
= log.jy.
But our experiments are not fufficiently accurate for
determining the temperature where the elafticity is mea-
fured by 1 inch ; becaufe in thefe temperatures the
elasticities vary by exceedingly fmall quantities. But
if we take 11.04 f°r ur>L of elafticity, and number
our temperature from 170°, and make wrro.010035,
we (hall find the produfl mx to be very neatly the lo¬
garithm^ of the elafticity. The deviations, however,
from this law, are too great to make this equation of
any ufe. But it is very pradlicable to frame an equa¬
tion which ftiall correfpond with the experiments to
any degree of accuracy ; and it has been done for air-
in a tranflation of General Roy’s Meafurement of the
Bafe at Hounflovv Heath into French by Mr Prony.
It is as follows : Let x be the degrees of Reaumur’s
thermometer; let y be the expanfion of 10,000 parts
of air; let e be — 10, m zx: 2.7979, « —0.01768:
then y xx e r!‘11—62^,y. Now e being ~ 1 o, it is plain
that is the number, of which m\-nx is the ccm-
ijion logarithm. Ibis formula is very exadl as far as
r ^ r
the bulk is -—^or 6 J, and the arithmetical increafe of
4
bulk is if. The abfolute quantity of fire which has
entered it is greater than the former, both on account
of the greater augmentation of fpace and the greater
temperature. Confequently if this vapour be compref-
fed into the bulk 5, there muft be heat or fire in it
which is not neceffary for the temperature m-f-20, far
lefs for the temperature //i-f-to. It moft therefore
emerge, and be dhpofed to enter a thermometer which
has already the temperature »2~j-2o: that is, the va¬
pour muft grow hotter by compreftion ; not by fqueez-
ing out the heat, hke water out of a fponge, but be¬
caufe the law of attraction for heat is deranged. It
would be a very valuable acquifition to ©ur knowledge
to learn with preeijion the quantity of fenfible heat pro¬
duced in this way ; but no iatisfaCIory experiments have
yet been made. M. Lavoifier, with his chemical friends
and colleagues, were bufily employed in this inqui¬
ry : hut the wickednds of their countrymen deprived
the world of this and many other important additions
which we might have expeCled from this celebrated and
unfortunate philofopher. He had made, in conjunc¬
tion with M. de la Place, a numerous train of accurate
and expenfive experiments for meafuring the quantity
of latent or combined heat in elaftic vapours. This is
evidently a very important point to the diftiller and
praftical chemift. This heat muft all come from the
fuel; and it is greatly worth while to know whether
any laving may be made of this article. Thus we know
that diftillation will go on either under the preffure of
the air, or in an alembic and receiver from which the
air has been expelled by fteam ; and we know that this
laft may be conducted in a very low temperature, even
not exceeding that of the human body. But it is un¬
certain whether this may not employ even a greater
quantity of fuel, as well as occafion a great expence of
time. We are difpofed to think, that when there is no
air in the apparatus, and when the condenfation can be
fpeedily performed, the proportion of fuel expended to
the fluid which comes over will diminilh continually as
the heat, and confequently the denfity of the fleam, is
augmented ; becaufe in this cafe the quantity of com¬
bined heat muft be lefs. In the mean time, we earneft-
ly recommend the trial of this mode of diftillation in
veflels cleared of air. It is undoubtedly of great ad¬
vantage to be able to work with fmaller fires; and it
would fecure us againft all accidents of blowing off
° the
fe T E
r 648 1
S T E
Steam.
Kxpiana-
tion of the
phenomena
of the Gey
zerfpring
in Iceland
by the
force of
fteam.
5-
tlte head of the fiill, often attended tvith terrible ccnfe-
quences (b).
We mutl not conclude this article without taking
notice of home natural phenomena which feem to owe
their origin to the adlion of elaftic fleam.
We have already taken notice of the refemblance of
the tremor and fuccuffions obferved in the ihocks of many
earthquakes to thole which may be felt in a veffel where
water is made to boil infernally, while the breaking out
of the ebullition is ftified by the cold of the upper parts j
and we have likewife Hated the. objeftions wdiich are
ufually made to this theory of earthquakes. We may
perhaps refume the fubject under the article Volcano ;
but in the mean time we do not hefitate to fay, that the
wonderful appearances of the Geyzer fpring in Iceland
(fee Huer j and Iceland, N° 3—5.) are undoubtedly
produced by the expanfion ot Hearn in ignited caverns.
Of thefe appearances we fuppofe the whole train to be
produced as follows.
A cavern may be fuppofed of a Hiape analogous to
CBDEF (fig. 5.), having a perpendicular funnel AB
iffuing from a depreffed part of the roof. The part F
may be lower than the refl, remote, and red-hot. Such
places we know to be frequent in Iceland. Water may
be continually trickling into the part CD. It will fill
it up to B, and even up to E e, and then trickle flowly
along into F. As foon as any gets into contact with
an ignited part, it expands into elaflic fleam, and is
partly condenied by the cold fides of the cavern, which
it gradually warms, till it condenfes no more. This
produdlion of fleam hinders not in the fmalieft degree
the trickling of more water into F, and the continual
produftion of more fleam. This now prefles on the
i'urface of the water in CD, and caufes it to rife gra¬
dually in the funnel BA; but flowly, becaufe its cold
furface is condenfing an immenfe quantity of fleam. We
may eafily fuppofe that the water trickles fafter into F
than it is expended in the production of fleam ; fo that
-it reaches farther into the ignited part, and may even
fall in a ftream into fome deeper pit highly ignited. It
will now produce fleam in vaft abundance, and of pro¬
digious elafticity ; and at once pufh up the water through
the funnel in a folid jet, and to a great height. This
muft continue till the furface of the water finks to ED.
If the lower end of the funnel have any inequalities or
notches, as is moft likely, the fleam will get admiflion
along with the water, which in this particular place is Steam-,
boiling hot, being fuperfictal, and will get to the mouth —y^
of the funnel, while water is Hill prefled in below. At
laft the fleam gets in at B on all fides; and as it is con¬
verging to B, along the furface of the water, with pro¬
digious velocity it fweeps along with it much water, and
blows it up through the funnel with great force. When
this is over, the remaining fleam blows out unmrxed
with'water, growing w-eaker as it is expended, till the-
bottom of the funnel is again flopped by the water in-
creafing in the cavern CBD. All the phenomena above
ground are perfedlly conformable to the neceffary con-
fequences of this very probable confl.ruclion of the ca¬
vern. The feeling of being lifted up, immediately be¬
fore the jet, in all probability is owing to a real heaving
up of the whole roof of the cavern by the firft expanfion
of the great body ox fleam. We had an accurate deferip-
tion of the phenomena from perfons well qualified to
judge of thefe matters who vifited thefe celebrated
fprings in 1789.
STEAM- Engine, is the name of a machine which de¬
rives its moving powTer from the elaflicity and conden-
fibility of the fleam of boiling water. It is the moft
valuable prefent which the arts of life have ever received
from the philofopher. The mariner’s compafs, the te-
lefcope, gunpowder, and other mofl: ufeful fervants to
human weaknefs and ingenuity, wrere the produclions of
chance, and W’e do not exaflly know to whom w^e are
indebted for them ; but the fleam-engine was, in the
very beginning, the refult of refleflion, and the produc¬
tion of a very ingenious mind ; and every improvement
it has received, and every alteration in its conftruftion
and principles, were alfo the refults of philosophical
fludy. 1
The fleam-engine was beyond all doubt invented by Steam en-
the marquis ofWorcefler during the reign of Charles II.
This nobleman publilhed in 1663 a fmall book entitled et‘ ^ r;1>ef
A Century of Inventions ; giving iome obicure and Worcefter.
enigmatical account of an hundred difeoveries or contri¬
vances of his own, which he extols as of great import¬
ance to the public. He appears to have been a perfon
of much knowdedge and great ingenuity : but his de-
feription or accounts of tbefe inventions feem not fo
much intended to inflruft the public, as to raife won¬
der^ and his encomiums on their utility and import¬
ance
(b) We earneftly recommend this fubjedl to the confideration of the philofopher. The laws which regulate the
formation of elaftic vapour, or the general phenomena which it exhibits, give us that link which connefts chemiftry
with mechanical philofophy. Here we fee chemical affinities and mechanical forces fet in immediate oppofition to
each other, and the one made the indication, charadleriftic, and meafure of the other. We have not the leaft
doubt that they make but one fcience, the Science of Univerfal Mechanics; nor do we defpair of feeing the pheno¬
mena of folution, precipitation, cryftallization, fermentation, nay animal and vegetable fecretion and affimilation,
fuccefsfully inveftigated, as cafes of local motion, and explained by the agency of central forces. Some thing of
this kind, and that not inconfiderable, w7as done when Dr Cullen firft fliowTed how the double affinities might be
illuftrated by the affiftance of numbers. Dr Black gave to this hint (for it was little more) that elegant precifion
which charadterizes all his view's. Mr Kirwan has greatly promoted this ftudy by his numerous and ingenious ex¬
amples of its application ; and the mofl: valuable paflages of the writings of Mr Lavoifier, are thofe where he traces
with logical precifion the balancings of force which appear in the chemical phenomena. It is from the fimilar
balancings and confequent meafurements, which may be obferved and obtained in the prefent cafe, that we are to
hope for admiffion into this almoft unbounded fcience of contemplation. We have another link equally interefling
and promifing, viz. the produ&ion of heat by friction. This alfo highly deferves the confideration of the mathema¬
tical philofopher.
3
S T E
Steam-
Engine.
But firft re¬
duced to
practice by
Captain
Savaty.
.3
Papin has
no claim to
the inven¬
tion as the
French pre¬
tend.
ance are to a great degree extravagant, referabling more
the puff of an advertiiing tradefman than the patriotic
communications of a gentleman. The marquis of Wor-
cefter was indeed a projettor, and very importunate and
mylterious withal in his applications for public encou¬
ragement. His account, however, of the fteam-engine,
although by no means fit to give us any diftinft notions
of its ftrudure and operation, is exa£t as far as it goes,
agreeing precifely with what we now know of the fub-
jeft. It is N° 68. of his inventions. His words are as
follow : “ This admirable method which I propofe of
raifing water by the force ot fire has no bounds if the
veffels be ftrong enough : for I have taken a cannon,
and having filled it three-fourths full of water, and fhut
up its muzzle and touch-hole, and expofed it to the fire
for 24 hours, it burft with a great explofion. Having
afterwards difcovered a method of fortifying veffels in¬
ternally, and combined them in fuch a way that they
filled and a£led alternately, I have made the water fpout
in an uninterrupted ftream 40 feet high 5 and one veffel
of rarefied water raifed 40 of cold water. The perfon
who conduced the operation had nothing to do but
turn two cocks 5 fo that one veffel of water being con¬
futed, another begins to force, and then to fill itfelf
with cold water, and fo on in fucceffion.”
It does not appear that the noble inventor could ever
intereft the public by thefe accounts. His charafter as
a projector, and the many failures which perfons of this
turn of mind daily experience, probably prejudiced peo¬
ple againft him, and prevented all attention to his pro¬
jects. It was not till towards the end of the century,
when experimental philofophy was profecuted all over
Europe with uncommon ardour, that thefe notions again
engaged attention. Captain Savary, a perfon alfo of
great ingenuity and ardent mind, faw the reality and
practicability of the marquis of Worcefter’s projeCt. He
knew the great expanfive power of fleam, and had dif¬
covered the inconceivable rapidity with which it is re¬
converted into wate - by cold ; and he foon contrived a
machine for raifing water, in which both of thefe pro¬
perties were employed. He fays, that it was entirely
his own invention. Dr Defaguiliers infifts that he only
copied the marquis’s invention, and charges him with
grofs plagiariim, and with having bought up and burned
the copies of the marquis’s book, in order to fecure the
honour of the difcovery to himfelf. This is a very griev¬
ous charge, and (hould have been fubflantiated by very
diftinft evidence. Defaguiliers produces none fuch 5 and
he was much too late to know what happened at that
time. The argument which he gives is a very foolifh
one, and gave him no title to confider Savary’s experi¬
ment as a falfehood *, for it might have happened pre-
cifely as Savary relates, and not as it happened to De¬
faguiliers. The faCt is, that Savary obtained his patent
of invention after a hearing of objeClions, among which
the difcovery of the marquis of Worcefler was not men¬
tioned - and it is certain that the account given in the
Centui, iventions could inflruft no perfon who was
not fiifficiently acquainted with the properties of fleam
to be able to invent the machine himfelf.
Captain Savary obtained his patent after having aBu-
(th'y etcBed fever l raachit es, of which he gave a de-
fc rip don in a book intitled The Miner’s Friend, pub-
hfbed in 1696, and in another work publifhed in 1699.
Much about this time Dr Papin, a Frenchman and fel-
VOE.XIX. Part II.
[ 649 ]
S T E
low of the Royal Society, invented a method of diifolv- Steam¬
ing bones and other animal folids in water, by confining Engine,
them in clofe veffels, which he called digesters, fo as
to acquire a.great degree of heat. For it muft be ob-
ferved in this place, that it had been difcoveied long
before (in 1684) by Dr Hooke, the moft inquifitive
experimental philofopher of that inquifitive age, that
water could, not be made to acquire above a certain
temperature in the open air 5 and that as foon as it be¬
gins to boil, its temperature remains fixed, and an in-
creafe of heat only produces a more violent ebullition,
and a more rapid wafte. But Papin’s experiments made
the elaftic power of fleam very familiar to him : and
when he left England and fettled as profeflor of mathe¬
matics at Marpurgh, he made many aukward attempts
to employ this force in mechanics, and even for raifing
water. It appears that he had made experiments with
this view in 1698, by order of Charles, landgrave of
Heffe. For . this reafon the French affecfl to °confider
him as the inventor of the fteam-engine. He indeed
publifhed fome account of his invention in j but
he acknowledges that Captain Savary had alfo, and wnth-
°ut any communication w'ith him, invented the fame
thing. Whoever will take the trouble of looking at the
defcription w'hich he has given of thefe inventions, which
are to be feen in the ABa Eruditorum Lipfce, and in
Leupold’s Theatrnm Machinarum, will fee that they
are molt aukward, abfurd, and imprafficable. His
conceptions of natural operations were always vague
and imperfeiff, and he W'as neither philofopher nor me¬
chanician.
We are thus anxious about the claim of thofe gentle¬
men, becaufe.a moft refpeaable French author, Mr Bof-
fut, fays in his Ihjdrodynamique, that the firft notion of
the fteam-engine was certainly owing to Dr Papin, who
had not only invented the digefter, but had in 1695 pub-
lifhed a little performance defcribing a machine for raif-
ing w’ater, in which the piftons are moved by the vapour
of boiling, water alternately dilated and condenfed. Now
the faft is, that Papin’s firft publication was in 1707,
and his pifton is nothing more than a floater on the fur-
face of the winter, to prevent the wafte of fleam by con-
denfation ; and the return of the pifton is not produced,
as in the lleam-engine, by the condenfation of the fteam,
but by admitting the air and a column of water to prefs
it back into its place. The whole contrivance is fo auk¬
ward, and fo unlike any diftinft notions of the fubject,
that it cannot do credit to any perfon. We may add| 4
that much about the fame time Mr Amontons contrived Amon.
a very ingenious but intricate machine, which he calledtons,s fire"
■Afire-wheel. It confifted of a number of buckets placed W^cei‘
m the circumference of a wheel, and communicating
with each other by very intricate circuitous paffages.
One part of this circumference was expofed to the heat
of a furnace, and another to a ftream or ciftern of cold
water. The communications were fo difpofed, that the
fteam produced in the buckets on one fide of the wheel
drove the water into buckets on the other fide, fo that
one fide of the wheel was always much heavier than the
other ■, and it muft therefore turn round, and may exe¬
cute fome work. The death of the inventor, and the
intricacy of the machine, caufed it to be neglefted.
Another member of the Parifian academy of fciences
(P.Ir Deflandes) alfo prefented to the academy a project
of a fleam-wheel, where the impulfive force of the va-
4 N pouf
Steam-
Engine.
Captain Sa
vary’s
fleam-en¬
gine de-
feribed.
Fig. 6.
S T E [65
pour was employed j but it met with no encouragement.
The Engliili engineers had by this time fo much im¬
proved Savary’s firft invention, that it fupplanted all
others. We have therefore no hefitaticn in giving the
honour of the firft and complete invention to tne mar¬
quis of Worcefter ; and we are not difpofed to refufe
Captain Savary’s claim to originality as to the conftruc-
tion of the machine, and even think it probable that
his own experiments made him fee the whole, independent
of the marquis’s account.
Captain Savary’s engine, as improved and fimplified
by himfelf, is as follows.
A (fig. 60 reprefents a ftrong copper boiler proper¬
ly built up in a furnace. There proceeds fiom its top
a large fteam-pipe B, which enters into the top of ano¬
ther ftrong veffel R called the receiver. This pipe
has a cock at C called the steam-cock. In the. bot¬
tom of the receiver is a pipe F, which communicates
fidewife with the rifing pipe KGH. The lower, end
H of this pipe is immerfed in the wmter of the pit or
well, and its upper part K opens into the ciftern into
which the water is to be delivered. Immediately be¬
low the pipe of communication l1 there is a valve G,
opening when preffed from below, and fhutting when
preffed dow'nwards. A fimilar valve is placed at I, im¬
mediately above the pipe of communication. Laftly,
there is a pipe ED which branches off from, the rifing
pipe, and enters into the top of the receiver. 11ns
pipe has a cock D called the injection-cock. The
mouth of the pipe ED has a nozzle/pierced with fmall
holes, pointing from a centre in every direftion. The
keys of the two cocks C and D are united, and the
handle g h is called the regulator.
Let the regulator be fo placed that the fteam-cock C
is open and the inje£tion-cock D is fhut •, put water in¬
to the boiler A, and make it boil ftrongly. The fleam
coming from it will enter the receiver, and gradually
warm it, much fteam being condenfed in producing this
effeft. When it has been warmed fo as to condenfe no
more, the fteam proceeds into the rifing pipe •, the
valve G remains fhut by its weight 3 the fteam lifts the
valve I, and gets into the rifing pipe., and gradually
warms it. When the workman feels this to be the cafe,
or hears the rattling of the valve I, he immediately turns
the fteam-cock fo as to fliut it, the mjection-ccck ftill
remaining fhut (at leaft we may fuppoie this lor the
prefent.) The apparatus muft now cool, and the fteam
in the receiver collapfes into rvater. There is nothing
now to balance the preffure of the atmofphere 5 the
valve I remains (hut by its weight 3 but the air incum¬
bent on the water in the pit preffes up this water
through the fuftion-pipe HG, and caufes it to. lift the
valve G, and flow into the receiver R, and fill it to the
top, if not more than 20 or 25 feet above the furface of
the pit water.
The ffeam-cock is now opened. The fteam which,
during the cooling of the receiver, has been, accumula¬
ting in the boiler, and acquiring a great elafticity by the
aftion of the five, now' ruffles in with great violence, and,
preffing on the furface of the water in the receiver,
caufes it to fhut the valve G and open the valve I by
its weight alone, and it now flows into the rifing pipe,
and would ftand on a level if the elafticity of the fleam
were no more than what would balance the almofpherical
preffure. But it is much more than this, and therefore
0 ] s T E
it prejfes the water out of the receiver into the rifing Steam-
pipe, and will even caufe it to come out at K, if the ^ag11^; i
elafticity of the fteam is fufticiently great. In order to ~
enfure this, the boiler has another pipe in its top,
covered with a fafety-vaXwe V, which is kept dowrn by a
weight W fufpended on a fteelyard LM. This weight
is lo adjuited that its preffure on the fafety-valve is fome-
wftrat greater than the preffure of a column of water
V£ as high as the point of difeharge K. The fire is
fo regulated that the fleam is always iffuing a little by
the loaded valve V. The workman keeps the fteam-
valve open till he hears the valve I rattle. This tells him
that the water is all forced out of the receiver, and
that the fleam is now following it. He immediately
turns the regulator which Units the fteam-cock, and
now, for the firft time, opens the inje&ion-cock. The
cold water trickles at firft through the holes of the noz¬
zle/, and falling down through the fteam, begins Lo
condenfe it 3 and then its elafticity being lefs than the
preffure of the water in the pipe KED/ the cold wa¬
ter fpouts in all dire&ions through the nozzle, and,
quick as thought, produces a complete condenfation.
The valve G now opens again by the preffure of the
atmofphere on the water of the pit, and the receiver is
foon filled with cold w'ater. The injettion-cock is now
fliut, and the ftcam-cock opened, and the whole opera¬
tion is now repeated 3 and lo on continually.
This is the Ample account of the procefs, and will
ferve to give the reader an introduftory notion of the
operation 3 but a more minute attention muft be paid
to many particulars before we can fee the properties and
defefts of this ingenious machine. 6
The water is driven along the riling pipe by the Dcfedts of
elafticity of the fteam. This muft in the boiler, and^ ^
every part of the machine, exert a preffure on everyc ine uc‘1’
fquare inch of the veffels equal to that of the upright
column of water. Suppofe the water to be raifed .ioo
feet, about 25 of this may be done in the fuftion-pipe 5
that is, the upper part of the receiver may be about
25 feet above the furface of the pit-water. The re¬
maining 75 muff be done by forcing, and every fquare
inch of the boiler will be fqueezed out by a preffure of
more than 30 pounds. This very moderate height
therefore requires very ftrong veffels 3 and the marquis
of Worcefter was well aware of the danger of their burft-
ing. A copper boiler of fix feet diameter mult be nine-
tenths of an inch thick to be juft in equilibrio with
this preflure : and the foldered joint will not be able to
withftand it, efpecially in the high temperature to which
the water muft be heated in order to produce fteam of
fufficient elafticity. By confulting the table of the
elafticity of fteam deduced from our experiments men¬
tioned in the preceding article, we fee that this tem¬
perature muft be at leaft 280° of Fahrenheit’s thermo¬
meter. In this heat foft folder is juft ready to melt,
and has no tenacity^ even fpelter folder is confiderably
weakened by it. Accordingly, in a machine eredled
by Dr Defaguiliers, the workman having loaded the
fafety-valve a little more than ufual to make the engine
work more brifldy, the boiler burft with a dreadful ex-
plofion, and blew up the furnace and adjoining parts of
the building as if it had been gunpowder. Mr Savaiy
fucceeded pretty well in railing moderate quantities,
of water to fmall heights, but could make nothing of
deeo mines. Many attempts were made, on the mar¬
quis’s
S . T E [6;
Steam- quls’s principle, to ftrengthen the veflels from within by
Engine. ra(iiated bars and by hoops, but in vain. Very fmall
' boilers or evaporators were then tried, kept red hot, or
nearly fo, and fupplied with a llender ftream of water
trickling into them •, but this afforded no opportunity of
making a colleflion of fteam during the refrigeration of
the receiver, fo as to have a magazine of fteam in readi-
nefs for the next forcing operation ; and the working of
fuch machines was always an employment of great
_ danger and anxiety.
that it can The only fituation in which this machine could be
be employ- employed with perfe£l fafety, and with fome effeff, was
ed with vvhere the whole lift did not exceed 30 or 35 feet. In
only ir^cM1-this cafe the greateft part of it was performed by the
tain fitua- fu&iompipe, and a very manageable preflure was fuffi-
tions. cient for the reft. Several machines of this kind were
erefted in Ifngland about the beginning of this cen¬
tury. A very large one was ere£ted at a falt-wTork in
the fouth of France. Here the water was to be railed
no more than 18 feet. The receiver was capacious,
and it was occafionally fupplied with fteam from a fmall
falt-pan conftruffed on purpofe with a cover. The
entry of the fteam into the receiver merely allowed the
water to run out of it by a large valve, which was open¬
ed by the hand, and the condenfation was produced by
the help of a fmall forcing pump alfo worked by the hand.
In fo particular a fituation as this (and many fuch may
occur in the endiefs variety of human wants), this is a
very porverful engine } and having few moving and rub¬
bing parts, it muft be of great durability. Lhis circum-
ftance has occaftoned much attention to be given to this
firft form of the engine, even long after it was fupplant-
ed by thofe of a much better conftrudlion. A very in¬
genious attempt was made very lately to adapt this con-
ftnuftion to the ufes of the miners. The whole depth
of the pit was divided into lifts of 15 feet, in the fame
manner as is frequently done in pump-machines. In
each of thefe was a fudion-pipe 14 feet long, having
above it a frnall receiver like K, about a foot high, and
its capacity fome what greater than that of the pipe.
This receiver had a valve at the head of the fudion-
pipe, and another opening outwards into the little cif-
tern, into which the next fudion-pipe above dipped to
take in w^ater. Each of thefe receivers fent up a pipe
from its top, which all met in the cover of a large vef-
lel above ground, which was of double the capacity of
all the receivers and pipes. This veflel was clofe on all
Tides. Another veffel of equal capacity was placed im¬
mediately above it, with a pipe from its bottom palling
through the cover of the lower veffel and reaching near
to its bottom. This upper veffel communicates with
the boiler, and conftitutes the receiver of the fteam-en-
gine. The operation is as follows: Ihe lower veffel
is full of water. Steam is admitted into the upper vel-
fel, which expels the air by a valve, and fills the veffel.
It is then condenfed by cold water. 1 he prellure of
the atmofphere would caufe it to enter by all the fac¬
tion-pipes of the different lifts, and prefs on the furface
of the water in the lower receiver, and force it into the
upper one. But becaufe each fudion-pipe dips in a
ciftern of water, the air preffes this water before it,
raifes it into each of the little receivers which it fills,
and allows the fpring of the air (which was formerly
in them, but which now paffes up into the lower recei¬
ver) to force the water out of the lower receiver into the
1 ] s t E
upper one. When this has been completed, the fleam is Steam-
again admitted into the upper receiver. This allows E!'£ir!t’ ;
the water to run back into the lower receiver, and the v
air returns into the fmall receivers in the pit, and allows
the water to run out of each into its proper ciftern.
By this means the water of each pipe has been railed
15 feet. The operation may thus be repeated continual¬
ly.
The contrivance is ingenious, and fimilar to thofe
which are to be met with in the hydraulics of Schottus,
Stunnius, and other German writers. But the opera¬
tion muft be exceedingly flow ; and we imagine that
the expence of fteam muft be great, becaufe it muft fill
a very large and very cold veffel, which muft wafte a
great portion of it by condenfation. We fee by fome
fate publications of the very ingenious Mr Blackey, that
be is ftill attempting to maintain the reputation of this
machine by fome contrivances of this kind j but vve ima¬
gine that they will be ineffedual, except in fome very-
particular fituations. ^
For the great defed of the machine, even when we Occafon^
can fecure it againft all riik of burfting, is the prodigi-
ous wafte of fteam, and confequently of fuel. Daily and fueL
experience Ihows, that a few fcattered drops of cold wa¬
ter are fufficient for producing an almoft inftantaneous
condenfation of a great quantity of fteam. i herefore
when the fteam is admitted into the receiver of Savary’s
engine, and comes into contad with the cold top. and
cold water, it is condenfed with great rapidity j and the
water does not begin to fubfide till its furface has become
fo hot that it condenfes no more fteam. It may now
begin to yield to the preffure of the incumbent fieam }
but as foon as it defeends a little, more of the cold fur¬
face of the receiver comes into contad witn the fteam,
and condenfes more of it, and the water can delcend no
farther till this addition of cold furtace is heated up to
the ftate of evaporation. Tins rapid condenfation goes
on all the while the water is defeending. By fome ex¬
periments frequently repeated by the writer of this arti¬
cle, it appears that no lefs than -/T^hs of the whole fteam
is ufelefsly condenfed in this manner, and not more than
-/—th is employed in allowing the water to defeend by
its own weight} and he has reafon to think that the
portion thus wafted will be confiderably greater, if the
fteam be employed to force the water out 01 the receiver
to any conftderable height.
Obferve, too, that all.this wafte muft be repeated in
every fucceeding ftroke ; tor the whole receiver muft be
cooled again in order to fill itfelf with water. . ^ ^
Many attempts have been made to diminifh this The at-
wafte ‘but all to little purpofe, becaufe the very fill- tempts
ing of the receiver with cold water occaficns its fidesJFfl^
to condenfe a prodigious quantity of fteam in the fuc- wade
cecding ft roke. Mr Blackey has attempted to lefien unfuccels*
this by ufing two receivers. In the firft was oil; and ml.
into this only the fteam was admitted. This oil paffed
to and fro between the two receivers, and never touch¬
ed the water except in a fmall furface. But this hardly
produced a lenfible diminution of the wafte : for it muft
now be obferved, that there is a neceffity for the firft
cylinder’s being cooled to a confiderable degree below
the boiling point; otherwife, though it will condenie
much fteam, and allow the water to rile into the reoeiver,
there will be a great diminution of the height of fuftion,
unlefs the veffel be much cooled. This appears plainly
4 N 2 V ' by
Steam-
Engine.
The- afto-
mlhing ra-
pidit) with
which
lie am is
condenfed.
S T E f; 65
by infpecting the table of elafticlty. Thus, if the veffel
be cooled no lower than 1800, we fhould lole one half
of the preffure of the atmofphere j if cooled to 120,
we lltould Hill lofe Tg-th. The infpeftion of this table
is of great ufe for underftandmg and improving this
noble machine ; and without a conflant recolledtion of
the elafticity of fleam correfponding to its actual heat,
we {hall never have a notion of the niceties of its opera¬
tion.
i ne rapidity with which the fleam is condenfed is
really allonihing. Experiments have been made on
fleam-veffels of fix feet in diameter and feven feet high j
and it has been found, that about four ounces of water,
as warm as the human blood, will produce a complete
condenfation in lefs than a fecond 5 that is, will pro¬
duce all the condenfation that it is capable of producing,
leaving an elafticity about one-fifth of the elafticity of
the air. In another experiment with the fame fleam-
veffel, no cold w'ater was allowed to get into it, but it
was made to communicate by a long pipe four inches in
diameter with another veffel immeifed in cold water.
The condenfation was fo rapid that the time could not
be meafured : it certainly did not exceed half a fecond.
Now this condenfation w'as performed by a very trilling
furface of contadl, Perhaps we may explain it a little
in this way : When a mafs of fleam, in immediate con-
tad! with the cold water, is condenfed, it leaves a void,
into wdiich the adjoining fleam inilantly expands ; and
by this very expanfion its capacity for heat is increafed,
or it grows cold, that is, abftradts the heat from the
fleam fituated immediately beyond it. And in this ex¬
panfion and refrigeration it is itfelf partly condenfed or
converted into water, and leaves a void, into which the
circumjacent fleam immediately expands, and produces
the fame effedl on the fleam beyond it. And thus it may
happen that the abflradtion of a fmall quantity of heat
from an inconfiderable mafs of fleam may produce a
condenfatioa which may be very extenfive. Did we
know the change made in the capacity of fleam for heat
by a given change of bulk, we fhould be able to tell ex-
aflly what would be the effefl of this local adlual con¬
denfation. But experiment has not as yet given us any
precife notions on this fubjeft. We think that this ra¬
pid condenfation to a great diflance by a very moderate
aclual abflradtion of heat is a proof that the capacity of
fleam for heat is prodigioufiy increafed by expanfion.
We fay a very moderate achial abjlraflion of heat, be-
caufe very little heat is neceffary to raife four ounces of
blood-warm water to a boiling temperature, which will
unfit it for condenfing fleam. The remarkable phenome¬
non of fnow and ice produced in the Hungarian machine,
when the air condenfed in the receiver is allowed to
blow through the cock (fee Pneumatics), fhows this
to be the cafe in moifl air, that is, in air holding water
in a flate of chemical folution. We fee fomething very
like it in a thunder-florm. A fmall black cloud fome-
times appears in a particular fpot, and in a very few fe-
conds fpreads over many hundred acres of fky, that is,
a precipitation of water goes on with that rapid difFu-
fion. We imagine that this increafe of capacity or de-
Steam*
Engine.
1 r
2 3 S T E
mand for heat, and the condenfation that mufl enfue if
this demand is not fupplied, is much more remarkable in
pure watery vapours, and that this is a capital diflinc-
tion of their conflitution from vapours difiblved in air (a).
I he reader mult now be fo well acquainted with what
pafies in the fleam-veflel, and with the exterior refults
from it, as readily to comprehend the propriety of the
changes which we fliall now deferibe as having been
made in the conflrudlion and principle of the fleam engine.
Of all places in England the tin-mines of Cornwall At.temPts
flood moft in need of hydraulic afliltance ; and Mr Sa-^c™^e
vary was much engaged in projects for draining them engine.3111’
by his fleam-engine. This made its conflruCtion and &
principles well known among the machinifls and engi¬
neers of that neighbourhood. Among thefe were a
Mr Newcomen, an ironmonger or blackfmith, and Mr
Cawley a glazier at Dartmouth in Devonfhire, who had
dabbled much with this machine. Newcomen was a
perfon of fome reading, and was in particular acquaint¬
ed with the perfon, writings, and projects of his coun¬
tryman Dr Hooke. Ihere are to be found among
Hooke’s papers, in the pofleffion of the Royal Society,
fome notes of obfervations, for the ufe of Newcomen his
countryman, on Papin’s boafled method of tranfmitting
to a great diflance the aCtion of a mill by means of pipes.
Papin’s projeft was to employ the mill to work two air-
pumps of great diameter. The cylinders of thefe pumps
were to communicate by means of pipes with equal cy¬
linders furniflred with piflons, in the neighbourhood of
a diflant mine. Thefe piflons were to be connefted,
by means of levers, with the piiton-rods of the mine.
Therefore, when the piflon of the air-pump at the mill
was drawn up by the mill, the correfponding piflon at
the fide of the mine would be prefled down by the at¬
mofphere, and thus would raife the pifton-rod in the
mine, and draw the water. It would appear from thefe
notes.
from
that Dr Hooke had diffuaded Mr Newcomen
eredling a machine on this principle, of which
he had expofed the fallacy in feveral difeourfes before
the Royal SocietyT One pafl’age is remarkable. “ Could
he (meaning Papin) make a fpeedy vacuum under your
fecond piflon, your work is done.”
It is highly probable that, in the courfe of this {pe¬
culation, it occurred to Mr Newcomen that the va¬
cuum he fo much wanted might be produced by fleam,
and that this gave rife to his new principle and conflnic-
tion of the fleam-engine. The fpecific defideratum was
in Newcomen’s mind ; and therefore, when Savary’s en-
gine appeared, and became known in his neighbourhood
many years after, he would readily catch at the help
which it promifed.
Savary, however, claims the invention as his own }
but Switzer, who was perfonally acquainted with both,
is pofitive that Newcomen was the inventor. By his
principles (as a quaker) being averfe from contention,
he was contented to fhare the honour and the profits
with Savary, vhofe acquaintance at court enabled him to
procure the patent in 1705, in which all the three were
aflbeiated. Poflerity has done jullice to the modefl in¬
ventor, and the machine is univerfally called Newco¬
men’s
(a) But if it has been found that the condenfation requires more cold water than what is allowed above, and it
is fufpe&ed that the rapidity of condenfing a large volume of fleam by the cold furface of a veflel is overrated.
S T E [6,
Stem- MEN’S Engine, Its principle and mode of operation
Engine. may be clearly conceived as follows.
‘ v ’ Let A (fig. 7-) reprdent a great boiler properly
DeA.ration Jn a furnace. At a (mail height above it is a
of New- cylinder CBBC of metal, bored very truly and fmooth-
comen’s. ]y. The boiler communicates with this cylinder by
FlS- 7- means of the throat or iteam-pipe N(^. The lower
aperture of this pipe is (hut by the plate N, which is
ground very flat, lb as to apply very accurately to the
whole circumference of the orifice. This plate is called
the regulator or iteam-cock, and it turns horizontally
round an axis b a which paffes through the top of the
boiler, and is nicely fitted to the focket, like the key of
a cock, by grinding. The upper end of this axis is fur-
niflred with a handle Z>T.
A pi lion P is fufpended in this cylinder, and made
air-tight by a packing of leather or foft rope, well filled
with tallow •, and, for greater fecurity, a fmall quantity
cf water is kept above the piflon. The pifton-rod PD
is fufpended by a chain which is fixed to the upper ex¬
tremity F of the arched head FD of the great lever or
Working Beam HK, which turns on the gudgeon O.
There is a fimilar arched head EG at the other end of
the beam. To its upper extremity E is fixed a chain
carrying the pump-rod XL, which raifes the water from
the mine. The load on this end of the beam is made
to exceed confiderably the weight of the pifton P at the
other extremity.
At fome fmall height above the top of the cylinder is
a ciftern W called the Injection Cistern. From this
defcends the Injection Pipe ZSR, which enters the
cylinder through its bottom, and terminates in a fmall
hole R, or fometimes in a nozzle pierced with many
fmaller holes diverging from a centre in all directions.
This pipe has at S a cock called the Injection Cock,
fitted with a handle V.
At the oppofite fide of the cylinder, a little above its
bottom, there is a lateral pipe, turning upwards at the
extremity, and there covered by a clack-valve f, called
the Snifting Valve, which has a little diflr round it
to hold water for keeping it air-tight.
There proceeds alfo from the bottom of the cylinder
a pipe de% h (palling behind the boiler), of which the
lower end is turned upwards, and is covered with a valve
h. This part is immerfed in a ciflern of water Y, call¬
ed the Hot Well, and the pipe itfelf is called the
Eduction Pipe. Laftly, the boiler is furnifhed with
a.fafety-valve called the Puppet Clack (which is not
reprefented in this Iketch for want of room), in the fame
manner as Savary’s engine. This valve is generally load¬
ed with one or two pounds on the fquare inch, fo that it
allows the fleam to efcape when its elaflicity is one-tenth
greater than that cf common air. Thus all rilk of burft-
ing the boiler is avoided, and the preflure outwards is
very moderate ; fo alfo is the heat. For, by infpe&ing
the table of vaporous elafticity, w7e fee that the heat cor-
refponding to 32 inches of elafticity is only about 216°
of Fahrenheit’s thermometer.
Thefe are all the effential parts of the engine, and are
here drawn in the moft fimple form, till our knowledge
of their particular offices ffiall Ihow the propriety of the
peculiar forms which are given to them. Let us nowT
fee how the machine is put in motion, and what is the
nature of its work,
53 1 . S T E
The water in the boiler being fuppofed to be in a Steam-
ftate of ftrong ebullition, and the fleam iffuing by the, Engllie-
fafety-valve, let us confidtr the machine in a ftate of reft, ^
having both the fteam-cock and inje£lion-cock {hut. How the
The refting pofition or attitude of the machine muft be machine
fuch as appears in Iketch, the pump rods preponde-,s Put in
rating, and the great pifton being drawn up to the t°P ?ncj the’na.
of the cylinder. Now open the fteam-cock by turning lure ot the
the handle T of the regulator. The fteam from thework.
boiler wrill immediately ruth in, and flying all over the
cylinder, will mix with the air. Much of it will be con-
denfed by the cold furface of the cylinder and pifton,
and the water produced from it will trickle down the
fides, and run off by the edu£tion-pipe. This conden-
fation and wafte of fteam will continue till the whole cy¬
linder and pifton are made as hot as boiling water.
When this happens, the fteam will begin to open the
fnifting valve f> and iffue through the pipe } flowly at
firft and very cloudy, being mixed with much air. The
blaft at f will grow ftronger by degrees, and more tranf-
parent, having already carried off the greateft part cf
the common air which filled the cylinder. Wre fuppo¬
fed that the water was boiling brilkly, fo that the fteam
was iffuing by the fafety-valve which is in the top of the •
boiler, and through every crevice. The opening of the
ftaam-cock puts an end to this at once, and it has fome¬
times happened that the cold cylinder abftrafts the
fteam from the boiler with fuch aftoniftnng rapidity,
that the preflure of the atmofphere has burft up the
bottom of the boiler. We may here mention an acci¬
dent of which we were witneffes, which alfo Shows the
the immenfe rapidity of the condenfation. The boiler
was in a frail (lied at the fide of the engine-houfe j a
ftioot of fnow from the top of the houfe fell down and
broke through the roof of the Ihed, and was fcattered
over the head of the boiler, which was of an oblong or
oval lhape. In an inftant the fides of it were fqueezed
together by the preflure of the atmofphere.
When the manager of the engine perceives that not
only the blaft at the fnifting valve is ftrong and fteady,
but that the boiler is now fully fupplied with fteam of
a proper ftrength, appearing by the renewal of the dis¬
charge at the fafety-valve, he (huts the fteam-cock, and
opens the inje&ion-cock S by turning its handle V.
The preffure of the column of water in the injedtion-
pipe ZS immediately forces fome water through toe
fpout R. This coming in contaft with the pure va¬
pour which now fills the cylinder, condenfes it, and thus
makes a partial void, into which the more diftant fteam
immediately expands, and by expanding collapfes (as has
been already obferved). What remains in the cylinder
no longer balances the atmofpherical preffure on the fur-
face of the water in the injedtion ciftern, and therefore
the water fpouts rapidly through the hole R by the
joint adlion of the column ZS, and the unbalanced pref¬
fure of the atmofphere ; at the fame time the fnifting-
valvej^ and the edudlion-valve h, are Shut by the unba¬
lanced preffure of the atmofphere. The velocity of the
injedfion water muff therefore rapidly increafe, and the
jet will daffi (if {ingle) again!! the bottom of the pifton,
and be fcattered through the whole capacity of the cy¬
linder. In a very ffiort fpace of time, therefore, the con¬
denfation of the fteam becomes univerfal, and the elafti¬
city of what remains is almoft nothing. The whole
preffure
Steam-
Engine.
14
The pifton
does not
begin to
defcend the
moment
the injec¬
tion is
made.
S T E . [ 654
preflure of the atmofphere is exerted in the upper furface
of the pitton, while there is hardly any on its under
fide. Therefore, if the load on the outer end E of the
working beam is inferior to this preffure, it muft yield
to it. The pifton P muft defcend, and the pump pifton
L muft afeend, bringing along with it the water of the
mine, and the motion muft continue till the great pifton
reaches the bottom of the cylinder ; for it is not like
the motion which would take place in a cylinder of air
rarefied to the fame degree. In this laft cafe, the im¬
pelling force wmuld be continually diminilhed, becaufe
the capacity of the cylinder is diminilhed by the delcent
of the pifton, and the air in it is continually becoming
more denfe and elaftic. The pifton would ftop at a cer¬
tain height, where the elafticity of the included air, to¬
gether with the load at E, would balance the atmofphe-
rical preffure on the pifton. But when the contents of
the cylinder are pure vapour, and the continued ftream
of injefted cold water keeps down its temperature to
the fame pitch as at the beginning, the elafticity of the
remaining fleam can never increal'e by the defeent of the
pifton, nor exceed what correfponds to this temperature.
The impelling or accelerating force therefore remains
the fame, and the defeent of the pifton will be uniform¬
ly accelerated, if there is not an increafe of refiftance
arifing from the nature of the work performed by the
other end of the beam. This drcumltance will come
under confideration afterwards, and we need not attend
to it at prefent. It is enough for our prefent purpofe
to fee, that if the cylinder has been completely purged
of common air before the fteam-cock was fhut, and if
none has entered fince, the pifton will defcend to the
very bottom of the cylinder. And this may be frequent¬
ly obferved in a good fleam-engine, where e\rery part is
air-tight. It fometimes happens, by the pit-pump draw¬
ing air, or fome part of the communication between the
two ftrains giving way, that the pifton comes down with
fuch violence as to knock out the bottom of the cylin¬
der with the blow.
The only obfervation which remains to be made on
the motion of the pifton in defeending is, that it does
not begin at the inftant the inje£lion is made. The
pifton was kept at the top by the preponderancy of the
outer end of the working beam, and it muft remain
there till the difference between the elafticity of the
fleam below it and the preffure of the atmofphere ex¬
ceeds this preponderanev. There muft therefore be a
frnall fpace of time between the beginning of the con-
denfation and the beginning of the motion. This is very
frnall, not exceeding the third or the fourth part of a
fecond } but it may be very diftinflly obferved by an
attentive fpe£lator. Fie will fee, that the inftant the
inje&ion cock is opened, the cylinder will fenfibly rife
upwards a little by the preffure of the air on its bottom.
Its whole weight is not nearly equal to this preffure ;
and inftead of its being neceffary to fupport it by a ftrong
floor, we muft keep it down by ftrong joifts loaded by
heavy walls. It is ufual to frame thefe joints into the
polls which carry the axis of the working-beam, and
are therefore loaded with the whole ftrain of the'ma¬
chine. Ihis rifing of the cylinder fhows the inftantane-
ous commencement of the condenfation •, and it is not
till after this has been diftinflly obferved that the pifton
is feen to ftart, and begin to defcend.
When the manager fees the pifton as low as he thinks
4
]
S T E
proper, he fhuts the injeflion-cock, and opens the fleam- Steam-
cock. I he fleam has been accumulating above the wa- £nglne‘
ter in the boiler during the whole time of the pifton’s ^
defeent, and is now rulhing violently through the pup-xhe cir-
pet clack. The moment, therefore, that the fleam-cumltances
cock is opened, it rulhes violently into the cylinder, ha-tliatfuc-
ving an elafticity greater than that of the air. It there-^ll ^ f
fore immediately blows open the inifting valve, and al-thepifton,
lows (at leaf!) the water which had come in by the for¬
mer injection, and what arofe from the condenfed fleam,
to defcend by its own weight through the edudion pipe
deg h to open the valve h, and to run out into the hot
well. And we muft eafily fee that this water is boiling
hot j for while lying in the bottom of the cylinder, it
will condenfe fleam till it acquires this temperature, and
therefore cannot run down till it condenfes no more.
There is Hill a wafte of fleam at its firft admiftion, in
order to heat the infide of the cylinder and the injedled
water to the boiling temperature : but the fpace being
fmall, and the whole being already very warm, this is
very fson done ; and when things are properly conftruc-
ted, little more fleam is wanted than what will warm
the cylinder 5 for the edu&ion pipe receives the injection
water even during the defeent of the pifton, and it is
therefore removed pretty much out of the way of the
fleam.
This firft puff of the entering fleam is of great fer- 0f
vice 5 it drives out of the cylinder the vapour which it the firft
finds there. This is feldom pure watery vapour : all puff of en-
water contains a quantity of air in a ftate of chemical tennS
union. The union is but feeble, and a boiling heatis^ea!n
fufficient for difengaging the greateft part of it by in-
creafing its elafticity. It may alfo be difengaged by
fimply removing the external preffure of the atmofphere.
This is clearly leen when we expofe a glafs of water in
an exhaulicd receiver. Therefore the fmall fpace below
the pifton contains watery vapour mixed with all the air
which had been difengaged from the water in the boiler
by ebullition, and all that was feparated from the in¬
jection water by the diminution of external preffures.
All this is blown out of the cylinder by the firft puff of
fleam. We may obferve in this place, that waters dif¬
fer exceedingly in the quantity of air which they hold
in a ftate of folution. All fpiing water contains much
of it': and water newly brought up from deep mines
contains a great deal more, becaufe the folution was aid¬
ed in thefe fituations by great preffures. Such waters
fparkle when poured into a glafs. It is therefore of0fere^
great confequence to the good performance of a fleam-conie-
engine to uie water containing little air, both in theT1™06 t0
boiler and in the injeClion-ciftern. The water of run - !^e ?00(1
ning brooks is preferable to all others, and the freer itance 0f a
is from any faline impregnation it generally containsfteam-en-
lefs air. Such engines as are fo unfortunately fituated g'«e, that
that they are obliged to employ the very water which ^ ^v,lt<\1'
they have brought up from great depths, are found
greatly inferior in their performance to others. The little air.
air collecled below the pifton greatly diminifhes the ac¬
celerating force, and the expulfion of fuch a quantity
requires a long-continued blaft of the beft fleam at the
beginning of every ftroke. It is advifable to keep fuch
water in a large fhallow pond for a long while before
ufing it. 18
Let us now confider the ftate of the pifton. It is How the
evident that it will ftart or begin to rife the moment n^e*’
the
s T E [ 655 ] S T E
Steam- the fleam-cock is opened 3 for at that inflant the ex-
Enginc. cefs 0f atmofpherical preffure, by which it was kept
—-v down in oppofition to the preponderancy of the outer
end of the beam, is diminifhed. The piiton is therefore
dragged upwards, and it will rife even although the
fleam which is admitted be not fo elaftic as common air.
Suppofe the mercury in the barometer to hand at 30
inches, and that the preponderancy at the outer end of
the beam is -Jth of the preffure of the air on the pifton,
the pi'.Ion will not rife if the elafticity of the fleam is not
equal to 3c—y*, that is, to 26.7 inches nearly j but if
it is juft this quantity, the pifton will rife as faft as this
fleam can be lupplied through the fleam-pipe, and the
velocity of its afcent depends entirely on the velocity of
this fupply. This obfervation is of great importance ;
and it does not feem to have occurred to the mathema¬
ticians, who have paid moft attention to the mechanifm
of the motion of this engine. In the mean time, we
may clearly fee that the entry of the fleam depends
chiefly on the counter weight at E : for fuppofe there
was none, fleam no ftronger than air would not enter
the cylinder at all ; and if the fleam be ftronger, it will
enter only by the excels of its ftrength. Writers on the
fleam-engine (and even fome of great reputation) fami¬
liarly fpeak of the fleam giving the pifton a pufh : But
this is fcarcely poflible. During the rife of the pifton
the fnifting valve is never obferved to blow ^ and we
have not heard any well-attefted accounts of the pifton-
chains ever being flackened by the upward preffure of
the fleam, even at the very beginning of the ftroke.
During the riling of the pifton the fleam is (according
to the common conception and manner of fpeaking)
fucked in, in the fame way that air is fucked into a com¬
mon fyringe or pump when we draw up the pifton ; for
in the fleam-engine the pifton is really drawn up by the
counter weight. But it is ftill more fucked in, and
requires a more copious fupply, for another reafon. As
the pillon defeended only in confequence of the infide of
the cylinder’s being fufficiently cooled to condenfe the
fleam, this cooled furface muft again be preler.ted to
the fleam during the rife of the pillon, and muft cbn-
denfe fleam a fecond time. The pillon cannot rife an¬
other inch till the part of the cylinder which the pifton
has already quitted has been warmed up to the boiling
point, and fleam mull be expended in this warming.
The inner furface of the cylinder is not only or the heat
of boiling water while the pifton rifes, but is alfo per-
feflly dry ; for the film of water left on it by the af-
cending piflon muft be completely evaporated, other-
wife it will be condenfing fleam. That the quantity
thus wafted is confiderable, appears by the experiments
of Mr Beighton. Pie found that five pintsf of water
were boiled off in a minute, and produced 16 flrokes of
an engine whofe cylinder contained 113 gallons of 282
inches each \ and he thence concluded that fleam was
2886 times rarer than water. But in no experiment
made with fcrupulous care on the expanfion of boiling
'water does it appear that the denfity of fleam exceeds
 th of the denfity of water. Defaguiliers fays that
10,000 & j
it is above 14,000 times rarer than water. We have
frequently attempted to meafure the weight of fleam
which filled a very light veffel, which held 12,600 grains
of water, and found it always lefs than one grain •, fo
that we have no doubt of its being much more than
10,000 times rarer than water. This being the cafe,
we may fafely fuppofe that the number of gallons of
fleam, inftead of being 16 times 113, were nearly five
times as much j and that only -f-th was employed in al¬
lowing the piflon to rife, and the remaining £ths were
employed to warm the cylinder. But no diftmft expe¬
riment (hews fo great an expanfion of water when con¬
verted into fleam at 2X2°. Mr Watt never found it un-
Steam-
Engine.
V nun—^ mtmmmm
der the preffure of the air more than 1800 times rarer
than water. 19
The moving force during the afcent of the piflon Its afcent
mult be confidered as refulting chiefly, if not folely,cll‘e%^w"
from the preponderating weight of the pit pifton-rods.'^^J-
The office of this is to return the fteam-pifton to the the pit pi-
top of the cylinder, where it may again be prefled down tton-rods,
by the air, and make another working flroke by railing
the pump rods. But the counter-weight at E has ano¬
ther fervice to perform in this ufe of the engine ; name¬
ly, to return the pump piftons into their places at the
bottom of their refpeftive working barrels, in order that
they alfo may make a working ilroke. This requires
force independent of the friftion and inertia of the mov¬
ing parts-, for each pifton muft be puflied down through
the water in the barrel, which muft rife through the
pifton with a velocity whofe proportion to the velocity
of the pifton is the fame with that of the bulk of the
pifton to the bulk of the perforation through which the
water rifes through the pifton. It is enough at prefent
to mention this in general terms : we fhall confider it
more particularly afterwards, when we come to calcu¬
late the performance of the engine, and to deduce from
our acquired knowledge maxims of conftruflion and im¬
provement. 20
From this general confideration of the afcent of the The afcent
pifton, we may fee that the motion differs greatly from °f d16 P‘*
the defeent. It can hardly be fuppofed to accelerate, ^on
even if the fleam in the cylinder were in a moment an-t}ie
nihilated. For the refiftance to the defeent of the piflon defeent.
is the fame with the weight of the column of water,
which would caufe it to flow- through the box_ of the
pump pifton with the velocity with which it really rifes
through it, and muft therefore increafe as the fquare of
that velocity increafes j that is, as the fquare of the ve¬
locity of the pifton increafes. Independent of fridtion,
therefore, the velocity of defeent through the water
muft foon become a maximum, and the motion become
uniform. We fhall fee by and by, that in fuch a pump
as is generally ufed this will happen in lefs than the
10th part of a fecond. The fridlion of the pump will
diminilh this velocity a little, and retard the time of its
attaining uniformity. But, on the other hand, the iup-
ply of fleam which is neceffary for this motion, being
fufceptible of no acceleration from its previous motion,
and depending entirely on the brifknefs of the ebulli¬
tion, an almoft inftantaneous flop is put to accelera¬
tion.
Accordingly, any perfon who obferves with attention
the working of a fleam-engine, will fee that the rife of
the pifton and defeent of the pump-rods is extremely
uniform, whereas the working ftroke is very fenfibly ac- ar
celerated. Before quitting this part of the fubjedl, and The coun¬
left it fliould afterwards efcape our recolledlion, we may
obferve, that the counter-weight is different during the (jur|r,^ t-hc
two motions of the pump-rods. While the machine is two mo-
making a working ftroke, it is lifting not only the .co-turns of the
lumnPamProds-
Steam-
I'ngine.
Difference
between
Savary’s
and New¬
comen’s
machines.
23 .
Superiority
of New¬
comen’s.
i4 .
Gradually
improved
25
and fimpli-
S T E [ 6SS
lamn of water in the pump, but the abfolute weight of
; the piftons and pifton-rods alfo: but while ths pump-
rods are defcending, there is a diminution of the coun¬
ter-weight by the whole weight loft by the immerfion
of the rod in water. The wooden rods which are gene¬
rally ufed, foaked in water, and joined by iron ftraps,
are heavier, and but a little heavier, than water, and
they are generally about one-third of the bulk of the
water in the pumps.
Thefe two motions complete the period of the opera¬
tion ; and the whole may be repeated by {hutting the
fteam-cock and opening the inje£tion-cock whenever the
pifton has attained the proper height. We have been
very minute in our attention to the different circum-
ftances, that the reader may have a diftin£t notion of
the ftate of the moving forces in every period of the
operation. It is by no means fufficient that we know
in general that the injection of cold water makes a void
which allows the air to prefs down the pifton, and that
the readmiftion of the fleam allows the pifton to rife
again. This lumping and flovenly way of viewing it
has long prevented even the philofopher from feeing the
defedts of the conftrudtion, and the methods of removing
them.
We now fee the great difference between Savary’s
and Newcomen’s engine in refpedt of principle. Sava¬
ry’s was really an engine which raifed water by the
force of fleam ; but Newcomen’s raifes water entirely by
the preffure of the atmofphere, and fleam is employed
merely as the moft expeditious method of producing a
void, into which the atmofpherical preffure may impel
the JirJl mover of his machine. The elafticity of the
fleam is not the firft mover.
We fee alfo the great fuperiority of this new machine.
We have no need of fleam of great and dangerous ela¬
fticity j and we operate by means of very moderate
heats, and confequently with much fmaller quantities of
fuel j and there is no bounds to the power of this ma¬
chine. How deep foever a mine may be, a cylinder
may be employed of fuch dimenfions that the preffure of
the air on its pifton may exceed in any degree the weight
of the column of water to be raifed. And laftly, this
farm of the machine renders it applicable to almoft
every mechanical purpofe \ becaufe a Ikilful mechanic
Can readily find a method of converting the reciprocat¬
ing motion of the working beam into a motion of any
kind which may fuit his purpofe. Savary’s engine could
hardly admit of fuch an immediate application, and feems
almoft reftri&ed to railing water.
Inventions improve by degrees. This engine was
firft offered to the public in 1705. But many difficul¬
ties occurred in the execution, which were removed one
by one 5 and it was not till 1712 that the engine feem-
ed to give confidence in its efficacy. The moft exaft
and unremitting attention of the manager was required
to the precife moment of opening and {hutting the
cocks ; and negleft might frequently be ruinous, by
beating out the bottom of the cylinder, or allowing the
pifton to be wholly drawn out of it. Stops were con¬
trived to prevent both of thefe accidents ; then firings
were ufed to conneft the handles of the cocks with the
beam, fo that they ftiould be turned whenever it was in
certain pofitions. Thefe were gradually changed and
improved into detents and catches of different flrapes j
at laft, in 1717, Mr Beighton, a very ingenious and
3
]
T E
Dir.
Fie. 8.
well-informed artift, Amplified the whole of thefe fub- Steam-
ordinate movements, and brought the machine into Engine,
the form in which it has continued, without the {'mall-
eft material change, to the prefent day. We {hall now
delcribe one of thefe improved engines, copying almoft
exadlly the drawings and defcription given by Bcffut
in his Hijdrodijnarmque; thefe being by far the moft
accurate and perfpicuous of any that have been pub-
liffied.
Fig. 8. N° 1. is a perfpe&ive view of the boiler cy-Defcrip.
linder, and all the parts neceflary for turning the cocks, tion of
Fig. 8. N° 2. is a vertical fe&ion of the fame ; and the Bcighton’s
fame pieces of both are marked with the fame letters 0f fteaill-en-
reference. Opiate
The rod X of the pifton P is fufpended from the
arch of the working-beam, as was reprefented in the
preceding {ketch (fig. -7.). An upright bar of timber
FG is alfo feen hanging by a chain. This is fufpended
from a concentric arch of the beam, as may be feen
alfo in the {ketch at <p 2. The bar is called the p/ug-
beam 5 and it muft rife and fall with the pifton, but
with a flower motion. The ufe of this plug-beam is
to give motion to the different pieces which turn the
cocks.
The fteam-pipe K is of one piece with the bottom
of the cylinder, and rifes within it an inch or two, to
prevent any of the cold inje£lion water from falling in¬
to the boiler. The lower extremity Z of the fteam-
pipe penetrates the head of the boiler, projedling a
little way. A flat plate of brafs, in ffiape refembling a
racket or battledore, called the regulator, applies itfelf
exaftly to the whole circumference of the fteam-pipe,
and completely excludes the fteam from the cylinder.
Being moveable round an upright axis, which is repre-
fc-nted by the dotted lines at the fide of the fteam-pipe
in the profile, it may be turned afide by the handle /,
n° 1. The profile {hows in the fedlion of this plate a
protuberance in the middle. This refts on a ftrong
flat fpring, which is fixed below it athwart the mouth
of the fteam-pipe. This fpring preffes it ftrongly to¬
wards the fteam-pipe, caufing it to apply very clofe j
and this knob Aides along the fpring, while the regula¬
tor turns to the right or left.
We have faid that the inje£lion-water is furnifhed
from a ciftern placed above the cylinder. When the
ciftern cannot be fupplied by pipes from fome more
elevated fource, its wTater is raifed by the machine it¬
felf. A fmall lifting pump i h (fig. 7.), called \ht jack-
head or jaquette, is worked by a rod y t, fufpended from
a concentric arch c y near the outer end of the working
beam. This forces a fmall portion of the pit water along
the riling pipe i LM into the injeflion ciftern.
In figure 8. N° 1. and 2. the letters QM 3' reprefent
the pipe which brings dowm the water from the inje&ion
ciftern. This pipe has a cock at R to open or {hut the
paffage of this water. It fpouts through the jet 3', and
daffiing againft the bottom of the pifton, it is difperfed
into drops, and fcattered through the wffiole capacity of
the cylinder, fo as to produce a rapid condenfation of
the fteam.
An upright poll A may be obferv*d in the perfpec-
tive view of the cylinder, &c. This fupports one end
B of a horizontal iron axis BC. The end C is fup-
ported by a fimilar poft, of which the place only is
marked by the dotted lines A, that the pieces connec¬
ted
S T E [ <557 3 S T E
Steam- ted with this axis may not be hid by It. A kind of
Engine. ftirrup abed hangs from this axis, fupported by the
•—Y—J hooks a and d. This ftirrup is croffed near the bottom
by a round bolt or bar <?, which paffes through the eyes
or rings that are at the ends of the horizontal fork hfg,
whofe long tail h is double, receiving between its
branches the handle i of the regulator. It is plain from
this conftruftion, that when the ftirrup is made to vi¬
brate round the horizontal axis BC, on which it hangs
freely by its hooks, the bolt e muft pull or pufh the
long fork hfg backwards and forwards horizontally,
and by fo doing will move the regulator round its axis
by means of the handle z. Both the tail of the fork and
the handle of the regulator are pierced with feveral
holes, and a pin is put through them which unftes them
by a joint. The motion of the handle may be increafed
or diminilhed by choofing for the joint a hole near to
the axis or remote from it j and the exaft pofttion at
which the regulator is to flop on both fides is determined
by pins ftuck in the horizontal bar on which the end of
the handle appears to reft.
This alternate motion of the regulator to the right
and left is produced as follows : There is fixed to the
axis BC a piece of iron oh l, called the Y, on account
of its refemblance to that letter of the alphabet invert¬
ed. The ftalk o carries a heavy lump p of lead or iron ;
and a long leather ftrap qpr \s fattened to p by the
middle, and the two ends are fattened to the beam above
it, in fuch a manner that the lump may be alternately
catched and held up to the right and left of the per¬
pendicular. By adjufting the length of the two parts
of the ftrap, the Y may be {topped in any defired
pofition. The two claws h and / fpread out from each
other, and from the line of the ftalk, and they are of
fuch length as to reach the horizontal bolt e, which
croffes the ftirrup below, but not to reach the bottom
of the fork h fg. Now fuppofe the ftirrup hanging
perpendicularly, and the ftalk of the Y alfo held perpen¬
dicular •, carry it a little outward from the cylinder,
and then let it go. It wull tumble farther out by its
weight, without affefting the ftirrup till the claw /
ftrikes on the horizontal bolt e, and then it puflies the
ftirrup and the fork towards the cylinder, and opens
the regulator. It fets it in motion with a fmart jerk,
which is an effeftual way of overcoming the cohefion
and friftion of the regulator with the mouth of the
fteam-pipe. This puflr is adjufted to a proper length
by the ftrap q />, which flops the Y when it has gone
far enough. If we now take hold of the ftalk of the
Y, and move it up to the perpendicular, the rvidth be¬
tween its claws is fuch as to permit this motion, and
fomething more, without affefting the ftirrup. But
when puttied ftill nearer to the cylinder, it tumbles to¬
wards it by its own weight, and then the claw h ftrikes
the bolt <?, and drives the ftirrup and fork in the oppo-
fite direftion, till the lump p is catched by the ftrap r/>,
now ftretched to its full length, wdiile qp hangs (lack.
Thus by the motion of the Y the regulator is opened
and (hut. Let us now fee how the motion of the Y
is produced by the machine itfelf. To the horizontal
axis BC are attached two fpanners or handles m and n.
The fpanner m paffes through a long flit in the plug-
beam, and is at liberty to move upwards or down¬
wards by its motion round the axis BC. A pin ?r
which goes through the plug-beam catches hold of m
Vol. XIX. Part II.
when the beam rifes along with the pifton ; and the piil Steum-
is fo placed, that when the beam is within an inch or two Eng‘ne-
of its higheft rife, the pin has lifted m and thrown the
ftalk of the Y paft the perpendicular. It therefore
tumbles over with great force, and gives a fmart blow
to the fork, and immediately (huts the regulator. By
this motion the fpanner m is removed out of the neigh¬
bourhood of the plug-beam. But the fpanner «, mo¬
ving along with it in the fame direflion, now comes in¬
to the way of the pins of the plug-beam. Therefore,
when the pifton defeends again by the condenfation of
the fleam in the cylinder, a pin marked is? in the fide of
the plug-beam catches hold of the tail of the fpan¬
ner zz, and by prefling it down raifes the lump on the
ftalk of the Y till it paffes the perpendicular, and it
then falls down, outwards from the cylinder, and the
claw / again drives the fork in the direftion h z, and
opens the fleam valve. This opening and (hutting of
the fleam valve is executed in the precife moment that
is proper, by placing the pins v and (fo5 at a proper
height of the plug-beam. For this reafon, it is pierced
through with a great number of holes, that the places
of thefe pins may be varied at pleafure. This, and a
proper curvature of the fpinners m and zz, make the ad-
juftment as nice as we pleafe.
The injection cock R is managed in a fimilar man¬
ner. On its key may be obferved a forked arm s t,
like a crab’s claw j at a little diftance above it is the
gudgeon or axis zz of a piece y u cz>, called the hammer
or the F, from its refemblance to that letter. It has
a lump of metal y at one end, and a fpear u s projefls
from its middle, and paffes between the claws j and t
of the arm of the inje£tion-cock. The hammer y is
held up by a notch in the under fide of a wTooden lever
DE, moveable round the center D, and fupported at
a proper height by a firing r E, made faft to [the joift
above it.
Suppofe the injeffion-cock (hut, and the hammer in
the pofition reprefented in the figure. A pin of
the plug-frame rifes along with the pifton, and catch¬
ing hold of the detent DE, raifes it, and difengages
the hammer y from its notch. This immediately falls
down, and ftrikes a board L put in the way to flop it*
The fpear u s takes hold of the clarv Z, and forces it
afide towards x, and opens the injeftion-cock. The
pifton immediately defeends, and along with it the
plug-frame. During its defeent the pin /3 meets with
the tail u% of the hammer, w’hich is now raifed confi-
derably above the level, and brings it dowm along with
it, railing the lump ?/, and gradually (hutting the injec¬
tion-cock, becaufe the fpear takes hold of the claw7 s of
its arm. When the beam has come to its lowed fituation,
the hammer is again engaged in the notch of the detent
DE, and fupported by it till the pifton again reaches the
top of the cylinder.
In this manner the motions of the injeftion cock are
alfo adjufted to the precife moment that is proper for
them. The different pins are fo placed in the plug-
frame, that the fteam-cock may be completely (hut be¬
fore the injeftion-cock is opened. The inherent mo¬
tion of the machine will give a fmall addition to the
afeent of the pifton without expending fleam all the
while ; and by leaving the fleam rather lefs elaftic thati
before, the fubfequent defeent of the pifton is promoted.
There was a confiderable propriety in the gradual fhut-
4 O ting
S T E [ 6*
Steam- ting of the inje£iion-cock. For after the fiifl: dafh of
^ri^‘ne' the cold water againfl the bottom of the piflon, the
condenfation is nearly complete, and very little more
water is needed j but a continual acceffion of fome is
abfolutely neceflary for completing the condenfation, as
the capacity of the cylinder dimini flics, and the water
warms which is already injected.
In this manner the motion of the machine will be
repeated as long as there is a fupply of fleam from the
boiler, and of water from the inje£Hon cittern, and a
difcharge procured for what has been inje£ted. We pro¬
ceed to confrder how far thele conditions alfo are provi¬
ded by the machine itfeif.
The injeftion ciftern is fupplied with water by the
jackhead pump, as we have already obferved. From
this fource all the parts of the machine receive their re-
fpe£tive fupplies. In the firft place, a fmall branch
13, 13, is taken off from the inje&ion-pipe immediately
below the ciftern, and conducted to the top of the cy¬
linder, where it is furnifhed with a cock. The fpout is
fo adjufted, that no more runs from it than wdiat will
keep a conftant fupply of a foot of water above the pi-
fton to keep it tight. Every time the pifton comes to
the top of the cylinder, it brings this water along with
it, and the furplus of its evaporation and leakage runs
oft’by a xvafte-pipe 14, 14. This water neceffarily be¬
comes almoft boiling hot, and it was thought proper to
employ its overplus for fupplying the wafte of the boil¬
er. This was accordingly practiCed for fome time.
J3ut Mr Beightcn improved this economical thought,
by fupplying the boiler from the eduftion-pipe, 2, 2,
the wrater of which muft be ftill hotter than that above
the pifton. This contrivance required attention to ma¬
ny circumftances, which the reader will underftand by
confidering the perfpe£live and profile. The edudfion-
pipe comes out of the bottom of the cylinder at 1 with
a perpendicular part, which bends fidewife below, and
is fhut at the extremity 1. A deep cup 5 communi¬
cates with it, holding a metal valve nicely fitted to
it by grinding, like the key of a cock. To fecure its
being always air-tight, a {lender ftream of water trickles
into it from a branch 6 of the wafte-pipe from the top
of the cylinder. The edu6tion-pipe branches off at 2,
and goes dowm to the hot well, where it turns up, and
is covered with a valve. In the perfpeftive view' may be
obferved an upright pipe 4, 4, which goes through the
head of the boiler, and reaches to within a few inches
of its bottom. This pipe is called the feeder, and rifes
about three or four feet above the boiler. It is open
at both ends, and has a branch 3, 3, communicating
with the bottom of the cup 5, immediately above the
metal valve, and alfo a few inches below the level of
the entry 2 of the eduftion-pipe. This communicating
branch has a cock by wFich its paffage may be dimi-
niftied at pleafure. Now fuppofe the fleam in the boil¬
er to be very ftrong, it will caufe the boiling w^ater
to rife in the feeding pipe above 3, and coming along
this branch, to rife alfo in the cup 5, and run over.
But the height of this cup above the furface of the wra-
ter in the boiler is fuch, that the fleam is never ftrong
enough to produce this effeft. Therefore, on the con¬
trary, any water that may be in the cup 5 will rim off
by the branch 3,3, and go dowm into the boiler by the
feeding pipe.
Thefe things being underflood, let us fuppofe a
8 ] S T E
•quantity of inje£led water lying at the bottom of the Steam-
cylinder. It wall run into the eduftion-pipe, fill the •Kngirie-
crooked branch 1, 1, and open the valve in the bottom ^
of the cup (its weight being fupported by a wire hang- An j,joe¬
ing from a {lender fpring), and it will fill the cup to the nious con-
IdVel of the entry 2 of the edu&ion-pipe, and will then trivance.
flow along 3, 3, and fupply the boiler by the feeder 4,4.
What more water runs in at 1 will now go along the
edudlion pipe 2, 2, to the hot w7ell. By properly adjuft-
ing the cock on the branch 3, 3, the boiler may be fup¬
plied as faft as the wafte in fleam requires. This is a
moft ingenious contrivance, and does great honour to
Mr Beighron. It is not, hoxvever, of much impor¬
tance. The fmall quantity which the boiler requires
may be immediately taken even from a cold ciftern,
without fenfibly diminfilling the production of fleam :
for the quantity of heat neceffary for raffing the fenfible
heat of cold water to the boiling temperature is fmall,
when compared with the quantity of heat which muft
then be combined with it in order to convert the water
into fleam. For the heat expended in boiling off a
cubic foot of water is about fix times as much as would
bring it to a boiling heat from the temperature of 55°.
No difference can be obferved in the performance of
fuch engines, and of thofe which have their boilers fup¬
plied from a brook. It lias, however, the advantage of
being purged of air •, and when an engine muft derive
ail its fuppiies from pit water, the water from the educ-
■ tion-pipe is vaftly preferable to that from the top of the
cylinder.
We may here obferve, that many waiters (among
them the Abbe Boffut), in their deferiptions of the
fleam-engine, have drawn the branch of communication
3, 3, from the feeding-pipe to a part of the crooked pipe
I, 1, lying below the valve in the cup 5. But this is
quite erroneous ; for, in this cafe, when the injeftion is
made into the cylinder, and a vacuum produced, the wa¬
ter from the boiler would immediately rufli up through
the pipes 4, 3, and fpout up into the cylinder : fo would
the external air coming in at the top of the feeder. ^
This contrivance has alfo enabled us to form fome en.
judgement of the internal ftate of the engine during the abies us to
performance. Mr Beighton paid a minute attention to form {°me
the fituation of the water in the feeders and eduftion-
pipe of an engine, which feems to have been one of the terna] ftate
beft wFich has yet been erefted. It was lifting a co-of the en-
lumn of water whofe weight was four-fevenths of the gffe tluring
preffure of the air on its piflon, and made 16 ftrokes, of
fix feet each, in a minute. This is acknowledged by all
to be a very great performance of an engine of this form.
He concluded that the ekfticity of the fleam in the cy¬
linder was never more than one-tenth greater or lefs
than the elafticity of the air. The water in the feeder
never rofe more than three feet and a half above the fur-
face of the boiling vrater, even though it was now lighter
by ^-th than cold water. The eduftion-pipe was only
four feet and a half long (vertically), and yet it always
difeharged the injeftion water completely;' and allowed
fome to pafs into the feeder. This could not be if the
fleam was much more than one-tenth weaker than air.
By grafping this pipe in his hand during the rife of the
pifton, he could guefs very well whereabouts the furface
of the hot water in it refled during the motion, and he
never found it fupported fo high as four feet. There¬
fore the fleam in the cylinder had at leaft eight-ninths
S T E [ 65
Steam- of the elaftieity of the air. Mr Buat, in his examination
t Kngme. Gf an engjne which is ere&ed at Montrelaix, in France,
by an Englifh engineer, and has always been confidered
as the pattern in that country, finds it neceffary to fup-
pofe a much greater variation in the ftrength of the fteam,
and fays, that it mud have been one-fifth ftronger and
one-fifth weaker than common air. But this engine has
not been nearly fo perfect. Its lift was not more than
one-half of the preffure of the atmofphere, and it made
but nine firokes in a minute.—At W is a valve covering
the mouth of a fmall pipe, and furrounded with a cup
containing water to keep it air-tight. 1 his allows tne
air to efcape which had been extricated from the water
of laft injecliom It is driven out by the firft ftrong pull
of fteam which is admitted into the cylinder, and makes
a noife in its exit. The valve is therefore called the
fnifting-valve.
To finifti our defeription, we obferve, that befides the
fafety valve 9 (called the puppet clack), which is
loaded with about 3 pounds on the fquare inch (though
the engine will work very well w7ith a load of 1 or 2
pounds), there is another DISCHARGER 10,10, having a
clack at its extremity fupported by a cord. Its ufe B to
cltfcharge the fteam without doors, when the machine
gives over working. There is alfo a pipe bl near the
bottom of the boiler, by which it may be emptied when
it needs repairs or cleanfing.
There are two fmall pipes 11,11, and 12,12, with
cocks called gage-pipes. The firft defeends to within
two inches of the furface of the water in the boiler, and^
the fecond goes about 2 inches below that furrace. If
both cocks emit fteam, the water is too. low, and . re¬
quires a recruit. If neither give fteam, it is too high,
and there is not fufficient room above it for a colle£tion
of fteam. Laftly, there is a filling pipe £), by which
the boiler may be filled when the machine is to be fet
29 to work.
This form of The engine has continued in this form for many years,
the engine The oniy remarkable change introduced has been the
continued manner of placing the boiler. It is no longer placed
for many below the cylinder, but at one fide, and the fteam is
years the introduced by a pipe from the top of the boiler into a
only change gox imme(fiately below the cylinder. The ufe of
being the .1 • I __ -  1ond mc-p rnntn
Stean>
Engine.
petition of
the boiler.,
Slow to
afeertain
the mod
advantage¬
ous propor¬
tion be¬
tween the
moving
power and
the load.
this box is merely to lodge the regulator, and give room
for its motions. This has been a very conftderable im¬
provement. It has greatly reduced the height of the
building. This was formerly a tower. The wall which
fupported the beam could hardly be built with fuffirient
ftrength for withftanding the violent (hocks which were
repeated without ceafing ; and the buildings feldom
lafted more than a very few years. But the boiler is
now fet up in an adjoining (bed, and the gudgeons of
the main beam reft on the top of upright pofts, which
are framed into the joifts which fupport the cylinder*
Thus the whole moving parts of the machine are con¬
tained in one compaft frame of carpentry, and have lit¬
tle or no conneftion with the (light walls of the build¬
ing, which is merely a cafe to hold the machine, and
protefl it from the weather.
It is now time to inquire what is to be expefted from
this machine, and to afeertain the moft advantageous
proportion between the moving power and the load that
is to be laid on the machine.
It may be corsfidered as a great pulley, and is indeed
9 ] s T E
fometimes fo conftrufled, the arches at the ends of the
workinp- beam being completed to a circle. It muft be
unequally loaded that it may move. It is loaded, during
the working ftroke, by the preffure of the atmofphere
on the pifton fide, and by the column of water to. be
raifed and the pump-gear on the pump.fide.-—-During
the returning ftroke it is loaded, on the pifton fide, by a
fmall part of the atmofpheric preffure, and on the pump
fide by the pump gear adting as a counter weight. The
load during the working ftroke muft therefore confift of
the column oi water to be raifed and this counter weight.
The performance of the machine is to be meafured only
by the quantity of water raifed in a given time to a given
height. It varies, therefore, in the joint proportion of
the weight of the column of water in the pumps, and
the number of ftrokes made by the machine in a minute.
Each ftroke confifts of two parts, which we have called
the working and the returning ftroke. It does not,
therefore, depend (imply on the velocity of the working
ftroke and the quantity of water railed by it. If this
were all that is to be attended to, we know' that the.
weight of the column of water ftiould be nearly -Jths of
the preffure of the atmofpheie, this being the proportion
which gives the maximum in the common pulley. But
the time of the returning ftroke is a neceffary part of the
whole time elapfed, and therefore the velocity, of the re¬
turning ftroke equally merits attention. I his is regu¬
lated by the counter weight. The number of ftrokes
per minute does not give an immediate proot ci the
goodnefs of the engine. A fmall load of water and a
great counter weight will enfure this, becaufe thefe con¬
ditions will produce a brifk motion in both direftions.—
The proper adjuftment of the preffure of the atmofphere
on the pifton, the column of water to be raifed, and
the counter weight, is a problem of very great difficul¬
ty ; and mathematicians have not turned much of their
attention to the fubjedt, although it is certainly the
rnoft interefting queftion that pradlical mechanics affords
them.
Mr Boffut has folved it very (hortly and (imply, upon Mr BotTut’
this fuppofition, that the working and returning ftroke loiutlon»
ftiould be made in equal times. This, indeed, is gene¬
rally aimed at in the erection of thefe machines, and they
are not reckoned to be w'ell arranged if it be otherwife.
We doubt of the propriety of the maxim. Suppofing,
however, this condition for the prefent, we may com¬
pute the loadings of the two ends of the beam as fol¬
low's. Let a be the length of the inner arm ef the work¬
ing beam, or that by which the great pifton is fupported.
Let b be the outer arm carrying the pump rods, and let
W be a weight equivalent to all the load which is laid
on the machine. Let cl be the area of the. pifton ; let
H be the height of a column of w'ater having cl for its
bafe, and being equal in weight to the preffure exerted
by the fteam on the under fide of the pifton ; and let k
be the preffure of the atmofphere on the lame area, or
the height of a column of water of equal weight. It is
evident .that both ftrokes will be performed in equal
times, if he1 a—W£ be equal to [h—H) c* rf-f-Wb.
The firft of thefe quantities is the energy of the machine
during the working ftroke, and the fecond expreffes the
fimilar energy during the returning ftroke. This equa-
I he1, a—H cx a (2 b—BD < ’
tion gives us W=-
31
4 O 2
2b
zb
If
we
STE [660] STE
Ingmt We fuppofe th; arms of the lever e<lual and H=^ culties> let us make the cafe as fimple as poffible, and Steam.
  v   have j that is, the whole weight of the outer £PPff the armS °f the workIng-beam to be of equal, Engine.^
end of the beam fliould be half the preffure of the air (hall firft confider the adjuftment of things at the
on the great pifton. This is nearly the ufual pra&ice ; outer end oP the beam. ^
and the engineers exprefs it by faying, that the engine Since the foie ufe of the fleam is to give room for the Adjuft-
is loaded with feven or eight pounds on the fquare inch. aflion of the atmofpheric preffure by its rapid conden-1116111 °*
3Z This has been found to be nearly the moft advantageous Ability, it is admitted into the cylinder only to allow'J1'1185 at
founded on load. This way of expreffing the matter would do well the pifton to rife again, but without giving it any im-end of the
cusmTv6" eno.uSh’ if .the maxim were not founded on erroneous Pulfe* The pump-rods muft therefore be returned tobeamcon-
! 5 notions, which hinder us from feeing the ftate of the the bottom of the working barrels by means of a pre-fidered‘
machine, and the circumftances on which its improve- ponderancy at the outer end of the beam. It may be
ment depends. The pifton bears a preffure of 15 pounds, the weight of the pump-rods themfelves, or may be con-
z it is faid, on the fquare inch, if the vacuum below it be ftdered as making part of this weight. A weight at
perfedt; but as this is far from being the cafe, we muft the end of the beam will not operate on the rods which
not load it above the power of its vacuum, which very are fufpended there by chains, and it muft therefore be
little exceeds eight pounds. But this is very far from attached to the rods themfelves, but above their refpec-
the truth. When the cylinder is tight, the vacuum is pump-barrels, fo that it may not lofe part of its
not more than ^th deficient, when the cylinder is cool- efficacy by immerfion in the water. We may confider
ed by the injedlion to the degree that is every day prac- tbe whole under the notion of the pump-gear, and call
ticable, and the pifton really bears during its defcent a ft A Its office is to deprefs the pump-rods with fuffi-
preffure very near to 14 pounds on the inch. The load cient velocity, by overcoming the refiftances arifing from
muft be diminiftied, not on account of the imperfedt va- following caufes.
cuum, but to give the machine a reafonable motion. I- From the inertia of the beams and all the parts of
We muft confider not only the moving force, but alfo the apparatus which are in motion during the defcent
the quantity of matter to be put in motion. This is fo °f tke pump-rods.
great in the fteam-engine, that even if it were balanced, 2- From tke lofs of weight fuftained by the immer-
that is, if there were fufpended on the pifton arm a ^on oP the pump-rods in water.
weight equal to the whole column of water and the 3- From tke fridlion of all the piftons and the weight
counter weight, the full preflure of the atmofphere on oP tke plug-frame,
the fteam pifton would not make it move twice as faft as 4* From the refiftance to the pifton’s motion, arifing
33 ft does. from the velocity which muft be generated in the water
and faul- This equation by Mr Boffut is moreover effentially in Puffing through the defcending piftons.
otherSn" fatdty another refpedl. The W in the firft member The fum of all thefe refiftances is equal to the pref-
fpc A re' \s not tpie Pame wfth tlie W in the fecond. In the firft Pure °f f°me weight (as yet unknown), which w-e may
it is the column of water to be raifed, together with the ca^ m'
counter weight. In the fecond it is the counter weight When the pump-rods are brought up again, they bring
only. Nor is the quantity H the fame in both cafes, as along with them a column of water, whofe weight we
is moft evident. The proper equation for enfuring the may caH 'w’
equal duration of the two ftrokes may be had in the fol- ^ is evident that the load wdiich muft be overcame
lowing manner. Let it be determined by experiment ky the preffure of the atmofphere on the fteam pifton
what portion of the atmofpheric preffure is exerted on confifts of w and />. Let this load be called L, and the
the great pifton during its defcent. This depends on preffure of the air be called P.
the remaining elafticity of the fteam. Suppofe it T^ths: If/> be = L, no water will be raifed ; if /> be = o,
this we may exprefs by a //, a being rry^-ths. Let it tke r°ds will not defcend : therefore there is fome in-
alfo be determined by experiment what portion of the termediate value of /> which will produce the greatefl
atmofpheric preffure on the pifton remains unbalanced
by the fteam below it during its afcent. Suppofe this 1° order to difcover this, let^ be the fall of a heavy
t’o th, we may exprefs this by b h. Then let W be the body in a fecond.
weight of the column of water to be raifed, and c the The defcending mafs is p : but it does not defeend
counter weight. Then, if the arms of the beam are Wl111 its PuI1 weight j becaufe it is overcoming a fet of
equal, we have the energy during the working ftroke refiftances which are equivalent to a weight m, and the
—,7 h—W—<r, and during the returning ftroke it is moving force is p—m. In order to difcover the fpace
—c—b h. Therefore c—b h—a h—W—c 5 and c— through which the rods will defcend in a fecond, when
h (a + b)—W urged by the force p—m (fuppofed conftant, notwith-
■ ^ j which, on the above fuppofition of Handing the increafe of velocity, and confequently of
b—W we mud: *n^ftute this proportion p : p tuzz? 1
the values of a and b, gives us  . We ffiall g (p—tri)
make fome ufe of this equation afterwards) but it af¬
fords us no information concerning the moft advan-
tageous proportion of h and W, which is the material
Another Point;
Tvay ot eon- We muft confider this matter in another way : And
fidcnng the that we may not involve ourfelves in unneceffarv diffi-
The fourth term of this analogy is the fpace re¬
quired.
Let t be the wdiole time of the defcent in feconds.
Then ia: This laft term
/• />
is
Steam-
Engine,
S T E [ 661
is the whole defcent or length of the ftroke accomplifh-
ed in the time t.
The weight of the column of water, which has now
got above the pirton, is it;, =L—p. This muft be
lifted in the next working llroke through the fpace
Therefore the performance of the engine
"OCL—/0
P
mufl be
P
That this may be the greatefl poflible, we mufl; con-
fider p as the variable quantity, and make the fluxion of
the fraclion —-=o.
P   
This will be found to give us p—sj ^ m > ^at ’s>
the counter weight or preponderancy of the outer end
of the beam is =\/ Lm.
This gives us a method of determining m experimen¬
tally. We can difcover by actual meafurement the
quantity L in any engine, it being equal to the un¬
balanced weights on the beam and the weight of the
A*
water in the pumps. Then m — —.
JLj
Alfo we have the weight of the column of water
= L—/>, = L—V/ L rn.
When therefore we have determined the load which
is to be on the outer end of the beam during the work¬
ing ftroke, it muft be diftributed into two parts, which
have the proportion of VLw to L — Vl m. The firft
is the counter weight, and the fecond is the weight of
the column of w'ater.
If m is a fra£lion of L, fuch as an aliquot part of it j
that is, if
, L L L L L
fit  j 5 j OCC»
i 4 9 16 25’
L L L L L
j’T’ 3' 4’ j’ &c-
The circumftance which is commonly obtruded on
us by local confiderations is the quantity of w-ater, and
the depth from which it is to be raifed \ that is, w: and
it will be convenient to determine every thing in con¬
formity to this.
We faw that w—h — m. This gives us L =
, i, ., / m* m .
—V  {-■ }- w, and the counter weight
 4_ 2
.  / m1 tn
P—SJ  f-—.
4*2
Having thus afcertained that diftribution of the load
on the outer end of the beam which produces the great-
eft effeft, we come now to confider what proportion of
iej moving force we muft apply, fo that it may be employ¬
ed to the beft advantage, or fo that any expence of
ad-pow'er may produce the greateft performance. It will
be fo much the greater as the work done is greater,
and the power employed is lefs; and will therefore be
properly meafured by the quotient of the work done di¬
vided by the power employed.
The work immediately done is the lifting, up the
weight L. In order to accomplifh this, wre muft em¬
ploy a preffure P, which is greater than L. Let it be
s=L-j-y ; alfo let s be the length of the ftroke.
If the mafs L were urged along the fpace s by the
pro-
i of
] S T E
force L -\-y, it would acquire a certain velocity, which
we may exprefs by ^ s ; but it is impelled only by the ,
force y, the reft of P being employed in balancing L.
The velocities which different forces generate by impel¬
ling a body along the fame fpace are as the fquare roots
of the forces. Therefore sj L + y : V y= s:
^ The fourth term of this analogy exprelfes the
Steam-
Engine.
velocity of the pifton at the end of the ftroke. The
quantity of motion produced will be had by multiply¬
ing this velocity by the mafs L. This gives ^ •
V ^
and this divided by the power expended, or by L-j-y,
gives us the meafure of the performance \ namely,
Lx/Jff __
k+yxy^fl-^
That this may be a maximum, csnfider y as the va¬
riable quantity, and make the fluxion of this formula
—o. This will give us y— —.
Now P=L-{-y, =: L-f-
4- L. Therefore the
whole load on the outer end of the beam, confifting of
the water and the counter weight, muft be two-thirds
of the prelfure of the atmofphere on the fleam piilon.
We have here fuppofed that the expenditure is the
atmofpheric preffure j and fo it is if we confider it me¬
chanically. But the expenditure of which we are fen-
fible, and which wTe are anxious to employ to the beft
advantage, is fuel. Suppofing this to be employed with
the fame judgement in all cafes, we are almoft intitled,
by what we now know of the produftion of fleam, to
fay that the fleam produced is proportional to the fuel
expended. But the fleam requifite for merely filling
the cylinder is proportional to the area of the piilon,
and therefore to the atmofpheric preflure. The refult
of our inveftigation therefore is ftill juft ; but the fleam
wafted by condenfation on the fides of the cylinder does
not follow this ratio, and this is more than what is ne-
ceffary for merely filling it. This deranges our calcu¬
lations, and is in favour of large cylinders ^ but this ad¬
vantage muft be in a great meafure compenfated by a
fimilar variation in the produdlion of the fleam ; for in
fimilar boilers of greater dimenfions the fuel is lefs ad-
vantageoufly employed, becaufe the furface to which the
fuel is applied does not increafe in the ratio of the capa¬
city, juft as the furface of the cylinder which waftes the
fleam. The rule may therefore be confided in as pretty
exa&‘
It is a fatisfa£lory thing to obferve thefe refults agree ThefeW-
very well with the moll fuccefsful praftice. By manyfults agree
changes and trials engineers have eftablilhed maxims eft with the
conftruftion, which are probably not very far from the '”^1,'^"
beft. It is a pretty general maximr that the load ofp^jc^^
water fhould be one-half of the atmofpheric preffuro.
They call. this loading the engine with y j- pounds on
the inch,, and they fay that fo fmall a load is neceffary
on account of the imperfeft vacuum. But we have
now feen that it is neceffary for giving a reafonable ve¬
locity of motion. Since, in this praftice, w is made |-
or -/^ths of P, and L ftiould be -rVd15 of P, and L is
—w-fcp; it follows, that the counter weight fhould.be
Si
tin
38
Refiftance
to the mo¬
tion of the
S T E [
-gtli of P; and tve have found this to be nearly the cafe
in feveral very good engines.
It mud be remarked, that in the preceding inveftiga-
tion we introduced a quantity M to exprefs the relilt-
ances to the motion of the engine. I his was done in
order to avoid a very troublefome inveftigation. The
refiftances are of fuch a nature as to vary with the ve¬
locity, and moft of them as the fquare of the velocity.
This is the cafe with the refiftance arifing from the mo¬
tion of the water through the piftons of the pumps, and
• that arifing from the fri&ion in the long lift during the
working ftroke. Had we taken the diretf: method,
which is fimilar to the determination of the motion
through a medium which refifts in the duplicate ratio of
the velocity, we muft have ufed a very intricate expo¬
nential calculus, which few of our readers would have
the patience to look at.
But the greateft part of the quantity m fuppofes a
motion already known, and its determination depends
on this motion. W'e muft now fhow how its different
component parts may be computed.
i. What arifes from the inertia of the moving parts
is by far the moft coniiderable portion of it. To ob¬
tain it, we muft find a quantity of matter which, when
placed at the end of the beam, will have the fame mo¬
mentum of inertia with that of the whole moving parts
puled6C9m"*n their natural places. Therefore (in the returning
ftroke) add together the weight of the great pifton with
its rod and chains.; the pit pump-rods, chains, and
any weight that is attached to them ; the arch-heads
and iron-work at the ends of the beam, and |ths of the
weight of the beam itfelf; alfo the plug-beam with its
arch-head and chain, multiplied by the fquare of its di-
ifance from the axis, and divided by the fquare of half
the length of the beam; alfo the jack-head pump-rod,
chain, and arch-head, multiplied by the fquare of its di-
ftance from the axis, and divided by the fquare of the
half length of the beam. Thefe articles added into one
fum may be called M, and may be fuppofed to move
with the velocity of the end of the beam. Suppofe this
beam to have made a fix-foot ftroke in two feconds,
with an uniformly accelerated motion. In one fecond
it would have moved I *- feet, and would have acquired
the velocity of three feet per fecond. But in one fe¬
cond gravity would have produced a velocity of 32 feet
in the fame mafs. Therefore the accelerating* force,
which has produced the velocity of three feet, is nearly
Trrth of the weight. Therefore -- is the firft confti-
11
tuent of :n in the above inveftigation. If the obferved
velocity is greater or lefs than three feet per fecond, this
value muft be increafed or diminiftied in the fame pro¬
portion.
The fecond caufe of refiftance, viz. the immerfion of
the pump rods in water, is eafily computed, being the
weight of the water which they difplace.
The third caufe, the friftion of the piftons, &c. is al-
xnoft infignificant, and muft be difeovered by experiment.
The fourth caufe depends on the ftrudure of the
pumps. Thefe pumps, when made of a proper ftrengtb,
can hardly have the perforation of the pifton more than
a fourth part of the area of the working-barrel; and
the velocity with which the water paffes through it is
increafed at leaft -^th by the contradion (fee Pump).
The velocity of the water is therefore five times greater
2
Steam-
Engine.
662 ] S T E
than that of the pifton. A pifton 12 inches diameter,
and moving one loot per fecond, meets with a refiftance
equal to 20 pounds; and this increafes as the fquare of
the diameter and as the Iquare of the velocity. If the
whole depth of the pit be divided into feveral lifts, this
refiftance muft be multiplied by the number of lifts, be-
cauie it obtains in each pump.
I hus we make up the value of m; and we muft; ac¬
knowledge that the method is ftill indiretfi, becaule it
fuppofes the velocity to be known.
VVe may obtain it more eafily in another way, but
ftill with this circumftance of being indbeft. We found
that/; was equal to V/L m, and confequently m — —.
Now in any engine L and /> can always be had ; and
unlefs p deviates greatly from the proportion which we
determined to be the beft, the value of m thus obtained
will not be very erroneous.
It was farther prefumed in this inveftigation, that the0^1™-
motions both up and down were uniformly accelerated •ns con*
but this cannot be the cafe when the refiftances increaie fomethfn
with the velocity. This circumftance makes very little prefumed5
change ^ in the working-ftroke, and therefore the theo- in the in-
rem which determines the beft relation of P to L may velllSatif#**
be confided in. The refiftances which vary with the
velocity in this cafe are a mere trifle when compared
w-ith the moving power y. Thefe refiftances are, iff.
The ftrangling of the water at the entry and at the
Handing valve of each pump : This is about 37 pounds
for a pump 12 inches diameter, and the velocity one
foot per fecond, increafing in the duplicate ratio of the
diameter and velocity. And, 2d, The fri&ion of the
water along the whole lilt: I his for a pump of the
fame fize and with the fame velocity, lifting 20 fathoms
39
is only about 2-y pounds, and varies in the fimple pro¬
portion of the diameter and the depth, and in the du¬
plicate proportion of the velocity. The refiftance ari¬
fing from inertia is greater than in the returning ftroke;
becaufe the M in this cafe muft contain the momentum
of the water both of the pit-pumps and the jackhead-
pump but this part of the refiftance does not affefl
the uniform acceleration. We may therefore confide
in the propriety of the formula ?/—•—. And we may
obtain the velocity of this ftroke at the end of a fecond
with great accuracy as follows. Let 2 ^ be the veloci¬
ty communicated by gravity in a fecond, and the velo¬
city at the end of the firft fecond of the fleam pifton’s
defeent wall be fomew'hat lefs than ~ 7g; where M ex-
1V1
preffes the inertia of all the parts which are in motion
during the defeat of the fleam pifton, and therefore in¬
cludes L. Compute the two refiftances juft mentioned
for this velocity. Call this r. Then
M
will
give another velocity infinitely near the truth.
But the cafe is very different in the returning ftroke,
and the proper ratio of /> to L is not afeertained with
the fame certainty : for the moving force p is not fo
great in proportion to the refiftance rn; and therefore
the acceleration of the motion is confiderably affe&ed
by it, and the motion itfelf is confiderably retarded, and
in a very moderate time it becomes fenfibly v "fiform :
for it is precilely fimilar to the motion of a heavj body
falling
S T E
[ 663 1
S T E
4° .
The motion
affected by
a circum-
ftance that
dtferves
particular
eonfidera-
Jauii.
falling through the air, and may be determined in the
manner laid down in the article RESISTANCE of fluidsy
viz. by an exponential calculus. We thall content our-
felves here with faying, that the refitlances in the pre-
fent cafe are fo great that the motion would be to all
fenfe uniform before the piftons have defcended one-
third of their flroke, even although there were no other
circumftance to affedl; it.
But this motion is affe&ed by a circumftance quite
unconnefted with any thing yet confidered, depending
on conditions not mechanical, and fo uncertain, that we
are not yet able to afcertain them with any precinon ;
yet they are of the utmoft importance to the good PC1~
formance and improvement of the engine, and theremie
deferve a particular confideration.
The counter weight has not only to puftr down the
pump rods, but alfo to drag up the great pifton. Ihis
it cannot do unlefs the fleam be admitted into the cy¬
linder. If the fleam be no ftronger than common air,
it cannot enter the cylinder except in confequcnce of the
pifton’s being dragged up. If common air were admit¬
ted into the cylinder, lome force would be required to
drag up the piflon, in the fame manner as it is lequued
to draw up the pifton of a common fyringe} for the
air would rulh through the {mall entry of the cylinder
in the fame manner as through the fmali nozzle of the
fyringe. Some part of the atmofpheric preffure is em¬
ployed in driving in the air with luhicient velocity to
fill the fyringe, and it is only with the remainder that
the admitted air preffes on the under furface of the fy¬
ringe. Therefore feme of the atmofpheric preffure on
its upper furface is not balanced. Ihis is felt by the
hand which draws it up. The lame thing muft happen
in the fleam-engine, and fome part of the counter weight
is expended in drawing up the Aeam-pifton. We could
tell how much is thus expended if we knewr the denfity
of the fleam 5 for this would tell us the velocity with
which its elafticity would caufe it to fill the cylinder.
If we fuppofe it 12 times rarer than air, which it. cer¬
tainly is, and the pifton rifes to the top of the cylinder
in two feconds, we can demonftrate that it will enter
with a velocity not lefs than 1400 feet per fecond, where*'
as 500 feet is enough to make it maintain a denfity x^ths
of that of fleam in equilibrio with the air. Hence it
follows, that its elafticity will not be lefs than -|^-ths of
the elafticity of the air, and therefore not more than -/q-th
of counter weight will be expended in drawing up the
fteam-pifton.
But all this is on the fuppofition that there is an un¬
bounded fupply of fleam of undiminiftied elafticity. I.his
is by no means the cafe. Immediately before opening
the fleam-cock, the fleam was ifiuing through the fafe-
ty-valve and all the crevices in the top of the boiler,
and (in good engines) was about ftronger or more
elaflic than air. This had been gathering during fome-
thing more than the defeent of the pifton, viz. in about
three feconds. The piflon rifes to the top in about two
feconds 5 therefore about twice and a half as much fleam
as fills the dome of the boiler is now {hared between the
boiler and cylinder. The dome is commonly about fix
ti« es more capacious than the cylinder. If therefore no
fleam is condenfed in the cylinder, the denfity of the
fleam, when the pifton has reached the top, muft be a-
bout °f its former denfity, and ftill more elaftic than
air. But as much fteam is condenfed by the cold cy¬
linder, its elafticity muft be lefs than this. We cannot Steam-
tell how much leis, both becaufe we do not know how ^n£lne- ,
much is thus condenfed, and becaufe by this diminution v ’
of its preffure on the furface of the boiling water, it muft
be more copioufly produced in the boiler j but an atten¬
tive obfervation of the engine will give us fome infor¬
mation. The moment the iteam-cock is opened we have
a ftrong puff of fteam through the fnifting valve. At
this time, therefore, it is ftill more elaftic than air j but
after this, the fnifting valve remains ftmt during the
whole rife of the pifton, and no fteam any longer iffues
through the fafety-valve or crevices ; nay, the whole
dome of the boiler may be obferved to fink. 41
T’nefe facls give abundant proof that the elafticity of The elafti-
the fteam during the afeent of the pifton is greatly di-
miniftied, and therefore much of the counter weight is ring the *
expended in dragging up the fteam pifton in oppofttion afrent of
to the unbalanced part of the atmofpheric preffure. The the pifton
motion of the returning ftroke is therefore fo much de- T.^T^'1"
ranged by this foreign and inappreciated circumftance,1
that it would have been quite ufelefs to engage in the
intricate exponential inveftigation, and we muft fit down
contented with a lefs perfebt adjuftment of the counter
weight and weight of water.—Any perfon who attends
to the motion of a fleam-engine will perceive that the
defeent of the pump-rods is fo far from being accelera¬
ted, that it is nearly uniform, and frequently it is fenfi-
bly retarded towards the end. We learn by the way,
that it is of the utmoft importance not only to have a
quick produftion of fteam, but alfo a very capacious
dome, or empty fpace above the water in the boiler. In
engines where this fpace was but four or five times the
capacity of the cylinder, we have always obferved a very
fenfible check given to the defeent of the pump-rods
after having made half their ftroke. This obliges us to
employ a greater counter weight, which dimir.ifiies the
column of water, or retards the working ftroke j it alfo
obliges us to employ a ftronger fteam, at the rilk of
buriling the boiler, and increafes the expence of fuel. 42
It would be a mold defirable thing to get an exaeft How to
knowledge of the clafticity of the fteam in the cylinder;
and this is by no means difficult. Take a long glafs ^eam
tube' exaftly calibered, and clofe at the farther end. Put in the cy-
a fmall drop of fome coloured fluid into it, fo as to ftandlinder-
at the middle nearly.—Let it be placed in a long box
filled with water to keep it of a conftant temperature.
Let the open end communicate with the cylinder, with
a cock between. The moment the fteam-cock is open¬
ed, open the cock of this inftrument. The drop will
be puftied towards the clofe end of the tube, while the
fteam in the cylinder is more elaftic than the air, and it
will be drawm the other way while it is lefs elaftic, and,
by a fcale properly adapted to it, the elafticity of the
fteam correfponding to every pofition of the pifton may
be difeovered. The fame thing may be done more ac¬
curately by a barometer properly conftrufted, fo as to
prevent the ofcillations of the mercury. . 43
It is equally neceffaryto know the ftate of the cylinr
der during the defeent of the fteam-pifton. We h'ave-;^0^
hitherto fuppofed P to be the full preffure of the atmo-ltate ot the .
fphere on the area of the pifton, fuppofing the vacuum cylinder
below it to be complete. But the infpeaion of curbing the
table of elafticity fhows that this can never be the cafe,
becaufe the cylinder is always of a temperature far above
32®. We have made many attempts to difeover its tem¬
perature..
Stevn-
■Engrine.
S T E [664
perature. We have employed a thermometer in clofe con-
j taft with the fide of the cylinder, which foon acquired a
fteady temperature : this was never lefs than 145®. We
have kept a thermometer in the water which lies on the
pifton: this never funk below 133°. It is probable that the
cylinder within may be cooled fomewhat low'er j but for
this opinion we cannot give any very fatisfaclory reafon.
Suppofe it cooled down to 120° 5 this will leave an elaf-
ticity which would fupport three inches of mercury. We
cannot think therefore that the unbalanced preflure of
the atmofphere exceeds that of 27 inches of mercury,
which is about 13yd pounds on a fquare inch, or io-§-on
a circular inch. And this is the value which we Ihould
employ in the equation P= L -}-y. This queftion may
be decided in the fame way as the other, by a barometer
connefted with the infide of the cylinder.
And thus we fiiall learn the ftate of the moving forces
in every moment of the performance, and the machine
wall then be as open to our examination as any vrater or
horfe mill; and till this be done, or fomething equiva¬
lent, we can only guefs at what the machine is actually
performing, and we cannot tell in what particulars we
can lend it a helping hand. We are informed that
Meflrs Watt and Boulton have made this addition to
•fome of their engines 5 and we are perfuaded that, from
the information which they have derived from it, they
have been enabled to make the curious improvements
from which they have acquired fo much reputation and
profit.
There is a circumftance of which we have as yet ta-
oTcold wa- hen no notice, viz. the quantity of cold water injected.
4er to be Here we confefs ourfelves unable to give any precife in-
ftrudlions. It is clear at firft fight that no more than
is abfolutely neceffary ftiould be injefted. It muft ge¬
nerally be fupplied by the engine, and this expends part
of its power. An excefs is much more hurtful by cool¬
ing the cylinder and pifton too much, and therefore
wafting fteam during the next rife of the pifton. But
the determination of the proper quantity requires a
knowledge, which w7e have not yet acquired, of the
quantity of heat contained in the fteam in a latent
form. As much wrater muft be injefled as will abforb
all this without rifing near to the boiling temperature.
But it is of much more importance to knowr how far
we may cool the cylinder with advantage 5 that is,
when will the lofs of fteam, during the next rife of the
pifton, compenfate for the diminution of its elafticity
during its prefent defeent ? Our table of elafticities
ftiows us, that by cooling the cylinder to 120°, we
ftill leave an elafticity equal to one-tenth of the wdiole
power of the engine ; if we cool it only to 140, we
leave an elafticity of one-fifth ; if we cool it to a blood-
heat, we leave an elafticity of one-twentieth. It is ex¬
tremely difficult to choofe among thefe varieties. Expe¬
rience, however, informs us, that the beft engines are
thofe which ufe the fmalleft quantities of injetftion wa¬
ter. We know an exceedingly good engine having a
cylinder of 30 inches and a fix feet ftroke, which works
with fomething lefs than one-fifth of a cubic foot of wa¬
ter at each injeflion j and wre imagine that the quantity
ftiould be nearly in the proportion of the capacity of the
cylinder. Defaguliers obferved, that a very good en¬
gine, with a cylinder of 32 inches, worked with 300
inches of water at each injection, which does not much
exceed one-fixth of a cubic foot. Mr Watt’s obferva-
L
]
S T E
44
t^uantity
injedted.
tions, by means of the barometer, muft have given him Ste*m-
much valuable information in this particular, and we Engine,
hope that he will not always withhold them from the ' ' v
public.
We have gone thus far in the examination, in order This^exa-
feemingly to afeertain the motion of the engine whenmin^io'1.
loaded and balanced in any known manner, and in or- though not
der to difeover that proportion between the moving^*
power and the load which will produce the greateft the^atten-
quantity of work. Ihe refult has been very unfatis-tion to the
fattory, becaufe the computation of the returning ftroke l3.rinciPai
is acknowledged to be beyond our abilities. But it has”rcv”"*
given us the opportunity of direfting the reader’s atten-lL^l^lCei,'
tion to the leading circumftances in this inquiry. By
knowing the internal ftate of the cylinder in machines
of very different goodnefs, we learn the conne&ion be¬
tween the ftate of the fleam and the performance of the
machine 5 and it is very poffible that the refult of a
full examination may be, that in fituations where fuel
is expenfive, it may be proper to employ a weak fteam
which will expend lefs fuel, although lefs work is per¬
formed by it. We fhall fee this confirmed in the clear-
eft manner in fome particular employments of the new
engines invented by Watt and Boulton.
In the mean time, %ve fee that the equation which we
gave from the celebrated Abbe Boffut, is in every re-
fpe£t erroneous even for the purpofe which he had in
view. We alfo fee that the equation which we fubfti-
tuted in its place, and which was intended for determi¬
ning that proportion between the counter-weight and
the moving force, and the load which would render the
working ftroke and returning ftroke of equal duration,
is alfo erroneous, becaufe thefe two motions are extreme¬
ly different in kind, the one being nearly uniform, and
the other nearly uniformly accelerated. This being
fuppofed true, it ftrould follow that the counter-vreight
fliould be reduced to one half j and we have found this
to be very nearly true in fome good engines which we
have examined. ^
We (hall add but one obfervation more on this head. An errone-
The praftical engineers have almoft made it a maxim,eus maxim
that the two motions are of equal duration. But thethat t^e
only reafon which we have heard for the maxim, is, [^‘are of
that it is aukward to fee an engine go otherwife. But equal dura.
we doubt exceedingly the truth of this maxim, and, tion.
without being able to give any accurate determination,
we think that the engine will do more work if the
■working ftroke be made flower than the returning ftroke.
Suppofe the engine fo conftrufted that they are made
in equal times j an addition to the counter-weight will
accelerate the returning ftroke and retard the working
ftroke. But as the counter-weight is but fmall in pro¬
portion to the unbalanced portion of the atmofpheric
preffure, which is the moving force of the machine, it
is evident that this addition to the counter-weight muft;
bear a much greater proportion to the counter-weight
than it does to the moving force, and muft therefore ac¬
celerate the returning ftroke much more than it retards
the working ftroke, and the time of both ftrokes taken
together muft be diminiffied by this addition and the
performance of the machine improved ; and this rvaft
be the cafe as long as the machine is not extravagantly
loaded. The beft machine which wre have feen, in re-
fpeef of performance, raifes a column of water whofe
weight is very nearly two-thirds of the preffure of the
atmofphere
S T E
[ 655 ]
S T E
Steaai- atmofphere on the pifton, making f i ftrokes of fix feet
Engine. each
per minute, and the working ftroke was almoft
twice as flow as the other. This engine had w'orked
pumps of 12 inches, which were changed for pumps of
14 inches, all other things remaining the fame. In its
former ftate it made from 12 and a half to 13 and a
half ftrokes per minute, the working ftroke being con-
fiderably flower than the returning ftroke. The load
was increafed, by the change of the pumps, nearly in
the proportion to three to four. This had retarded the
working ftroke ; but the performance was evidently in¬
creafed in the proportion of 3X13 to 4 X 11> or 39
to 44. About 300 pounds were added to the counter¬
weight, which increafed the number of ftrokes to more
than 12 per minute. No fenfible change could be
obferved in the lime of the working ftroke. The per¬
formance was therefore increafed in the proportion of
39 to 48. We have therefore no hefitation in faying,
that the feemly equality of the two ftrokes is a facri-
fice to fancy. The engineer who obferves the work¬
ing ftroke to be flow, fears that his engine may be
thought feeble and unequal to its work ; a fimilar no¬
tion has long mifled him in the conftruftion of water¬
mills, efpecially of overfhot mills j and, even now’, he is
fubmitting with hefitation and fear to the daily correc¬
tion of experience.
It is needlefs to engage more deeply in fcientific cal¬
culations in a fubjedl where fo many of the data are fo
very imperfe&ly underftood.
We venture to recommend as a maxim of conftruflion
(fuppofing always a large boiler and plentiful fupply of
pure fleam unmixed with air), that the load of work be
not lefs than 10 pounds for every fquare inch of the pi¬
fton, and the counter-w’eight fo proportioned that the
fquare inch time of the returning ftroke may not exceed two-thirds
of that of the working ftroke. A ferious objeflion may
be made to this maxim, and it deferves mature confide-
ration. Such a load requires the utmoft care of the ma¬
chine, that no admiflion be given to the common air 5
and it precludes the poflibility of its working, in cafe the
growth of water, or deepening the pit, ftiould make a
greater load abfolutely neceffary. Thefe confiderations
muft be left to the prudence of the engineer. The
maxim now recommended relates only to the beft a&ual
performance of the engine.
Before quitting this machine, it will not be amifs to
give fome eafy rules, fanflioned by fuccefsful practice,
for computing its performance. Thefe will enable any
artift, who can go through Ample calculations, to fuit
the fize of his engine to the talk which it is to per¬
form.
The circumftance on which the whole computation
muft be founded is the quantity of water which muft
be drawn in a minute, and the depth of the mine j and
the performance which may be expected from a good
engine is at leaft 12 ftrokes per minute of fix feet each,
working againft a column of water wdrofe weight is
equal to half of the atfnofpheric preflure on the fteam-
pifton, or rather to 7.64 pounds on every fquare inch of
its lurface.
It is moft convenient to eftimate the quantity of wa¬
ter in cubic feet, or its weight in pounds, recollefting
Vol. XIX. Part II.
47
The load
of work
llioulil not
be lef> than
10 pounds
for every
ot th
fton.
- Pi-
4S
Rules for
computing
the per¬
formance
of the
fleam-en¬
gine.
that a cubic foot of water weighs 62^ pounds. The
depth of the pit is ufualiy reckoned in fathoms of fix
feet, and the diameter of the cylinder ahd pump is ufu-
ally reckoned in inches.
Let £) be the quantity of water to be drawn per
minute in cubical feet, and f the depth of the mine in
fathoms; let c be the diameter of the cylinder, and p
that of the pump j and let us fuppofe the arms of the
beam to be of equal length.
ill, To find the diameter of the pump, the area of
the pifton in fquare feet is p1 X The length
J 44
of the column drawn in one minute is 12 times 6 or 72
feet, and therefore its folid contents is /j*X
cubical feet, or />*X0.3927 cubical feet.
144
This muft be
equal to £) j therefore px muft be
SI
or nearly £)
0.3927
X 2-J. Hence this practical rule : Multiply the cubic
feet of water which muft be drawn in a minute by 2-J-,
and extraft the fquare root of the product : this will be
the diameler of the pump in inches.
Thus fuppofe that 58 cubic feet muft be drawn every
minute •, 58 multiplied by 2^ gives 145, of which the
fquare root is 12, which is the required diameter of the
pump.
2. To find the proper diameter of the cylinder.
The pifton is to be loaded with 7.64 pounds on every
fquare inch. This is equivalent to fix pounds on a cir¬
cular inch very nearly. The weight of a cylinder of wa¬
ter an inch in diameter and a fathom in height is 2^
pounds, or nearly two pounds. Hence it follows that
6 cz muft be made equal to 2//>*, and that c1 is equal to
2/>*
or to
/>*
Hence the following rule : Multiply the Iquare of
the diameter of the pump pifton (found as above) by
the fathoms of lift, and divide the produft by 3 ; the
fquare root of the quotient is the diameter of the cylin¬
der.
Suppofe the pit to which the foregoing pump is to
applied is 24 fathoms deep j then gives
be
1152, of which the fquare root is 34 inches very near-
ly\
This engine conftrufted with care will certainly do
the work.
Whatever is the load of water propofed for the en¬
gine, let 10 be the pounds on every circular inch of the
2f
fleam pifton, and make ciz=pt x and the fquare root
771
will be the diameter of the fleam pifton.in inches.
To free the praflical engineer as much as pofflble
from all trouble of calculation, we fubjoin the follow¬
ing TABLE of the Dunenfons and Power of the Steam
Engine, drawn up by Mr Beighton in 1717, and fully
verified by pra£tice fince that time. The meafure is in
Englifh ale gallons of 282 cubic inches.
4P
Steani-
Engine.
S T E
[ 666 ]
S T E
Stefim-
Steani-
Engine.
The firfl: part of the table gives the fize of the pump
fuited to the growth of water. The fecond gives the
fize of the cylinder fuited to the load of water. If the
depth is greater than any in this table, take its fourth
part, and double the diameter of the cylinder. Thus if
15° hogfheads are to be drawn in an hour from the
depth of ioc fathoms, the laft column of part firft gives
for 149.40 a pump of feven inches bore. In a line with
this, under the depth of 50 yards, which is one-fourth of
ico fathoms, we find so-J, the double of which is 41
inches for the diameter of the cylinder.
It is almoft impofiible to give a general rule for ftrokes
of different lengths, &c. but any one who profeffes the
ability to ere£t an engine, fliould furely know as much
arithmetic as will accommodate the rule now given to
any length of ftroke.
5°
Mr Fitzge¬
rald’s me¬
thod of
converting
its recipro¬
cating mo¬
tion into a
continued
rotatory
motion.
We venture to fay, that no ordinary engineer can
tell a prion the number per minute which an engine
will give. We took 12 ftrokes of fix feet each for a
llandard, which a careful engineer may eafily accom-
pliflt, and which an employer has a right to expefl, the
engine being loaded with water to half the preffure of
the atmofphere : if the load be lefs, there is fome fault—
an improper counter weight, or too little boiler, or
leaks, &.c. &c.
Such is the ftate in which Nervcomen’s fleam-engine
had continued in ufe for 60 years, negledled by the phi-
lofopher, although it is the moft curious ohjedl which
human ingenuity has yet offered to his contemplation,
and abandoned to the efforts of the unlettered artifl.
Its ufe has been entirely confined to the railing of water.
Mr Keane Fitzgerald indeed publiflied in the Philofbphi-
cal 1 ranfadlions a method of converting its reciprocating
motion into a continued rotatory motion by employing
the great beam to work a crank or a train of wheel-work.
As the real adtion of the machine is confined to its work¬
ing llroke, to accomplifh this, it became neceffary to
conneft with the crank or wheeled work a very large
and heavy fly, which fhould accumulate in itfelf the
whole preffure of the machine during its time of aftion,
and therefore continue in motion, and urge forward
the working machinery, while the fleam engine was go¬
ing through its inactive returning flroke. This will
be the cafe, provided that the refiflance exerted by the
working machine during the whole period of the work¬
ing and returning llroke of the fleam-engine, together
with the frittion of both, does not exceed the whole
preffure exerted by the fleam-engine during its work¬
ing llroke ; and provided that the momentum of the
fly, arifing from its great weight and velocity, be very
great, fo that the refiftance of the woik during one re¬
turning ftroke of the fleam-engine do not make any very
fenfible dimunition of the velocity of the fly. This is
evidently poflible and eafy. The fly may be made of
any magnitude 5 and being exadlly balanced round its
axis, it will foon acquire any velocity confident with the
motion of the fleam-engine. During the working fiicke
of the engine it is uniformly accelerated, and by its ac¬
quired momentum it produces in the beam the movement
of the returning ftroke ; but in doing this, its momen¬
tum is fhared with the inert matter of the fleam-engine,
and confequently its velocity diminifhed, but not entire¬
ly taken away. The next tvorking flroke therefore,
by prefling on it afrefh, increafes its remaining velo¬
city by a quantity nearly equal to the whole that it
acquired during the firft: flroke. We fay nearly, but
not quite equal, becaufe the time of the fecond ivorking
flroke muff be Ihorter than that of the firfl, on account
of the velocity already in the machine. In this manner
the fly will be more and more accelerated every fucceed-
ing flroke, becaufe the preffure of the engine during
the working flroke does more than rellore to the fly
the momentum which it loft in producing the returning
movement of the fleam-engine. Now fuppofe the
working part of the machine to be added. The acce¬
leration of the fly during each working flrcke of the
fleam-engine will be lefs than it was before, becaufe the
impelling preffure is now partly employed in driving the
working machine, and becaufe the fly will lofe more of
its momentum during the returning flroke of the ftea.v-
engine, part of it being expended in driving the work¬
ing machine. It is evident, therefore, that a time will
come
S T E [ 667 s ] S T E
Steam- coma when the fucceffive augmentation of the fly’s velo-
Enghie. cjty win ceafe j for, on the one hand, the continual acce-
',’^v '"J leration diminithes the time of the next working flroke,
and therefore the time of action of the accelerating power.
The acceleration rnufl diminhh in the fame proportion j
and on the other hand, the refinance of the working ma¬
chine generally, thoagh not always, increaies with its
velocity. The acceleration ceafes whenever the addi¬
tion made to the momentum of the fly during a work¬
ing flroke of the fleam-engine is jufl equal to what it
lofes by driving the machine, and by producing the re-
An mipor- turning movement of the fleam-engine,
tant addi- This mufl be acknowledged to be a very important
11011 ’ addition to the engine, and though fufficiently obvious,
it is ingenious, and requires confiderable fliill and ad-
drefs to make it effedlive (b).
The movement of the working machine, or mill of
whatever kind, mufl be in fome degree hobbling or
unequal. But this may be made quite infenfible, by ma¬
king the fly exceedingly large, and difpofing the great-
eft part of its rveight in the rim. By thefe means its
momentum may be made fo great, that the whole force
required for driving the mill and producing the return¬
ing movement of the engine may bear a very frnall pro¬
portion to it. The diminution of its velocity will then be
very trifling.
No counter weight is neceflary here, becaufe the re¬
turning movei’nent is produced by the inertia of the
fly. A counter weight may, however, be employed, and
lliould be employed, viz. as much as will produce the
returning movement of the fleam-engine. It will do
this better than the fame force accumulated in the fly j
for this force muft be accumulated in the fly by the in¬
tervention of rubbing parts, by which fome of it is loft j
and it muft be afterwards returned to the engine with a
fimilar lofs. But, for the fame reafon, it would be im¬
proper to make the counter weight alfo able to drive the
r/l mill during the returning flroke.
but feldom By this contrivance Mr Fitzgerald hoped to render
or never the fleam-engine of moft extenllve ufe j and he, or others
adopted. affoci.Ued with him, obtained a patent excluding all
others from employing the fleam-engine for turning a
crank. They alfo publiftied propofals for ereriting mills
of all kinds driven by fleam engines, and ftated very
fairly their powers and their advantages. But their pro¬
pofals do not feem to have acquired the confidence of
t he public ; for we do not know of any mill ever having
been ereffed under this patent.
The great The great obftacle to this extenfive ufe of the fteam-
expente of engJne ^ the prodigious expenfe of fuel. An engine
having a cylinder of four feet diameter, working night
and day, confumes about 3400 chaldron (London) of
good coals in a year.
This circumftance limits the ufe of fleam-engines ex- Steam-
ceedingly. To draw water from coal-pits, where they £noine-
can be flocked with unfaleable fmall coal, they are of "* ^ f
univerfal employment: alfo for valuable mines, for limits the
fupplying a great and wealthy city with water, and aafeot
few other purpofes where a great expence can be borne, ^.eam’en'
they are very proper engines ; but in a thoufand cafes®"”"*
where their unlimited powers might be vaftly ferviceable,
the enormous expenfe of fuel completely excludes them.
We cannot doubt but that the attention of engineers
was much direfted to every thing that could promife a
diminution of this expenfe. Every one had his parti¬
cular noftrum for the conftrurifion of his furnace, and
fome were undoubtedly more fuccefsful than others.
But fcience was not yet fufficiently advanced : It was not
till Dr Black had made his beautiful difcovery of latent
heat, that we could know the intimate relation between
the heat expended in boiling off a quantity of water and
the quantity of fleam that is produced.
Much about the time of this difcovery, viz. 1763,
Mr James Watt, eftabliftied in Glafgow in the com¬
mercial line, was amufing himfelf with repairing a
working model of the fleam engine which belonged to
the philofophical apparatus of the univerfity. Mr Watt
was a perfon of a truly philofophical mind, eminently
converfant in all branches of natural knowledge, and
the pupil and intimate friend of Dr Black. In the
courfe of the above-mentioned amufement many curious sr
fadls in the production and condenfation of fleam oc-Mr Watt
curred to him j and among others, that remarkable faildifcovers
which is always appealed to by Dr Black as the prooftn3,: ^eaiu
of the immenfe quantity of heat which is contained in 1[limen(-e
a very minute quantity of water in the form of elaftic quantity
fleam. When a quantity of water is heated feveral de-of heat
grees above the boiling point in a clofe digefler, if a
hole be opened, the fleam ruffies out with prodigious
violence, and the heat of the remaining water is redu¬
ced, in the courfe of three or four feconds, to the boil¬
ing temperature. The water of the fleam which has
iffued amounts only to a very few drops j and yet thefe
have carried off with them the whole excefs of heat
from the water in the digefter.
Since then a certain quantity of fleam contains foinhisat-
great a quantity of heat, it muff expend a great quan-temp1510
tity of fuel •, and no conftruclion of furnace can pre-hnd out a
vent this. Mr Watt therefore fet his invention to work °<i
to difcover methods of hufbanding this heat. The cy-this heat
linder of his little model was heated almoft in an inflant,
fo that it could not be touched by the hand. It could
not be otherwife, becaufe it condenfed the vapour by
abfiraCting its heat. But all the heat thus copnnunica-
ted to the cylinder, and wafled by it on furrounding
bodies, contributed nothing to the performance of the
4 P 2 engine,
(b) We do not recolleCf at prefent the date of this propofal of Mr Fitzgerald 5 but in 1781 the Abbe Arnal,
canon of Alais in Languedoc, entertained a thought of the fame kind, and propofed it for working lighters in
the inland navigations ; a fcheme which has been fuccefsfully pra&ifed (we are told) in America. His brother,
a major of engineers in the Auftrian fervice, has carried the thing much farther, and applied it to manufac¬
tures ; and fthe Aulic Chamber of Mines at Vienna has patronized the project : (See Journal Kncyclopedique^
1781). But tbefe fcbemes are long poflerior to Mr Fitzgerald’s patent, and are even later than the ereiflion of fe¬
veral machines driven by (team-engines which have been eredfted by Meffrs Watt and Boulton. We think it our
duty to Hate thefe particulars, becaufe it is very ufual for our neighbours on the continent to affume the credit of
Britifli inventions.
S T E
57.
difrovers a
method of
coi dei (mg
th - fleam
at a little
diltance
ft'm the
cylinder,
55
and re
moves the
diffii ulties
which at-
tendcd this
improve¬
ment by
means of
pumps.
engine, and muft be taken away at every inje&ion, and
again communicated and wafted. Mr Watt quickly
underftood the whole procefs which was going on with¬
in the cylinder, and which we have confidered fo mi¬
nutely, and Taw that a very conftderable portion of the
fleam muft be wafted in warming the cylinder. His
firft attempts were made to afcertain how much was
thus wafted, and he found that it was not lefs than
three or four times as much as would fill the cylinder
and work the engine. He attempted to diminilh this
wafte by ufing wooden cylinders. But though this
produced a fenfible diminution of the wafte, other rea-
fons forced him to give them up. He then cafed his
metal cylinders in a wooden cafe with light wood alhes
between. By this, and ufing no more injeaion than
was abfolutely neceffary for the condenfation, he redu¬
ced the wafte almoft one half. But by ufing fo fmall a
quantity of cold water, the infide of the cylinder was
hardly brought below the boiling temperature ; and
there confequently remained in it a fleam of very con-
fiderable elafticity, which robbed the engine of a pro¬
portional part of the atmofpherical preffure. He faw
that this was unavoidable as long as the condenfation
was performed in the cylinder. The thought ftruck
him to attempt the condenfation in another place. His
firft experiment was made in the fimpleft manner. A
globular veffel communicated by means of a long pipe
of one inch diameter with the bottom of his litt'e cy-
-linder of four inches diameter and 30 inches long.
This pine had a flop-cock, and the globe was immerfed
in a veflel of cold water. When the pifton was at the top,
and the cylinder filled with ftrong fleam, he turned the
cock. It was fcarcely turned, nay he did not think
it completely turned, when the fides of his cylinder
(only ftrong tin-plate) were crufhed together like an
empty bladder. This furprifed and delighted him. A
new cylinder was immediately made of brafs fufficiently
thick, and nicely bored. When the experiment was
repeated with this cylinder, the condenfation was fo ra¬
pid, that he could not fay that any time was expended in
it. But the moft valuable dlfcovery was, that the va¬
cuum in the cylinder was, as he hoped, almoft perfect.
Mr Watt found, that when he ufed water in the boiler
purged of air by long boiling, nothing that was very
fenfibly inferior to the preflure of the atmofphere on the
pifton could hinder it from coming quite down to the
bottom of the cylinder. This alone was gaining a great
deal, for in moft engines the remaining elafticity of the
fleam was not lefs than one-eighth of the atmofpherical
preflure, and therefore took away one-eighth of the
power of the engine.
Having gained this capital point, Mr Watt found
many difficulties to ftruggle with before he could get
the machine to continue its motion. The water pro¬
duced from the condenfed fteam. and the air which was
extricated from it, or which penetrated through un¬
avoidable leaks, behoved to accumulate in the con-
denfing veflel, ard could not be voided in any way fimi-
lar to that adopted in Newcomen’s engine. He took
another method : He applied pumps to extraft both,
which were worked by the great beam. The contri¬
vance is eafy to any good mechanic ; only we muft ob-
ferve, that the pifton of the wafer-pump muft be under
the furface of the water in the condenser, that the water
*nay enter the pump by its own weight, becaufe there is
r 668 ]
S T E
Steam-
Engine.
59
no atmofpherica! preflure there to force it in. We muft
alio ooferve, that a conftderable foice is neceflarily ex¬
pended here, becaute, as there is but one ftroke for rare-
fying the air, and this rarefaction muft be nearly com¬
plete, the air-pump muft be of large dimenfions, and its
pirton muft aft againit the whole prefliire ol the atmo¬
fphere. Mr YV alt, however, found that this force could
be eafily fpared from his machine, already fo much im¬
proved in refpeft of power.
Thus has the fleam-engine received a very confider- OHerva-
able improvement. The cylinder may be allowed totlonsonthe
remain very hot ; nay, boiling hot, and yet the con- ofIhefe dX
den fat ion be completely performed. The only elaftic coveries.
fteam that now remains is the fmall quantity in the pipe
of communication. Even this fmall quantity Mr Watt
at laft got rid of, by admitting a fmali jet of cold water
up this pipe to meet the fteam in its paflfage to the con-
denfer. This both cooled this part of the apparatus
in a fituation where it was not neceffary to warm it
again, and it quickened the condenfation. He found
at laft that the fmall pipe of communication was of it™
felf fufficiently large for the condenfation, and that no
feparate veffel, under the name of condenfer, was necef¬
fary. This circumftance {hows the prodigious rapidity
of the condenfation. We may add, that unlefs this
had been the cafe, his improvement would have been
vaftly diminiffied for a large condenfer would have
required a much larger air-pump, which would have
expended much of the power of the engine. By thefc
means the vacuum below the pifton is greatly improved:
for it will appear clear to any perfon who underftands
the fubjeft, that as long as any part of the condenfer is
kept of a low temperature, it will abftraft and con-
denfe the vapour from the warmer parts, till the whole
acquires the elafticity correfponding to the coldeft part.
By the fame means much of the wafte is prevented, be¬
caufe the cylinder is never cooled much below the boil¬
ing temperature. Many engines have been erefted by
Mr Watt in this form, and their performance gave uni-
verfal fatisfaftion.
We have contented ourfelves with giving a very
flight defcription without a figure of this improved en¬
gine, becaufe we imagine it to be of very ealy compre-
henfion,. and becaufe it is only a preparation for ftill
greater improvements, which, when underftood, will
at the fame time leave no part of this more Ample form
unexplained. ^
During the progrefs of thefe improvements Mr Watt Mr Watt
made many experiments on the quantity and denfity ofma^esthe
the fteam of boiling water. Thefe fully convinced him Plfton de“
that although he had greatly diminiftied the wafte of^Jfowe
fteam, a great deal yet remained, and that the fteam of fteTiST
expended during the rife of the pifton was at leaft three
times more than what would fill the cylinder. The
caufe of this was very apparent. In the fubfequent
defcent of the pifton, covered with water much below
the boiling temperature, the whole cylinder was neceffa-
rily cooled and expofed to the air. Mr Watt’s fertile
genius immediately fuggefted to him the expedient of
employing the elafticity of the fteam from the boiler
to impel the pifton down the cylinder, in place of the
preffure of the atmofphere ; and thus he reftored the
engine to its firft principles, making it an engine really
moved by Jleam. As this is a new epoch in its hiftory,
we (hall be more particular in the defcription, at the
fame
S T E
t 669 ]
S T E
61
Defcription
of the ma¬
chine after
thefe im¬
provements
were add¬
ed.
Fig- 9
fame time ftlil reft rifting ourfelves to the effential cir-
cumftances, and avoiding every peculiarity which is
to be found in the prodigious varieties which Mr Watt
has introduced into the machines which he has erefted,
every individual of which has been adapted to local cir-
cumftances, or diverfifted by the progrefs of Mr Watt’s
improvements.
Let A (fig. 9.) reprefent the boiler. This has re¬
ceived great improvements from his complete acquain¬
tance with the procedure of nature in the produftion of
fteam. In fome of his engines the fuel has been placed
in the midft of the water, furrounded by an iron or
copper veffel, while the exterior boiler was made of
wood, which tranfmits, and therefore waftes the heat
very (lowly. In others, the flame not only plays round
the whole outfide, as in common boilers, but alfo runs
along feveral flues which are condufted through the
midfi of the water. By fuch contrivances the fire is
applied to the water in a moft extenfive furface, and for
a long time, fo as to impart to it the greaceft part of
its heat. So (kilfully was it applied in the Albion mills,
that although it was perhaps the largeit engine in the
kingdom, its unconfirmed finoke was inferior to that of
a very finall brew7-houfe, In this fecond engine of Mr
Watt, the top of the cylinder is (hut up by a ftrong
metal plate g h, in the middle of which is a collar or box
of leathers £/, formed in the ufual manner of a jack-
liead pump, through which the pifton 1’od PD, nicely
turned and polithed, can move up and down, without
allowing, any air to pafs by its fides. From the dome
of the boiler proceeds a large pipe BCIO£), which,
after reaching the cylinder with its horizontal part BC,
defcends parallel to its fide, fending off two branches,
viz. IM to the top of the cylinder, and ON to its
bottom. At I is a puppet valve opening from be¬
low upwards. At L, immediately below this branch,
there is a fimilar valve, alfo opening from below’ upwards.
The pipe defcends to Q, near the bottom of a large
ciftern c d ef filled with cold water conftantly renew¬
ed. The pipe is then continued horizontally along the
bottom of this ciftern (but not in contaft), and ter¬
minates at R in a large pump ST. The pifton S has
clack valves opening upwards, and its rod Sr, pafling
through a collar of leathers at T, is fufpended by a
chain to a fmall arch head on the outer arm of the beam.
There is a valve R in the bottom of this pump, as ufual,
which opens when preffed in the direftion QR, and
(huts againft a contrary preffure. This pump delivers
its contents into another pump XY, by means of the
fmall pipe / X, which proceeds from its top. This fe¬
cond pump has a valve at X, and a clack in its pif¬
ton Z as ufual, and the pifton rod Z ss is fufpended
from another arch head on the outer arm of the beam.
The two valves I and L are opened and (hut by means
of fpanners and handles, which are put in motion by a
plug frame, in the fame manner as in Newcomen’s en-
gine.
Laftly, there may be ohferved a crooked pipe a b 0,
which enters the upright pme laterally a little above Q.
This has a fmall jet hole at 0; and the other end a, whicTi
is confiderably under the furface of the w’ater of the
condenfing ciftern, is covered with a puppet valve v,
whole long (talk v u rifes above the water, and may be
raifed or lowered by hand or by the plug beam. The
valves R and X, and the clacks in the piftons S and Z,
are opened or (hut by the preffures to which they are
immediately expofed.
This figure is not an exaft copy of any of Mr Watt’s
engines, but has its parts fo difpoied that all may come
diftinftly into view, and exaftiy perform their various
funftions. It is drawn in its quiefcent pofition, the
outer end of the beam preponderating by the counter
weight, and the pifton P at the top ot the cylinder, and
the piftons S and Z in their lowed fituations.
In this fituation let us fuppofe that a vacuum is (by
any means) produced in all the fpace below the pifton,
the valve I being (hut. It is evident that the valve R
will alfo be (hut, as alfo the valve v. Now' let the valve
I be opened. The fteam from the boiler, as elaftic as
common air, will rufti into the fpace above the pifton,
and will exert on it a preffure as great as that of the
atmofphere. It will therefore prefs it down, raife the
outer end of the beam, and caufe it to perform the fame
work as an ordinary engine.
When the pifton P has reached the bottom of the
cylinder, the plug frame (huts the valve I, and opens
L. By fo doing the communication is open between
the top and bottom of the cylinder, and nothing hin¬
ders the fteam which is above the pifton from going along
the paffage MLON. The pifton is now equally af~
fefted on both fides by the fteam, even though a part of
it is continually condenfed by the cylinder, and in the
pipe IOO. Nothing therefore hinders the pifton
from being dragged up by the counter weight, which
acfts wfith its whole force, undiminiflied by any remain¬
ing unbalanced elafticity of fteam. Here therefore this
form of the engine has an advantage (and by no means
a fmall one) over the common engines, in which a great
part of the counter weight is expended in overcoming
unbalanced atmofpheric preffure.
Whenever the pifton P arrives at the top of the cy¬
linder, the valve L is (hut by the plug frame, and the
valves I and v are opened. All the fpace below the pif¬
ton is at this time occupied by the fteam which came
from the upper part of the cylinder. This being a lit¬
tle w'afted by condenfation, is not quite a balance for'
the preffure of the atmofphafe. Therefore, during the
afcent of the pifton, the valve R was (hut, and it remains
fo. When, therefore, the valve v is opened, the cold
W’ater of the ciftern muft fpout up through the hole 0,
and condenfe the fteam. 'To this muft be added the
coldnefs of the whole pipe OQS. As faft as it is con¬
denfed, its place is fupplied by fteam from the lower part
of the cylinder. We have already remarked, that this
fucceflive condenfation is accompliflred with aftonifhing
rapidity. In the mean time, fteam from the boiler
preffes on the upper furface of the pifton. It muft there¬
fore defcend as before, and the engine muft perform a
fecond working ftreke.
But in the mean time the injetlion water lies in the-
bottom of the pipe OQR, heated to a confiderable de¬
gree by the condenfation of the fteam 5 alfo a quantity
of air has been difengaged from it and from the water
in the boiler. How is this to be difcharged ?—This is
the office of the pumps ST and XY. The capacity of
ST is very great in proportion to the fpace in which the
air and water are lodged. When, therefore, the pifton
S has got to the top of its courfe, there muft be a va¬
cuum in the barrel of this pump, and the water and air*
muft open the valve R and come into. it. When the
pifton
'jteim-
Engine.
(32
Caufes of
its ftiperio-
rity over
common
engines are
the full ope¬
ration of
the coun¬
ter-weight,
<53
and great
having of
fleam.
S T E [ 67
pifton S comes down again in the next returning Itroke,
this water and air gets through the valve of the pifton j
and in the next working ftroke .they are difcharged by
the pifton into the pump XY, and railed by its pifton.
The air efcapes at Y, and as much of the water as is
neceffary is delivered into the boiler by a fmall pipe Y^
to fupply its wafte. It is a matter of indifference whe¬
ther the piftons S and Z rife with the outer or inner
end of the beam, but it is rather better that they rife
with the inner end. They are other wife drawn here,
in order to detach them from the reft and fhow them
more diftinftly.
Such is Mr Watt’s fecond engine. Let us examine
its principles, that we may fee the caufes of its avowed
and great fuperiority over the common engines.
We have already feen one ground of fuperiority, the
full operation of the counter weight. We are autho-
rifed by careful examination to fay, that in the com-
,mon engines at leaft one-half of the counter weight is
expended in counterafting an unbalanced prefiure of the
air on the pifton during its afeent. In many engines,
which are not the worft, this extends to^th of the whole
preffure. This is evident from the examination of the
engine at Montrelaix by Boffut. This makes a very
great counter weight necelfary, which exhaufts a pro¬
portional part of the moving force.
But the great advantage of Mr Watt’s form is the
almoft total annihilation of the wafte of fteam by con-
denfation in the cylinder. The cylinder is always boil¬
ing hot, and therefore perfectly dry. This muft be evi¬
dent to any perfon wftio underftands the iubjeft. By the
time that Mr Watt had completed his improvements, his
experiments on the produftion of fteam had given him a
pretty accurate knowledge of its denfity * and he found
himfelf authorized to fay, that the quantity of fteam
employed did not exceed twice as much as would fill
the cylinder, fo that not above one-half was unavoid¬
ably wafted. But before he could bring the engine to
this degree of perfedlion, he had many difficulties to
overcome : He inclofed the cylinder in an outer wooden
cafe at a fmall diftance from it. This diminiffied the
expence of heat by communication to furrounding bo¬
dies. Sometimes he allowed the fteam from the boiler
to occupy this interval. This undoubtedly prevented
all diffipation from the inner cylinder but in its turn
it diffipated much heat by the outer cafe, and a very
fenfible condenfation was obferved between them. This
has occafioned him to omit this circumftance in feme of
his beft engines. We believe it was omitted in the Al¬
bion mills.
The greateft difficulty was to make the great pifton
tight. The old and effe&ual method, by water lying
on it, was inadmiffible. He was therefore obliged to
have his cylinders moft nicely bored, perfectly cylindri¬
cal, and finely poliffied ; and he made numberlefs trials
of different foft fubftances for packing his piflon, which
fhould be tight without enormous friciion, and which
ftiould long remain fo, in a fituation perfeiftly dry, and
hot almoft to burning.
After all that Mr Watt has done in this refp.-ft,
he thinks that the greateft part of the wafte of fteam
which he ftill perceives in his engines arifes from the
unavoidable efcape by the fides of the pifton during its
defeent.
But the fa£t is, that an engine of this conftruftion,
4
Steam-
Engine.
^4
o ] S T E
of the fame dimenfions with a common engine, making
the fame number of ftrokes of the fame extent, does
not confume above one-fourth pait of the fuel that is
confumed by the beft engines of the common form. It
is alfo a very fortunate circumftance, that the perform¬
ance oi the engine is not immediately deftroyed, nor in¬
deed fenftbly diminiftied, by a fmall want of tightnefs
in the pifton. In the common engine, if air get in, in
this way, it immediately puts a flop to the work ; but
although even a confiderable quantity of fteam get pall
the pifton during its defeent, the rapidity of condenfa¬
tion is fuch, that hardly any diminution of preifure can
be obferved.
Mr Watt’s penetration foon difeovered another moft Anotlier
valuable property of this engine. When an engine ofva'Ud^c
the common form is eredted, the engineer muft make anj^0^^'
accurate eftimate of the -work to be performed, and
muft proportion his engine accordingly. He muft be
careful that it be fu//// aide to execute its talk ; but its
power muft not exceed its load in any extravagant de¬
gree. This would produce a motion which is too ra¬
pid, and which, being alternately in oppofite dirediions,
would occafion jolts which no building or machinery
could withftand. Many engines have been {battered by
the pumps drawing air, or a pump-rod breaking } by
which accidents the fteam-pifton defeends with fuch ra¬
pidity that every thing gives way. But in moft ope¬
rations of mining, the talk of the engine increafes, and
it muft be fo conftrudied at firft as te be able to bear
this addition. It is very difficult to manage au engine
that is much fuperior to its talk } and the eafieft way is,
to have it almoft full loaded, and to work it only during
a few hours each day, and allow the pit water to accu¬
mulate during its repofe. This increafes the firft coft,
and waftes fuel during the inadlion of the engine. ^
But this new engine can at all times be exadlly fitted lfi that it
(at leaft during the working ftroke) to the load ol work can always
that then happens to he on it. We have only to
minifter fteam of a proper eiafticity. At the firft erec-^ loa(j
tion the engine may be equal to twice its talk, if thewhichhap.
fteam admitted above the cylinder be equal to that ofpenstobe
common boiling water j but when once the ebullition011 '*•
is lairly commenced, and the whole air expelled from
all parts of the apparatus, it is evident, that by damping
the fire, fteam of half this eiafticity may be continually
filpplied, and the water will continue boiling although
its temperature does not exceed 185° of Fahrenheit’s
thermometer. This appears by infpedling our table of
vaporous eiafticity, and aflords another argument for
rendering that table more accurate by nerv experiments.
We hope that Mr Walt will not withhold from the pub¬
lic the knowledge which he has acquired on this fubjeft.
It may very poffibly refult from an accurate inveftiga-
tion, that it would be advifable to work our fteam-en-
gines with weak fteams, and that the diminution of
work may be more than compenfated by the diminution
of fuel. It is more probable indeed, and it is Mr
Watt’s opinion, that the contrary is the cafe, and that
it is much more economical to employ great heats. At
any rate, the decifion of this queftion is of great im¬
portance for improving the engine •, and we fee, in the
mean time, that the engine can at all times be fitted fo
as to perform its talk with a moderate and manageable
motion, and that as the talk increafes wTe can increafe
the power of the engine.
But
6l
remedied
in fome
degree.
<5S
But the
remedy at¬
tended
with fome
difficulties;
69
which Mr
Watt’s fer¬
tile genius
completely
removed.
S T E [6
But the method now propofed has a great inconve¬
nience. While the fleam is weaker than the atmofphere,
there is an external force tending to fqueeze in the fides
and bottom of the boiler. This could not be refitted
when the difference is confiderable, and common air
would ruttt in through every crevice of the boiler and
foon choke the engine : it mutt therefore be given up.
But the fame effeht will be produced by aiminifhing
the paffage for the fleam into the cylinder. For this
purpofe, the puppet valve by which the fleam enters the
cylinder was made in the form of a long taper fpigot,
and it was lodged in a cone of the fame fhape ; confe-
quently the paffage could be enlarged or contracted at
pleafure by the diftance to which the inner cone was
drawn up.
In this way feveral engines were conflru£ted, and the
general purpofe of fluting the power of the engine to its
talk was completely anfvvered ; but (as the mathemati¬
cal reader will readily perceive) it was extremely diffi¬
cult to make this adjuflment precife and conftant. In
a great machine like this going by jerks, it was hardly
poffible that every fuccedive motion of the valve fhould
be precifely the fame. This occafioned very fenfible ir¬
regularities in the motion of the engine, which increafed
and became hazardous when the joints worked loofe by
long ufe.
Mr Watt’s genius, always fertile in refources, found
out a complete remedy for all thefe inconveniences.
Making the valve of the ordinary form of a puppet
clack, he ad jutted the button of its ftalk or tail fo that
it fliould always open full to the fame height. He then
regulated the pins of the plug-frame, in fuch a manner
that the valve fliould (hut the moment that the pifton
had defeended a certain proportion (fuppofe one-fourth,
one-third, one-half, &c.) of the cylinder. So far the
cylinder was occupied by fleam as elaftic as common
air. In preffing the pifton farther down, it behoved
the fleam to expand, and its elafticity to diminiffi. It
is plain that this could be done in any degree we pleafe,
and that the adjuttment can be varied in a minute, ac¬
cording to the exigency of the cafe, by moving the plug
pins.
In the mean time, if mutt be obferved, that the pref-
flire on the pifton is continually changing, and conle-
quently the accelerating force. The motion therefore
will no longer be uniformly accelerated : it will ap¬
proach much fatter to uniformity ; nay, it may be re¬
tarded, becaufe although the prefl'ure on the piflon at
the beginning of the ttroke may exceed the refiftance
of the load, yet when the pifton is near the bottom the
refiftance may exceed the preffirre. Whatever may be
the law by which the preflure on the pition varies, an
ingenious mechanic may contrive the connecting ma¬
chinery in fuch a way that the chains or rods at the
outer end of the beam Ihall continually exert the fame
preffure, or fhall vary their preffure according to any
law he finds moft convenient. It is in this manner that
the watchmaker, by the form of the fuzee, produces an
equal preflure on the wheel-work by means of a very
unequal aftion of the main-fpring. In like manner, by
making the outer arch heads portions of a proper fpiral
inflead of a circle, we can regulate the force of the
beam at pleafure.
Thus we fee how much more manageable an engine
is in this form than Newcomen’s was, and alfo more
I ] S T E
eafily inveftigated in refpeft of its power in its various Steam-
pofitions. The knowledge of this laft circumftance was E"gine’ ,
of mighty confequence, and without it no notion could v"~""
be formed of what it could perform. This fuggefted to
Mr Watt the ufe of the barometer communicating with
the cylinder; and by the knowledge acquired by thefe
means has the machine been fo much improved by its in¬
genious inventor.
We muft not omit in this place one dedu&ion made
by Mr Watt from his obfervations, which may be call¬
ed a difeovery of great importance in the theory of the
engine. 7°
Let ABCD (fig. 10.) reprefent a feftion of the cy*0f M^Watt
linder of a fleam-engine, and EF the farface of its pi-of great
fton. Let us fuppofe that the fleam was admitted importance
while EF was in contact with AB, and that as foon asin l*ie
it had preffed it down to the fituation EF the fleam
cock is ffiut. The fleam will continue to prefs it down,pig_ Ic<i
and as the fleam expands its preflure diminifties. We
may exprefs its preffure (exerted all the while the pi¬
fton moves from the fituation AB to the fituation EF)
by the line EF. If we fuppofe the elaflicity of the
fleam proportional to its denfity, as is nearly the cafe
with air, we may exprefs the preflure on the pifton in
any other pofition, fuch as KL or DC, by K / and D c,
the ordinates of a reftangular hyperbola F / c, of which
AE, AB are the affymptotes, and A the centre. The
accumulated preffure during the motion of the piflon.
from EF to DC will be exprefled by the area EF cDE,
and the preflure during the whole motion by the area
ABFcDA.
Now it is well known that the area EFcDE is
equal
the hyperbolic loga-
whole area ABF
to ABFE multiplied by
. , . AD T AD ,' .
nthm or -r-r-, — L. and the
AE’ AE
c DA is = ABFE x ^x + L.^j.
Thus let the diameter of the pifton be 24 inches,
and the preffure of the atmofphere on a fquare inch be
14 pounds; the preffure on the pifton is 6333 pounds.
Let the whole ftroke be 6 feet, and let the fleam be
flopped when the pifton has defeended 18 inches, or 1.9
feet. The hyperbolic logarithm ofis 1.3862943.
Therefore the accumulated preflure ABF c DA is rz
6333 X 2.3862943, = 15114 pounds.
As few profeffional engineers are poffeffed of a table
of hyperbolic logarithms, while tables of common lo¬
garithms are or ffiould be in the hands of every perfon
who is much engaged in mechanical calculations, let
the following method be praftifed. Take the common
logarithm of ^rr, and multiply it by 2.3026; the pro-
^D
du£l is the hyperbolic logarithm of
The accumulated preffure while the piflon moves
from AB to EF is 6333 X L or Amply 6333 pounds.
Therefore the fleam while it expands into the whole
cylinder adds a preffure of 8781 pounds.
Suppofe that the fleam had got free admiffion during
the whole defeent of the pifton, the accumulated pref¬
fure would have been 6333 X 4, or 25332 pounds.
Here Mr Watt obferved a remarkable refult. The
fleam expended in this cafe would have been four times
greater
Plate
Din.
Fig. xi.
~ 71
Defcrip-
tion of Mr
Watt’s
fteam-en-
gine in its
raoft im¬
proved
ftate.
S T E [67
greater than when it was flopped at one-fourth, and yet
the accumulated preflure is not twice as great, being
nearly five-thirds. One-fourth of the fleam performs
nearly three-fifths of the work, and an equal quantity
performs more than twice as much work when thus ad¬
mitted during one-fourth of the motion.
This is a curious and an important information, and
the advantage of this method of working a fleam-engine
increafes in proportion as the fleam is fooner flopped ;
but the increafe is not great after the fleam is rarefied
four times. The curve approaches near to the axis,
and fmall additions are made to the area. The expenfe
of fuch great cylinders is confiderable, and may fometimes
compenfate this advantage.
Let the fleam be flopped at
tr
&c.
Its peiformance is mult.
2.1
2.4
2.6
2.8
3-
3-2
&c.
It is very pleafing to obferve fo many unlooked-for
advantages refulting from an improvement made with
the foie view of leffening the wmfte of fleam by conden-
fation. While this purpofe is gained, wre learn how to
hufband the fleam which is not thus wrafted. The en¬
gine becomes more manageable, and is more eafily adapt¬
ed to every variation in its talk, and all its powers are
more eafily computed.
The a£live mind of its ingenious inventor did not flop
here : It had always been matter of regret that one-half
of the motion was unaccompanied by any work. It was
a very obvious thing to Mr Watt, that as the fleam ad¬
mitted above the pifton preffed it down, fo fleam admit¬
ted below the pifton prefled it up with the fame force,
provided that a vacuum were made on its upper fide.
This wras eafily done, by connedfting the low^er end of
the cylinder with the boiler and the upper end with the
condenfer.
Fig. 11. is a reprefentation of this conflruflion exact¬
ly copied from Mr Watt’s figure accompanying his fpe-
cification. Here BB is a feftion of the cylinder, fur-
rounded at a fmall diftance by the cafe mi. The fec-
tion of the pifton A, and the collar of leathers which
embraces the pifton rod, gives a diflinft notion of its
conftrudftion, of the manner in which it is connefted
with the pifton-rod, and howT the packing of the pifton
and collar contributes to make all tight.
From the top of the cylinder proceeds the horizontal
pipe. Above the letter D is obferved the feat of the
fleam valve, communicating with the box above it. In
the middle of this may be obferved a dark fhaded circle.
Thjs is the mouth of the upper branch of the fleam pipe
coming from the boiler. Beyond D, below the letter
N, is th« feat of the upper condenfing valve. The bot¬
tom of the cylinder is made fpherical, fitting the pifton,
fo that they may come into entire contaft. Another
horizontal pipe proceeds from this bottom. Above the
letter E is the feat of the lower fleam valve, opening
into the valve box. This box is at the extremity of
another fleam pipe marked C, which branches off from
the upper horizontal part, and defeends obliquely, com-
3 ,
2 ] S T E
ing forward to the eye. The low7er part is reprefented
as cut open, to ftunv its interior conformation. Beyond
this fleam valve, and below the letter F, may be ob-'
ferved the feat of the lower condenfing valve. A pipe
defeends ii-om hence, and at a fmall diftance below
unites with another pipe GG, which comes dowm from
the upper condenfing valve N. Thefe two eduftion-
pipes thus united go downwards, and open at L into a
reftangular box, of which the end is feen at L. This
box goes backward from the eye, and at its farther ex¬
tremity communicates with the air-pump K, whofe pif¬
ton is here reprefented in feflion with its butterfly valves.
The pifton delivers the water and air laterally into ano¬
ther reftangular box M, darkly ftiaded, which box
communicates with the pump I. The pifton-rods of
this and of the air pump are fufpended by chains from
a Imail arch head on the inner arm of the great beam.
The lower part of the edu6tion-pipe, the horizontal box
L, the air-pump K, with the communicating box M be¬
tween it and the pump I, are all immeifed in the cold
svater of the condenfing ciftern. The box L is made
flat, broad, and fliallow7, in order to increafe its furface
and accelerate the condenfation. But that this may be
performed with the greateft expedition, a fmall pipe H,
open below7 (but occafionally flopped by a plug valve),
is inferted laterally into the eduftion-pipe G, and then
divides into two branches ; one of which reaches within
a foot or two of the upper valve N, and the other ap¬
proaches as near to the valve F.
As it is intended by this conftruftion to give the pi¬
fton a ftrong impulfe in both directions, it will not be
proper to fufpend its rod by a chain from the great
beam ; for it muft not only pull down that end of the
beam, but alfo puflx it upwards. It may indeed be
fufpended by double chains like the pifions of the en¬
gines for extinguifhing fires; and Mr Watt has accor¬
dingly done fo in fome of his engines. But in his
drawing from which this figure is copied, he has com¬
municated the force of the pifton to the beam by means
of a toothed rack OO, which engages or works in the
toothed feClcr QO on the end of the beam. The rea¬
der will underfland, without any farther explanation,
how the impulfe given to the pifton in either direction
is thus tranfmitted to the beam without diminution.
The fly XX, witn its pinion Y, which alfo works in
the toothed arch Qy>, may be fuppofed to be removed
for the prefent, and will be confidered afterwards.
We fhall take the prelent opportunity of deferibing
Mr Watt’s method of communicating the force of the
fleam-engine to any machine of the rotatory kind.
VV reprefents the rim and arms of a very large and
heavy metalline fly. On its axis is the concentric
toothed wheel U. There is attached to the end of the
great beam a ftrong and ftiff rod TT, to the lower end
of which a toothed wheel W is firmly fixed by two
bolts, fo that it cannot turn round. This w7heel is of
the fame fize and in the fame vertical plane with the
wdieel U ; and an iron link or ftrap (which cannot be
feen here, becaufe it is on the other fide of the two
wheels) connefts the centres of the tw7o wheels, fo that
the one cannot quit the other. The engine being in
the pofition reprefented in the figure, fuppofe the fly to
be turned once round by any external force in the di¬
rection of the darts. It is plain, that fince the toothed
wheels cannot quit each other, being kept together by
the
Steam-
Engine.
S T Ei AM E \r G I N E,
■
Homblcnv'er's
Steam engine.
Piute D IV.
S T E [ 673 ] S T E
Steam- the link, the inner half (that is, the half next the cylin-
der) of the wheel U will work on the inner half of the
wheel W, fo that at the end of the revolution of the
fly the wheel W muft have got to the top of the wheel
U, and the outer end of the beam muft be raifed to its
higheft pofition. The next revolution of the fly will
bring the wheel W and the beam connected with it to
their firft politicos j and thus every two revolutions
of the fly will make a complete period of the beam’s re¬
ciprocating movements. Now, inftead of fuppofing the
fly to drive the beam, let the beam drive the fly. The
motions muft be perfettly the fame, and the afeent or
defeent of the pifton will produce one revolution of the
Fig. is. A fide view of this apparatus is given in fig. 12.
marked by the fame letters of reference. This (hows
the fituation of parts which were fore-lhortened in fig.
11. particularly the defeending branch C of the fteam-
pipe, and the fituation and communications of the two
pumps K and I. 8, 8 is the horizontal part of the fteam-
pipe. 9 is a part of it whofe box is reprefented by the
dark circle of fig. 11. D is the box of the fteam-
clack j and the little circle at its corner reprefents the
end of the axis which turns it, as wall be deferibed af¬
terwards. N is the place of the upper edu&ion valve.
A part only of the upper edu&ion-pipe G is reprefent¬
ed, the reft being cut off, becaufe it would have covered
the defeending fteam-pipe CC. When continued down,
it comes between the eye and the box E of the lower
fleam-valve, and the box F of the lowTer eduftion-valve.
Let us now trace the operation of this machine
through all its fteps. Recurring to fig. 11. let us fup-
pofe that the lowrer part of the cylinder BE is exhauft-
ed of all elaftic fluids; that the upper fteam-valve D and
the lower edudlion-valve F are open, and that the lowrer
fleam-valve E and upper eduftion-valve N are ftiut. It
s evident that the pifton muft be preffed toward the bot¬
tom of the cylinder, and muft pull down the end of the
working beam by means of the toothed rack 00 and
fe&or caufing the other end of the beam to urge
forward the machinery with which it is conne&ed.
When the pifton arrives at the bottom of the cylinder,
the valves D and F are {hut by the plug frame, and E
and N are opened. By this laft paffage the fteam gets
into the edu<fHon-pipe, where it meets with the injection
water, and is rapidly condenfed. The fteam from the
boiler enters at the fame time by E, and prefling on
the lower fide of the pifton, forces it upwards, and by
means of the toothed rack 00 and toothed feftor QO
forces up that end of the working beam, and caufes the
other end to urge forward the machinery with which it
is connedled : and in this manner the operation of the
engine may be continued for ever.
The injeftion water is continually running into the
edu61ion-pipe, becaufe condenfation is continually go¬
ing on. and therefore there is a continual atmofpheric
preffure to produce a jet. The air which is difengaged
from the water, or enters by leaks, is evacuated only
during the rile of the pifton of the air-pump K. When
this is very copious, it renders a very large air-putnp
neceffary -, and in forme fituations Mr Watt has been
obliged to employ two air-pumps, one worked by each
arm ot the beam. Ihis in every cafe expends a very
confiderable portion of the power, for the air-pump is
VcvL. XIX, Part II.
always working againft the whole preffure of the atmo- Steam-
fphere. Engine.
It is evident that this form of the engine, by main-
taining an almoft conftant and uninterrupted impulfion,
is much fitter for driving any machinery of continued
motion than any of the former engines, which were in-
aftive during half of their motion. It does not, how¬
ever, feem to have this fuperiority when employed to
draw water : But it is equally fitted for this talk. Let
the engine be loaded with twice as much as would be
proper for it if a fingle-ftroke engine, and let a fly be
connedled with it. Then it is plain that the power of
the engine during the rife of the fteam-pifton will be ac¬
cumulated in the fly j and this, in conjunction with the
power of the engine during the defeent of the fteam-pi¬
fton, will be equal to the whole load of water.
In fpeaking of the fteam and eduCtion-valves, we faid
that they were all puppet-valves. Mr Watt employed
cocks, and alfo fliding-valves, fuch as the regulator or
fteam-valves in the old engines. But he found them
always lofe their tightnefs after a fliort time. This is
not furprifing, when we confider that they are always
perfeftiy dry, and almoft burning hot. Pie was there¬
fore obliged to change them all for puppet-clacks,
which, rvhen truly ground and nicely fitted in their
motions at firft, are not found to go out of order by any
length of time. Other engineers now univerfally ule
them in the old form of the fteam-engine, without the
fame reafons, and merely by fervile and ignorant imita¬
tion.
The way in which Mr Watt opens and {huts thefe Fig. 13.
valves is as follows. Fig. 13. reprefents a clack with
its feat and box. Suppofe it one of the eduftion-valves.
HH is part of the pipe which introduces the fteam, and
GG is the upper part of the pipe which communicates
with the condenfer. At EE may be obferved a piece
more faintly {haded than the furrounding parts. This
is the feat of the valve, and is a brafs or bell-metal ring
turned conical on the outfide, fo as to fit exaCtly into a
conical part of the pipe GG. Thefe two pieces are
fitted by grinding •, and the cone being of a long ta¬
per, the ring fticks firmly in it, efpecially after having
been there for fome time and united by ruft. The clack
itfelf is a ftrong brafs plate D, turned conical on the
edge, fo as to fit the conical or Hoping inner edge of the
feat. Thefe are very nicely ground on each other with
emery. This conical joining is much more obtufe than
the outer fide of the ring ; fo that although the joint is
air-tight, the two pieces do not flick ftrongly together.
The clack has a round tail DG, wrhich is freely move-
able up and down in the hole of a crofs piece FF. On
the upper fide of the valve is a ftrong piece of metal DC
firmly joined to it, one fide of which is formed into a
toothed rack. A is the feftion of an iron axle which
turns in holes in the oppofite fides of the valve-box,
where it is nicely fitted by grinding, fo as to be air¬
tight. Collets of thick leather, well foaked in melted
tallow and rofin, are {crewed on the outfide of thefe holes
to prevent all ingrefs of air. One end of this axis pro¬
jects a good way without the box, and carries a fpanner
or handle, which is moved by the plug-frame. To this
axis is fixed a ftrong piece of metal B, the edge of
which is formed into an arch of a circle having the axis
A in its centre, and is cut into teeth, which work in the
4 Q toetk
e
S T E [67
Steam- teeth of the rack DC. K is a cover which is fixed by
Engine. fcrews {_0 ^]ie t0p 0f yie {^qx H J JH, and may be taken
off in order to get at the valve when it needs repairs.
From this defcription it is eafy to fee that by turn¬
ing the handle which is on the axis A, the feftor B
mult lift up the valve by means of its toothed rack DC,
till the upper end of the rack touch the knob or button
K. Turning the handle in the oppofite direftion brings
the valve down again to its feat.
This valve is extremely tight. But in order to open
it for the paffage of the {team, we mull exert a force
equal to the preffure of the atmofphere. This in a large
engine is a very great weight. A valve of fix inches
diameter fuftains a preffure not Id's that 400 pounds.
But this force is quite momentary, and hardly impedes
the motion of the engine ; for the inftant the valve is
detached from its feat, although it has not moved the
100th part of an inch, the prefl'ure is over. Even this
little inconvenience has been removed by a delicate
thought of Mr Watt. He has put the fpanner in fuch
a pofition when it begins to raife the valve, that its me¬
chanical energy is almoft infinitely great. Let O 11
(fig. 14.) be part of the plug-frame delcending, and P
one of its pins juft going to lay hold of the fpanner NO
moveable round the axis N. On the fame axis is ano¬
ther arm NM conne&ed by a joint with the leader
ML, which is conne&ed alfo by a joint with the fpan-
ner LA that is on the axis A of the fe&or within the
valve-box. Therefore when the pin P pulhes down
the fpanner NO, the arm NM moves fidewife and pulls
down the fpanner AL by means of the connecting rod.
Things are fo difpofed, that when the cock is {hut, LM
and MN are in one ftraight line. The intelligent me¬
chanic will perceive that, in this pofition, the force of
the lever ONM is infuperable. It has this further ad¬
vantage, that if any thing (hould tend to force open the
valve, it would be ineffectual •, for no force exerted at
A, and tranfmitted by the rod LM, can poflibly pufh
the joint M out of its pofition. Of fuch importance is
it to praclical mechanics, that its pvofeftbrs fhould be
perfons of penetration as well as knowledge. Yet this
circumftance is unheeded by hundreds who have fervilely
copied from Mr Watt, as may be feen in every engine
that is puffed on the public as a difeovery and an im¬
provement. When thefe puppet-valves have been in¬
troduced into the common engine, we have not feen one
inftance where this has been attended to •, certainly be-
caufe its utility has not been obferved : and there is one
fituation where it is of more confequence than in Mr
Watt’s engine, viz. in the inje£lion-cock. Here the
valve is drawn back into a box, where the water is fo
aukwardly difpofed round it that it can hardly get out
out of its way, and where the preffure even exceeds that
of the atmofphere. Indeed this particular fubftitution
of the button-valve for the cock is meft injudicious.
We poilponed any account of the office of the fly
XX (fig. 11.), as it is no! of ufe in an engine regulated
by the fly VV. The fly XX is only for regulating the
reciprocating motion of the beam when the fleam is not
admitted dining the whole defeent of the pifton. This
it evidently muft render more uniform, accumulating a
momentum equal to the whole preffure of ihe full fup-
ply of fleam, and then fharing it with the beam during
the reft of the defeent of the pifton.
When i. perfon properly fkilled in mechanics and
73
’ The only
4 ] S T E
chemiftry reviews thefe different forms of Mr Watt’s
fteam-engine, he will eafily perceive them fufceptible of
many intermediate forms, in which any one or more of
the diftinguilhing improvements may be employed. The Revitw of
flift great improvement was the condenfation in a fepa- Mr Watt’s
rate veffel. This increafed the original powers of the tliree Rreat
engine, giving to the atr.iofpheric preffure and to the ™J^t°sve’
counter-weight their full energy j at the fame time the
wafte of fleam is greatly diminilhed. The next im¬
provement, by employing the preffure of the fleam in-
ftead of that of the atmofphere, aimed only at a ftill
farther diminution of the wafte ; but was fertile in ad¬
vantages, rendering the machine more manageable, and
particularly enabling us at all times, and without trou¬
ble, to fuit the powrer of the engine to its load of woik,
however variable and increafing j and brought into view
a very interefting propolition in the mechanical theory
of the engine, viz. that the whole performance of a
given quantity of fleam may be augmented by admitting
it into the cylinder only during a part of the pifton’s
motion. Mr Watt has varied the application of this
propofition in a thoufand ways ; and there is nothing
about the machine which gives more employment to the
fagacity and judgement of the engineer. The third
improvement of the double impulfe may be confidered
as the finiftiing touch given to the engine, and renders
it as uniform in its a£fion as any water-wheel. In the
engine in its moft perfect form there does not feem to
be above one-fourth of the fleam wafted by warming
the apparatus •, fo that it is not pojjible to make it cne-
fourth part more powerful than it is at prefent. The.
only thing that feems fufceptible of confiderable improve- improve¬
ment is the great beam. The enormous ftrains exerted ment now-
on its arms require a proportional fliength. This re- f;,
quires a vaft mafs of mailer, not lefs indeed in an en- the'erea
gine with a cylinder of 54 inches than three tons and a |)ean3.
half, moving with the velocity of three feet in a fecond,
which muft be communicated in about half a fecond.
This mafs muft be brought into motion from a ftate of
reft, muft again be brought to reft, again into motion,
and again to reft, to complete the period of a ftroke.
This confumes much power ; and Mr Watt has not been
able to load an engine with more than 10 or 11 pounds
on the inch and preferve a fufficient quantity of motion,
fo as to make 12 or 15 fix-feet ftrokes in a fecond.
Many attempts have been made to leffen this mafs by
ufing a light framed wheel, or a light frame of carpen¬
try, in place of a folid beam. Thefe have generally
been conftrufled by peifons ignorant of the true feien*
tific principles of carpentry, and have fared according¬
ly. Mr Watt has made iimilar attempts ^ but found,
that although at firft they were abundantly ftrong, yet
after a ffiort time’s employment the flraps and bolts with
which the wooden parts were connecfed cut their way
into the wood, and the framing grew loofe in the joints,
and, without giving any warning, went to pieces in an
inftant. A folid maffy fimple beam, of fufficient ftrength,
bends, and fenfibly complains (as the carpenters exprefs
it), before it breaks. In all great engines, therefore,
fuch only are employed, and in fmailer engines he fome-
times ufes caft-iron wheels or pulleys \ nay, he frequent¬
ly ufes no beam or equivalent whatever, but employs the
fteam-pifton rod to drive the machinery to which the en¬
gine is applied.
We prefume that our thinking readers will not be
difpleafed
74
Mr Watt
atlbciated
with Mr
Boulton.
73
Whence
their pro-
76
What th^r
ibine of
thefe en¬
gines is.
S T E [67
Steam- clifplcafed with this rational hiltory of the progrefs of
Engine, engine in the hands of its ingenious and worthy in-
ventor. We owe it to the communications of a friend,
well acquainted wdth him, and able to judge of his
merits. The public fee him always affociated with the
no lefs celebrated mechanic and philofopher Mr Boulton
of Soho near Birmingham (fee Soho). They have (ha¬
red the royal patent from the beginning j and the al¬
liance is equally honourable to both.
The advantages derived from the patent-right (how
both the fuperiority of the engine and the liberal minds
fits are de- 0f proprietors. They ere£t the engines at the ex-
Pence °f the employers, or give working drafts of all
ghies"S °" the parts, with inftru&ions, by which any refident en¬
gineer may execute the work. T he employers feledt
the bed engine of the ordinary kind in the kingdom,
compare the quantities of fuel expended by each, and
pay to Meffrs Watt and Boulton one-third of the an¬
nual favings for a certain term of years. By this the
patentees are excited to do their utmoft to make the
engine perfect; and the employer pays in proportion to
the advantage he derives from it.
It may not be here improper to date the aflual per¬
formance of fome of thefe engines, as they have been
afeertained by experiment.
An engine having a cylinder of 31 inches in diame-
a(final per- ter, and making 17 double drokes per minute, performs
formance ofthe
work of forty horfes working night and day (for
which three relays or 120 horfes mud be kept), and
burns 11,000 pounds of Staffordfhire coal per day. A
cylinder of 19 inches, making 25 drokes of 4 feet each
per minute, performs the work of 12 horfes -working
condantly, and burns 3700 pounds of coals per day.
A cylinder of 24 inches, making 22 drokes of 5 feet,
burns 5500 pounds of coals, and is equivalent to the
condant work of 20 horfes. And the patentees think
themfelves authorized by experience to fay in general,
that thefe engines will raife more than 20,000 cubic
feet of water 24 feet high for every hundred weight of
good pit-coal confumed by them.
In confequence of the great fuperiority of Mr Watt’s
engines, both with refpeft to economy and manageable-
nefs, they have become of mod extenfive ufe ; and in
every demand of manufafture on a great fcale they of¬
fer us an indefatigable fervant, whofe drength has no
Propofed to hounds. The greated mechanical projedl that ever en-
tlram the gaged the attention of man was on the point of being
executed by this machine. The States of Holland were
treating with Meffrs Watt and Boulton for draining the
Haerlem Meer, and even reducing the Zuyder Zee :
and we doubt not but that it will be accomplifhed when¬
ever that unhappy nation has fufficiently felt the diffe¬
rence between liberty and foreign tyranny. Indeed fuch
unlimited powers are afforded by this engine, that the
engineer now thinks that no talk can be propofed to him
which he cannot execute with profit to his employer.
No wonder then that all claffes of engineers have
turned much of their attention to this engine; and fee¬
ing that it has done fo much, that they try to make it
do dill more. Numberlefs attempts have been made to
improve Mr Watt’s engine ; and it would occupy a vo¬
lume to give an account of them, whild that account
would do no more than indulge curiofity. Our engi¬
neers by profedion are in general miferably deficient in
that accurate knowledge of mechanics and of chemidry
Steam-
Engine.
77
Haerlem
Meer by
tlie ftcam-
7.S
The at¬
tempts to
improve
Mr Watt’s
engine in
general of
little ad¬
vantage ;
5 ] S T E
which is neceffary for underdanding this machine •, and
we have not heard of one in this kingdom who can be
put on a par with the prefent patentees in this refpeft.
Mod of the attempts of engineers have been made with
the humbler view of availing themfelves of Mr Watt’s
difeoveries, fo as to condrudd a dcam-engine fuperior to
Newcomen’s, and yet of a form (ufficiently different
from Watt’s to keep it without the reach of his patent.
This they have in general accompli (bed by performing
the condenfation in a place which, with a little dretcii
of fancy, not unfrequent in a court of lawq may be called
part of the cylinder.
The fuccels of mod of thefe attempts has interfered an(j
fo little with the intered of the patentees, that they fuccefs of
have not hindered the eredtion of many engines which tbefe has
the law would have deemed encroachments. We think ^
it our duty to give our opinion on this fubject without
referve. Thefe are mod expenfive undertakings, and
few employers are able to judge accurately of the me¬
rits of a projedt prefented to them by an ingenious ar-
tid. They may fee the pradlicability of the fcheme, by-
having a general notion of the expanfion and condenfa¬
tion of deam, and they may be milled by the ingenuity
apparent in the condrudtion. The engineer himfelf is
frequently the dupe of his own ingenuity 5 and it is not
always diflionedy, but frequently ignorance, which
makes him prefer his own invention or (as he thinks it)
improvement. It is a mod delicate engine, and requires
much knowledge to fee what does and what does not
improve its performance. We have gone into the pre¬
ceding minute invedigation of Mr Watt’s progrefs with
the exprefs purpofe of making our readers fully maders
of its principles, and have more than once pointed out
the real improvements, that they may be firmly fixed
and always ready in the mind. By having recourfe to
them, the reader may pronounce with confidence on the
merits of any new condruction, and will not be decei¬
ved by the puffs of an ignorant or didioned engineer. gc
We mud except from this general criticifm a con-Exception
druftion by Mr Jonathan Hornblotver near Bridol, on in favour-
account of its fingularity, and the ingenuity and real^^( ,
(kill which appears in fome particulars of its condruc-er
lion. The following fliort defeription will fufficiently
explain its principle, and enable our readers to appre¬
ciate its merit.
A and B (fig. 15.) reprefent two cylinders, of w'hich
A is the larged. A pidon moves in each, having their
rods C and D moving through collars at E and F, Defcriptiou
Thefe cylinders may be fupplied wdth deam from the of his
boiler by means of the fquare pipe G, wdiich has a llanch fteam-en-
to connect it with the red of the deam-pipe. This ®lae'
fquare part is reprefented as branching off to both cy¬
linders. c and d are two cocks, which have handles
and tumblers as ufual, wmrked by the plug-beam W.
On the fore-fide (that is, the fide next the eye) of the
cylinders is reprefented another communicating pipe,
whole feftion is alfo fquare or rectangular, having alfo
two cocks a, b. The pipe Y, immediately under the
cock b, edablifhes a communication between the upper
and low-er parts of the fmall cylinder B, by opening
the cock b. There is a fimilar pipe on the other fide
of the cylinder A, immediately under the cock d.
When the cocks c and a are open, and the cocks b and
d are (hut, the deam from the boiler has free admiffion
into the uyper part of the cylinder B, and the deam
4 2 from
Plate
Dt V.
Si
S T E [ 676 ] S T E
fro’.Ti the lower part of B has free admifTion into the
upper part of A } but the upper part of each cylinder
has no communication with its lower part.
From the bottom of the great cylinder proceeds the
eduftion-pipe K. having a valve at its opening into the
cylinder, which bends downwards, and is connefted wdth
the conical condenfer L (c). The condenfer is fixed
on a hollow box M, on which Hand the pumps N and
O for extracting the air and water ; which laft runs
along the trough T into a chtern U, from which it is
raifed by the pump V for recruiting the boiler, being
already nearly boiling hot. Immediately under the
condenfer there is a fpigot valve at S, over which is a
finail jet pipe, reaching to the bend of the eduCtion-
pipe. The whole of the condenfing apparatus is con¬
tained in a ciitern R of cold w’ater. A fmall pipe P
comes from the fide of the condenfer, and terminates on
the bottom of the trough T, and is there covered with
a valve O, which is kept tight by the water that is al¬
ways running over it. Laftly, the pump-rods X caufe
t-he outer end of the beam to preponderate, fo that the
quiefcent pofition of the beam is that reprefented in the
figure, the piilons being at the top of the cylinders.
Suppofe all the cocks open, and fleam coming in
copioudy from the boiler, and no condenfation going on
in L ; the fleam mufl drive out all the air, and at laft
follow it through the valve Q. Now fliut the valves b
and </, and open the valve S of the condenfer. The
condenfation will immediately commence. There is
now no preffure on the under fide of the piflon of A,
and it immediately defcends. The communication be¬
tween the lower part of B and the upper part of A
being open, the fleam will go from B into the fpace
left by the piflon of A. It mufl therefore expand,
and its elaflicity mufl diminifh, and will no longer ba¬
lance the preffure of the fleam above the piflon of B.
This piflon therefore, if not withheld by the beam,
would defcend till it is in equilibrio, having fleam of
equal denfity above and below it. But it cannot de-
icend fo far; for the cylinder A is wider than B, and
the arm of the beam at wdrich its piflon hangs is longer
than the arm which fupports the piflon of B : therefore
when the piflon of B has defcended as far as the beam
will permit it, the fleam between the two piflons occu¬
pies a larger fpace than it did when both piflons were
at the tops of their cylinders. Its denfity, therefore,
and its elaflicily, diminifh as its bulk increafes. It is
therefore not a balance ; for the fleam on the upper fide
of B, and the piilon B, pulls at the beam with all the
difference of thefe preffures. The flightefl view of the
fubiefl mufl fhow the reader, that as the piflons de¬
fcend, the fleam that is between them will grow’ conti¬
nually rarer and lefs elaflic, and that both piflons will
pull the beam downwards.
Suppofe now that each has reached the bottom of its
cylinder. Shut the cock a and the edu£lion cock at
the bottom of A, and open the cocks b and d. The
communication being now eflabliflied between the upper
and lower part of each cylinder, nothing hinders the
counter weight from railing the piftons to the top. Let
them arrive there. The cylinder B is at this time fill- Steam¬
ed with fleam of the ordinary denfity, and the cylin- Engine,
dcr A w’ith an equal abfolute quantity of fleam, but v~’"“
expanded into a larger fpace.
Shut the cocks b and d, and open the cock a, and
the eduftion cock at the bottom of A ; the conden¬
fation will again operate, and the piilons defcend. And
thus the operation may be repeated as long as fleam is
fupplied 5 and one full of the cylinder B of ordinary
fleam is expended during each working flroke.
Let us nowr examine the power of this engine. It is
evident, that when both piftons are at the top of their
refpeclive cylinders, the a<Rive preffure (that is, the dif¬
ference of the preffure on its two fides) on the piflon
of B is nothing, while that on the piflon of A is equal
to the full preffure of the atmofphere on its area. This,
multiplied by the length of the arm by which it is fup-
ported, gives its mechanical energy. As the piflons
defcend, the preffure on the piflon of B increafes, while
that on the piflon of A diminifhes. When both are at
the bottom, the preffure on the piilon of B is at its
maximum, and that on the piflon of A at its mini¬
mum.
Mr Hornblowrer faw that this mufl be a beneficial
employment of fleam, and preferable to the praftice of
condenfing it while its full elaflicity remained; but he
has not confidered it with the attention neceffary for af-
certaining the advantage with precifion.
Let a and b reprefent the areas of the piflons of A
and B, and let * and /3 be the lengths of the arms by
W’hich they are fupported. It is evident, that when
both piflons have arrived at the bottoms of their cylin¬
ders, the capacities of the cylinders are as a ct and b (&.
Let this be the ratio of m to 1. Let g h 1 k (fig. 16.)
and 1 m n 0 be. two cylinders of equal length, communi¬
cating wfith each other, and fitted with a pifton-rod p qt
on which are fixed two piflons a a and b b, whofe areas
are as m and 1. Let the diflance between the piflons
be precifely equal to the height of each cylinder, which
height w’e fhall call h. Let x be the fpace g b or b at
through wdrich the piflons have defcended. Let the
upper cylinder communicate with the boiler, and the
lower cylinder with the condenfer or vacuum V.
Any perfon in the leafl converfant in mechanics and
pneumatics will clearly fee that the flrain or preffure on
the piflon-rod p q 'n precifely the fame with the united
energies of the two piflon rods of Mr Hornblower’s en¬
gine, by which they tend to turn the working beam,
round its axis.
The bafe of the upper cylinder being 1, and its height
>5, its capacity or bulk is 1 h or h ; and this expreffes
the natural bulk of the fleam w’hich formerly filled it,
and is now expanded into tire fpace b h l a am 1 b. he
part b h i b \s plainly —h—x, and the part la a in is
—mx. The whole fpace therefore is m x -\-li—x,
■=z.h-\-m x—x, or h + m—1 tf. Therefore the denfity of
. . b
the fleam between the piflons is ———.
n-\-m—1 x
Let p be the downward preffure of the fleam from
the
(c) This, how’ever, was flopped by Watt’s patent; and th»-condenfation muff be performed as in Newcomen"-
engine, qr at leafl in the cylinder A.
Steam-
Engine.
S T E
the boiler on the upper pi Hon b b.
preffcd up with a force
between the piftons
by the fleam
h -f- m ■—i x
It is therefore, on the whole,
h \
•nreffed downward with a force —p ( I   .
1 \ h-^m—i x /
The lower pifton a a, having a vacuum below it, is pref-
Stt-am-
Engine.
Si
f/l tl
fed downwards with a force —p ——
h-\-?n—i
fore the whole prefl'uie on the pifton rod
/ m h
h=p\^\
—. There-
v
downwards
7 I /t
h -j- m—I .
^5 —/* +
p h jn—I
h-\-m—i x
1 +
=/> + ■
p h
h-\-m—i x
m— i
This then is the momentary preffure on the pifton
rod correfponding to its defcent x from its higheft poft-
tion. When the piftons are in their higheft pofition,
this preftiire is equal to m p. When they are in their
lowed pofition, it is =/> 2 • Here therefore is an
acceftion of powrer. In the beginning the preffure is
greater than on a Angle pifton in the proportion of m to
i j and at the end of the ftroke, where the preffure is
weakeft, it is dill much greater than the preffure on a
fingle pifton. Thus, if in be 4, the preffure at the be¬
ginning of the ftroke is 4^, and at the end it is — p, al-
moft double, and in all intermediate pofitions it is great¬
er. It is worth while to obtain the fum total of all the
accumulated preffures, that we may compare it with the
conftant preffure on a Angle pifton..
We may do this by conftdering the momentary pref¬
fure p  — , as equal to the ordinate GF, H
or Me, of a curve Ybc (Ag. 10.), which has for
its axis the line GM equal to h the height of our cy
linder.
p h
h
 s,
1—1
p h
Call this
and y—p:
ordinate
p Ji
■ is the ordinate of an equilateral hyperbola,
-.v
m—I
of which p h is the power or reflangle of the ordinate
and abfeifs, and of which the abfeifs reckoned from the
centre is—  x. Therefore make GErr/>, and
tn—1
, ^ * GM,
draw DEA parallel to MG, and make JLAzz———
= —-—. The curve F £ c is an equilateral hyperbola,
m—1
having A for its centre and AD for its aflymptote.
Draw the other affymptote AB, and its ordinate FB.
ifince the power of the hyperbola is —p h, —GEDM
(for GE=r/>, and GM=/i) ; and Ance all the inferi-
bed rectangles, fuch as AEFB, are equal to p /i, it fol¬
lows that AEFB is equal to GEDM, and that the
area ABF c DA .is equal to the- area GF c MG,- which
[ 677 ] S T E
This pifton is alfo expreffes the accumulated preffure in Hornblower’s en¬
gine.
We can now compute the accumulated preffure very
7 / T AD\
eaftly. It is evidently =p 1 )'
The intelligent reader cannot but obferve that this is
precifely the fame with the accumulated preffure of a The accu-
quantity of fteam admitted in the beginning, andftop-m^ed
ped in Mr Watt’s method, when the pifton has defeen-
ded through the mth part of the cylinder. In con-withthat
Adering Mr Hornblower’s engine, the thing was pre- of Mr
fented in fo different a form that we did not perceive Watt’s en-
the analogy at Arft, and we were furprifed at the refult.gine'
We could not help even regretting it, becaufe it had the
appearance of a new principle and an improvement :
and we doubt not but that it appeared fo to the in¬
genious author } for we have had fuch proofs of his
liberality of mind as permit us not to fuppole that he
faw it from the beginning, and availed himfelf of the
difficulty of tracing the analogy. And as the thing
may miilead others in the fame w^ay, we have done a
fervice to the public by {bowing that this engine, fo
coftly and fo difficult in its conftruftion, is no way fu-
perior in power to Mr Watt’s Ample method of {top¬
ping the fteam. It is even inferior, becaufe there mull;
be a condenfation in the communicating paffages.. We
may add, that if the condenfation is performed in the
cylinder A, which it muft be unlefs with the permif-
fton of Watt and Boulton, the engine cannot be much
fuperior to a common engine j for much of the fteam
from below B wall be condenfed between the piftons by
the coldnefs of the cylinder A ; and this diminifties the
downward preffure on A more than it increafes the
downward preffure on B. We learn however that, by
confining the condenfation to a fmall part of the cylinder
A, Mr Hornblower has erefted engines clear of Mr
Watt’s patent, which are confiderably fjperior to New¬
comen’s : fo has Mr Symington. _ $3
We faid that there was much ingenuity and real {kill Still, howw
obfervable in many particulars of this engine. I he ever, tbe^
difpofition and connexion of the cylinders, and in¬
whole condenfing apparatus, are contrived with peculiar!„enujty
neatnefs. The cocks are very ingenious 5 they are and ikilL
compofed of two flat circular plates ground very true
to each other, and one of them turns round on a pin
through their centres ; each is pierced with three fec-
toral apertures, exactly correfponding with each other,
and occupying a little lefs than one-half of their Air-
faces. By turning the moveable plate fo that the aper¬
tures coincide, a large paffage is opened for the fteam ;
and by turning it fo that the folid of the one covers
the aperture of the other, the cock is ftiut. Such regu¬
lators are now very common in the call iron ftoves for
warming rooms.
Mr Hornblower’s contrivance for making the collars-
for the pifton rods air-tight is alfo uncommonly inge¬
nious. This collar is in faft two, at a fmall diftance'
from each other. A fmall pipe, branching off from the*
main fleam-pipe, communicates with the fpace between
the collars. This fteam, being a little ftronger than-
the preffure of the atmofphere, effectually hinders the
air from penetrating by the upper collar ; and though u
little fteam ftiould get through the lower collar into the-
cylinder A, it can do no harm. We fee many cafes
in which this pretty contrivance may be of ftgnal feivice.
-
y. We have y — p
—. Now it is plain that
Steam-
Engine.
* V " "
84
The great
eft im¬
provement
is the tra¬
ining of
the wink¬
ing beam.
S T A [ 678
But it is in the framing of tlie great working beam
8* .
The reci¬
procating
motion of
the fteam-
engine is a
defedt flili
to be reme¬
died.
S6
Mr Watt’s
attempts to
produce a
circular
motion by
fleam un-
fuccefsful.
that Mr Hornblower’s (cientific knowledge is moil con-
fpicuous ; and we have no hefitation in affirming that it
is ftronger than a beam of the common form, and con¬
taining twenty times its quantity of timber. There is
hardly a part of it expofed to a tranverfe tlrain, if we
except the drain of the pump V on the ilrutt by which
it is worked. Every piece is either puthed or pulled in
the dirc£lion of its length. We only fear that the
bolls which conned! the upper beam with the two iron
bars under its ends will work loofe in their holes, and
tear out the wood which lies between them. We would
propofe to fubftitute an iron bar for the whole of this
upper beam. This working beam highly deferves the
attention of all carpenters and engineers. We have that
opinion of Mr Hornblower’s knowledge and talents, that
%ve are confident that he will fee the fairnefs of our exa¬
mination of his engine, and we trull to his candour for
an excufe for our criticifm.
The reciprocating motion of the fleam-engine has
always been confidered as a great defedl j for though it
be now obviated by connedling it with a fly, yet, un-
lefs it is an engine of double ftroke, this fly mull be an
enormous mafs of matter moving wTith great velocity.
Any accident happening to it would produce dreadful
effedls : A part of the rim detaching itfelf wrould have
the force of a bomb, and no building could withtland it.
Many attempts have been made to produce a circular
motion at once by the fleam. It has been made to
blow on the vanes of a wheel of various forms. But
the rarity of fleam is fuch, that even if none is condenfed
by the cold of the vanes, the impulfe is exceedingly
feeble, and the expence of fleam, fo as to produce any
ferviceable impulfe, is enormous. Mr Watt, among
his firfl fpeculations on the fleam-engine, made fome
attempts of this kind. One in particular was uncom¬
monly ingenious. It confifled of a drum turning air¬
tight within another, with cavities fo difpofed that there
was a conflant and great preffure urging it in one direc¬
tion. But no packing of the common kind could pre-
ferve it air-tight with fufficient mobility. He fucceeded
by immerfing it in mercury7, or in an almagam which
remained fluid in the heat of boiling water ; but the
continual trituration foon calcined the fluid and rendered
it ufelefs. He then tried Parent’s or Dr Barker’s mill,
inclofing the arms in a metal drum, which was immer-
fed in cold w7ater. The fleam ruffied rapidly along the
pipe which was the axis, and it was hoped that a great
rea£lion would have been exerted at the ends of the
arms ; but it was almofl nothing. The reafon feems
to be, that the greateil part of the fleam was condenfed
in the cold arms. It was then tried in a drum kept
boiling hot j but the impuife w’as now very fmall in
comparifon with the expence of fleam. This muft be
the cafe.
Mr Watt has defcribed in his fpecification to the pa¬
tent office fome contrivances for producing a circular
motion by the immediate a£lion of the fleam. Some
of thefe produce alternate motions, and are perfectly
analogous to his double-ftroke engine. Others produce
a continued motion. But he has not given fuch a de-
fcription of his valves for this purpofe as can enable an
engineer to conflrmfl one of them. From any guefs
that we can form, we think the machine very imperfect;
•and we do not find that Mr Watt has ever eredted a
S T E
continuous circular engine. He has doubtkfs found
all his attempts inferior to the reciprocating engine with
Steam-
Enjjine,
Steam-
Kitchen.
a fly. A very crude fcheme of this kind may be feen
in the Tran fad! ions of the Royal Society of Dublin
1787. But although our attempts have hitherto failed, 87
we hope that the cafe is not yet defperate : we fee dif- Still the
ferent principles which have not yet been employed. “le lsnot
We fhall conclude our account of this noble engine
with obferving, that Mr Watt’s form fuggefts the con-rent prin-
flrudlion of an excellent air-pump. A large vefl'el may ciples may¬
be made to communicate with a boiler at one fide, and be emPloy-
with the pump-receiver on the other, and alfo with at<!' gs
condenfer. Suppofe this veflel of ten times the capa- Mr Watt’s
city of the receiver ; fill it with fleam from the boiler, engine tug.
and drive out the air from it ; then open its communica- tlie
tion with the receiver and the condenfer. This will ra-
r , . r , . . . . lion ot an
rexy the air of the receiver ten times. Repeating the ope-tx, eijent
ration will rarefy it ICO times j the third operation will air pump,
rarefy it loco times 5 the fourth 10,000 times, &c. All
this may be done in half a minute.
STEAM-Kitchen. Ever fince Dr Papin contrived his
digefler (about the year 1690), fchemes have been pro-
pofed for dreffing vidtuals by the fleam of boiling water.
A philofophical club ufed to dine at Saltero’s coffee-
houfe, Chelfea, about 40 years ago, and had their
vidluals dreffed by hanging them in the boiler of the
fleam-engine which raifes water for the fupply of Pi-
cadilly and its neighbourhood. They were completely
drefied, and both expeditioufly and with high flavour.
A patent was obtained for an apparatus for this pur¬
pofe by a tin-man in London 5 we think of the name of
Tate. They were afterwards made on a much more ef-
feflive plan by Mr Gregory, an ingenious tradefman in
Edinburgh, and are coming into very general ufe.
It is well known to the philofopher that the fleam of
boiling water contains a prodigious quantity of heat,
which it retains in a latent flate ready to be faithfully
accounted for, and communicated to any colder body.
Every cook knows the great fealding power of fleam,
and is difpofed to think that it is much hotter than
boiling -water. This, however, is a millake 5 for it will
raife the thermometer no higher than the water from
which it comes. But we can affure the cook, that if
he make the fleam from the fpout of a tea-kettle pafs
through a great body of cold water, it will be conden¬
fed or changed into water ^ and when one pound of wa¬
ter has in this manner been boiled off, it will have
heated the mafs of cold water as much as if we had
thrown into it feven or eight hundred pounds of boiling
hot water.
If, therefore, a boiler be properly fitted up in a fur¬
nace, and if the fleam of the water boiling in it be corr-
veyed by a pipe into a pan containing vidlnals to be
dreffed, every thing can be cooked that requires no
higher degree of heat than that of boiling water : And
this will be done without any rifk of fcorching, or any
kind of overheating, which frequently fpoils our difhes,
and proceeds from the burning heat of ffir coming to
thofe parts of the pot or pan which is not filled with li¬
quor, and is covered only with a film, which quickly
burns and taints the whole d’fh. Nor will the cook be
fcorched by the great heat of the open fire that is ne-
ceffary for dreffin- at once a number of difnes, nor have
his perfon and clothes foiled by the fmoke and foot un¬
avoidable in the cocking on an open fire. Indeed the
whole
S T E [ 679 ] s T E
Steam- whole proctfs is fo neat, fo manageable, fo open to in-
Kitclier. fpeftion, and fo cleanly, that it need neither fatigue nor
 v offtnd the delicacy of the niceft lady.
We had great doubts, when we firfi. heard of this as
a general mode of cookery, as to its economy ; we had
none as to its efficacy. We thought that the fleam,
and confequently the fuel expended, muft be vaftly great¬
er than by the immediate ufe of an open fire ; but we
have feen a large tavern dinner expeditioufly dreffed in
this manner, feemingly with much lefs fuel than in the
common method. The following fimple narration of
fads will fh w the fuperiority. In a paper manufactory
in this neighbourhood, the vats containing the pulp into
which the frames are dipped are about fix feet diameter,
and contain above 200 gallons. Ibis is brought to a
proper heat by means of a fmall cockle or furnace in the
middle of the liquor. This is heated by putting in
about one hundred weight of coals about eight o’clock
in the evening, and continuing this till four next morn¬
ing, renewing the fuel as it burns away. 'Ihis method
was lately changed fur a fiearn heater. A furnace, ha¬
ving a boiler of five or fix feet diameter and three feet
deep, is heated about one o’clock in the morning with
two hundred weight of coals, and the water kept in
brifk ebullition. Pipes go off from this boiler to fix
vats, fome of which are at 90 feet diftance. It is con¬
veyed into a flat box or veffel in the midfl of the pulp,
where it condenfes, imparting its heat to the fides of the
box, and thus heats the furrounding pulp. Thefe fix
vats are as completely heated in three hours, expending
about three hundred weight of coals, as they were for¬
merly in eight hours, expending near eighteeen hundred
weight of coals. Mr Gregory, the inventor of this
fleam-heater, has obtained (in company with Mr Scott,
plumber, Edinburgh) a patent for the invention ; and
we are perfuaded that it will come into very general ufe
for many fimilar purpofes. The dyers, hatmakers, and
many other manufafturers, have occafion for large vats
kept in a continual heat} and there feems no way fo ef¬
fectual.
Indeed when we refleCt ferioufly on the fubjeCt, we
fee that this method has immenfe advantages confidered
merely as a mode of applying heat. Tfie fleam may be
applied to the veffel containing tbe victuals in every
part of its furface: it may even be made to enter the
veffel, and apply itfelf immediately to the piece of meat
that is to be drtffed. and this without any rifk of fenreh-
ing or overdoing.—And it will give out about 0f
the heat which it contains, and will do this only if it be
wanted ; fo that no heat whatever is wafled except what
is required for heating the apparatus. Experience (hows
that this is a mere trifle in conmarifon of what was fup-
pofed neceffary. Bat with an open fire we only apply
the flame and hot air to the bottom and part of the fides
of our boiling veffels : and this application is hurried
in the extreme *, for to make a great heat, we muft have
a great fire, which requires a prodigious and moft ra¬
pid current of air. This air touches r»ur pan« but for a
moment, imparts to them but a fmall portion o^ its
• neat; and we are perfuaded that three-fourths of the
heat is carried up the chimney, and efcapes in pure
wafie, while another great portion beams out into the
kitchen to the great annovance of the fcorched cook,
think, therefore, that a page or two of this work
will not be thrown away in the defeription of a contri- Steam-
vance by w'hich a faving may be made to the enter- Kitchen,
tainer, and the providing the pleafures of his table
prove a lefs fatiguing talk to this valuable corps of prac¬
tical chemifts.
Let A (fig. 1.) reprefent a kitchen-boiler, either pro- Plate
perly fitted up in a furnace, with its proper fire-place,
alh-pit, and flue, or fet on a tripod on the open fire, or u
built up in the general fire-place. The fleam-pipe LC
rifes from the cover of this boiler, and then is led away
with a gentle afeent in any convenient direction. C re¬
presents the 1’eClion of this conduCling fleam-pipe.
Branches are taken off from the fide at proper diftances.
One of thefe is reprefen ted at CDE, furnilhed with a
cock D, and having a taper nczz,le E, fitted by grind¬
ing into a conical piece F, which communicates with an
upright pipe GH, which is foldered to the fide of the
ftewing veffel PQRS, communicating with it by the
fliort pipe I. The veffel is fitted with a cover OT, ha¬
ving a ilaple handle V. Tbe piece of meat M is laid
on a tin-plate grate KL, pierced with holes like a cul¬
lender, and Handing on three ffiort feet n n n.
The fleam from the boiler comes in by the pipe Ij
and is condenfed by the meat and by the fides of the
veffel, communicating to them all its heat. What is
not fo condenfed efcapes between the veffel and its co¬
ver. The condenfed water lies on the bottom of the
veffel, mixed with a very fmail quantity of gravy and
fatty matter from the vidluals. Frequently, mflead of
a cover, another ftew-veffel with a cullender bottom is
let on this one, the bottom of tbe one fitting the mouth
of the other : and it is obferved, that when this is done,
the diflr in the under veffel is more expeditioufly and
better dreffed, and the upper difli is more flowly, but as
completely fiewed.
This defeription of one ftewing veffel may ferve to
give a notion of the whole ; only we muft obierve, that
when broths, foups, and dilhes with made fauces or con¬
taining liquids, are to be dreffed, they muft be put into
a imaller veffel, which is fet into the veffel PORS, and
is lupported on three Ihort feet, fo that there may be a
fpace all round it of about an inch or three quarters-
of an inch. It is obferved, that dilhes of this kind are
not fo expeditioufly cocked as on an open fire, but as
completely in the end, only requiring to be turned up
nowr and then to mix the ingredients ; becaufe as the
liquids in the inner veffel can never come into ebullition,
unlefs the fleam from the boiler be trade of a dangerous
heat, and every thing be clofe confined, there cannot
be any of that tumbling motion that we obierve in a
boiling pot.
1 he performance of this apparatus is far beyond any
expedfation we had formed oi it. In one which we ex¬
amined. fix pans were flowing together by means of a
boiler 10-J inches in diameter, Handing on a brilk open
fire. It boiled very brifkly, and the fleam puffed fre¬
quently through the chinks between the ftew-pans and
their covers In one of them was a piece of meat con-
fidcraMy a ove 30 pounds weight. This required a-
bove four hour- ftewing, and was then very thoroughly
and equally cocked \ the outfide being no more done
than the heart, and it was near two pounds heavier than
when put in, and greatly fuelled. In the mean time,
feveral diih.es had been dreffed in the other pans. As
fat
S T £ [ 6So ] S T £
Far as we could judge, this cooking did not confume
one-third part of the fuel which an open fire would
have required for the fame eftedf.
When we confider this apparatus with a little more
knowledge of the mode of operation of fire than falls
to the (hare of the cooks (we fpeak with deference),
and confiddr the very injudicious manner in which the
fleam is applied, we think that it may be improved fo
as to furpafs any thing that the cook can have a notion
of.
When the fleam enters the ftew-pan, it is condenfed
on the meat and on the veffel j but we do not want it
to be condenfed on the veffel. And the furface of the
veffel is much greater than that of the meat, and conti¬
nues much colder 5 for the meat grows hot, and conti¬
nues lo, while the veffel, made of metal, which is a
very perfedl conductor of heat, is continually robbed of
its heat by the air of the kitchen, and carried off by
it. If the meat touch the fide of the pan in any part,
no fleam can be applied to that part of the meat, while
it is continually imparting heat to the air by the inter¬
medium of the veffel. ' Nay, the meat can hardly be
dreffed unlefs there be a current of fleam through it j
and we think this confirmed by what is obferved above,
that when another ftew-pan is fet over the firft, and thus
gives occafion to a current of fleam through its cullen¬
der bottom to be condenfed by its fides and contents,
the lower difh is more expeditioufly dreffed. We ima¬
gine, therefore, that not lefs than half of the fleam is
wafted on the fides of the different ftew-pans. Our firft:
attention is therefore called to this circumflance, and we
wifli to apply the fleam more economically and effec¬
tually.
We would therefore conftrudl the fleam-kitchen in
the following manner :
We would make a wooden cheft (which we fliall call
the Stew-chest) ABCD (fig. 2.). This fhould be
made of deal, in very narrow flips, not exceeding an
inch, that it may not ftirink. This ftiould be lined with
very thin copper, lead, or even ftrong tinfoil. This
will prevent it from becoming a conduftor of heat by
foaking with fleam. For further fecurity it might be
fet in another cheft, with a fpace of an inch or two all
round, and this fpace filled with a compofition of pow¬
dered charcoal and clay. This ftiould be made by firft
making a mixture of fine potter’s clay and water about
as thick as poor cream : then as much powdered char¬
coal muft be beat up with this as can be made to flick
together. When this is rammed in and dry, it may be
hot enough on one fide to melt glafs, and will not dif-
colour white paper on the other.
This cheft muft have a cover LMNO, alfo of wood,
having holes in it to receive the ftew-pans P, £), R.
Between each pan is a wooden partition, covered on
both fides with milled lead or tinfoil. The whole top
muft be covered with very fpongy leather or felt, and
made very flat. Each ftew-pan muft have a bearing or
fhoulder all round it, by which it is fupported, refting
on the felt, and lying fo true and clofe that no fleam
can efcape. Some of the pans fhould be Ample, like
the pan F, for drefling broths and other liquid diflies.
Others ihould be like E and G, having in the bottom a
pretty wide hole H, K, which has a pipe in its upper
fide, rifing about an inch or an inch and half into the
dicw-pan. The meat is laid on a cullender plate, as in
the common way } only there muft be no holes in the Steam-
cullender immediately above the pipe.*—Thefe flew- K-'trh*1*.
pans mult be fitted with covers, or they may have others ^
fitted to their mouths, for warming fauces or other dilh-
es, or Hewing greens, and many other fubordinate put-
pofes for which they may be fitted.
The main-pipe from the boiler muft have branches,
(each furniftied with a cock), which admit the fleam
into thefe divilions. At its firft entry fome will be con-
denfed on the bottom and fides j but we imagine that
thefe will fn two minutes be heated fo as to condenfe no
more, or almoft nothing. The fleam will alfo quickly
condenfe on the ftew-pan, and in half a minute make it
boiling hot, ib that it will condenfe no more ; all the
reft will now apply itfelf to the meat and to the cover.
It may perhaps be adviiable to allow the cover to con¬
denfe fleam, and even to wafte it. This may be pro¬
moted by laying on it flannel fbaked in water. Our
view in this is to create a demand for fleam, and thus
produce a current through the ftew-pan, which will be
applied in its paffage to the viftuals. But we are net
certain of the necellity of this. Steam is not like com¬
mon air of the fame temperature, which would glide
along the futfaces of bodies, and impart to them a fmall
portion of its heat, and efcape with the reft. To pro¬
duce this effeft there muji be a current; for air hot
enough to melt lead, will not boil water, if it be kept
ftagnant round the veffel. But fleam imparts the whole
of its latent heat to any body colder than boiling water,
and goes no farther till this body be made boiling hot.
It is a moft faithful carrier of heat, and will deliver its
whole charge to any body that can take it. Therefore,
although there were no partitions in the ftew-chelt, and
the fleam were admitted at the end next the boiler, if
the pa'n at the farther end be colder than the reft, it will
all go thither ; and will, in fhort, communicate to every
thing impartially according to the demand. If any per-
foh has not the confidence in the fleam which we ex-
prefs, he may Hill be certain that there mull be a pro¬
digious faving of heat by confining the whole in the
ftew-cheft ; and he may make the pans with entire bot¬
toms, and -admit the fleam into them in the common
•wav, by pipes which come through the fides of the cheft
and then go into the pan. There will be none loft by
condenfation on the fides of the cheft ; and the pans will
foon be heated up to the boiling temperature ; and
hardly any of their heat will be wafted, becaufe the air
in the cheft will be ftagnant. The chief reafon for re¬
commending our method is the much greater eafe with
which the ftew-pans can be fhifted and cleaned. There
will be little difference in the performance.
Nay, even the common fleam-kitchen may be prodi-
gioufly improved by merely wrapping each pan in three
or four folds of coarfe dry flannel, or making flannel
bags of three or four folds fitted to their ftiape, which
can be put on or removed in a minute. It will alfo
greatly conduce to the good performance to wrap the
main fleam pipe in the fame manner in flannel.
We faid that this main-pipe is conduced from the
boiler with a gentle nfeent. The intention of this" is,
that the water produced by the unavoidable condenfa¬
tion of the fleam may run back into ike boiler. But
the rapid motion of the fleam generally fweeps it up
hill, and it runs into the branch-pipes and defeends into
the ftew-pans. Perhaps it would be as well to give the
STEAM Icitclten .
Plate I) V.
O O M S heated hy S TEAM .
■
S T E
Steam- main-pipe a declivity the other way, and allow all the
Kitchen, water to colleft in a hot well at the farther end, by
   means of a defcending pipe, having a loaded valve at
the end. This may be fo contrived as to be clofe by
the fire, where it would be fo warm that it would not
check the boiling if again poured into the boiler. But
the utmoft attention muft be paid to cleanlinefs in the
whole of this paflage, becaufe this water is boiled again,
and its fteam paffes through the heart of every difh.
This circumftance forbids us to return into the boiler
what is condenfed in the ftew-pans. This would mix
the taftes and flavours of every difli, and be very difa-
greeable. All this muft remain in the bottom of each
llew-pan ; for which reafon we put in the pipe rifing up
in the middle of the bottom. It might indeed be al¬
lowed to fall down into the ftew-cheit, and to be col-
lefted in a common receptacle, while the fat would float
at top, and the clear gravy be obtained below, perhaps
fit for many fauces.
The completeft method for getting rid of this con¬
denfed fteam would be to have a fmall pipe running
along the under fide of the main conductor, and com¬
municating with it at different places, in a manner fimi-
lar to the air difcharger on the mains of water-pipes.
In the paper manufaftory mentioned above, each fleam-
box has a pipe in its bottom, with a float-cock, by
which the water is difcharged ; and the main pipe being
of great diameter, and laid with a proper acclivity, the
water runs back into the boiler.
But thefe precautions are of little moment in a fleam-
kitchen even for a great table j and for the general ufe
of private families, would hurt the apparatus, by mak¬
ing it complex and of nice management. For a fmall
family, the whole apparatus may be fet on a table four
feet long and two broad, which may be placed on caft-
ers, fo as to be wheeled out of the way when not in
ufe. If the main conduftor be made of wood, or pro¬
perly cafed in flannel, it will condenfe fo little fleam
that the cooking table may Hand in the remoteft corner
of the kitchen without fenfibly impairing its perform¬
ance •, and'if the boiler be properly fet up in a fmall
furnace, and the flue made fo that the flame may be ap¬
plied to a great part of its furface, we are perfuaded
that three-fourths of the fuel ufed in common cookery
will be faved. Its only inconvenience feems to be the
indifpenfable neceflity of the moft anxious cleanlinefs in
the whole apparatus. The moft trifling neglect in this
will deflroy a whole dinner.
We had almoft forgotten to obferve, that the boiler
muft be furniftied with a funnel for fupplying it with
water. This fhould pafs through the top, and its pipe
reach near to the bottom. It will be proper to have a
cock on this funnel. There fhould alfo be another pipe
in the top of the boiler, having a valve on the top. If
this be loaded with a pound on every fquare inch, and
the fire fo regulated that fteam may be obferved to puff
fometimes from this valve, we may be certain that it is
pafling through our (.fifties with fufficient rapidity 5 and
if we that the cock on the funnel, and load the valve a
little more, we fhall caufe the fleam to blow at the co¬
vers of the ftew-pans. If one of thefe be made very
tight, and have a hole alfo furnilhed with a loaded valve,
this pan becomes a digefter, and will diflblve bones, and
do many things which are imprafticable in the ordinary
cookery.
Vol. XfX. Part II.
S T E
STEAM applied to Heating Rooms. Steam has been Steam*,
fuccelsfully applied as a fubllitute for open fires in heat-
ing manufactories, and promifes to be highly beneficial,
not only in point of economy in faving fuel, but alfo in
leffening the danger of accidental fire. The following
mode of heating a cotton mill by fteam wTas propofed
and praCtifed in 1799 by Mr Niel Snodgrafs of Paifley.
We ftiall give an account of it in his own words *. * Phil
“ Fig. 1. prefents a view of an inner gable, which is Mag. xxvii.
at one extremity of the preparation and fpinning rooms
of the mill. On the other fide of this gable there is a dv.
fpace of 17 feet, enclofcd by an outer gable, and con- Fig, u
taining the water-wheel, the ftaircafe, and fmall rooms-
for the accommodation of the work. In this fpace the
furnace and boiler are placed on the ground. The boiler
cannot be ibown here, as it lies behind the gable exhi¬
bited 5 nor is it of any confequence, as there is nothing
peculiar in it. It may be of any convenient form. The
feeding apparatus, &c. are in every refpeft the fame as
in the boiler of a common fteam-engine. A circular copper
boiler, two feet diameter by two feet deep, containing
30 gallons of water, with a large copper head as a re~
lervoir for the fleam, was found to anftver in the prefent
inftance. The fteam is conveyed from the boiler through
the gable, by the copper pipe B, into the tin pipe, C, C.
From C it paffes into the centres of the perpendicular
pipes E, E, E, by the {mall bent copper tubes D, D, D.
The pipes E, E, E, are connefted under the garret
floor by the tubes F, F, for the more eafy circulation
of the fteam. The middle pipe, E, is carried through
the garret floor, and communicates with a lying pipe,
36 feet in length (the end of which is feen at G), for
heating the garret. At the further extremity of the
pipe G, there is a valve falling inwards to prevent a va¬
cuum being formed on the cooling of the apparatus ; the
confequence of which would be the crufliing of the pipes
by the preffure of the atmofphere. Similar valves K,K,
are placed near the the top of the perpendicular pipes,
E, E ; and from the middle one E, the fmall pipe paffes
through the roof, and is furnifhed with a valve at I,
opening outwards, to fuffer the air to efcape while the
pipes are filling with fteam, or the fteam itfelf to efcape
when the charge is too high.
“ The water condenfed in the perpendicular pipes-
E, E, E, trickles down their fides into the three fun¬
nels L, L, L, the necks of which may either pafs
through or round the pipe C, into the copper tube
M, M, which alfo receives the water condenfed in’ C, C,
by means of tbe fhort tubes N, N. The pipe C, C, is
itfelf fo much inclined as to caufe the water to run along
it to the tubes N, N, and the pipe G in the garret has
an inclination of 18 inches in its length, to bring the
water condenfed in it back to the middle pipe E. The
tube M, M, carries back the water through the gable
to the boiler, which ftands five feet lower than this tube.
It is material to return the water to the boiler, as, being
nearly at a boiling heat, a confiderable expenfe of fuel
is thereby faved.
“ The large pipes are ten inches in diameter, and are
made of the fecond kind of tinned iron plates. The di-
menfions of the fmaller tubes may be feen by their com¬
parative fize in the engraving, and perhaps they might
be varied without inconvenience.
“ The apparatus eredted as here deferibed, has been
found fufficiently ftrong, and has required no material
4 R repairs
[ 681 ]
f
i repairs ilnce tKe firft alterations were made. The iead-
ing objcdl in the inftance under conf/deration being to
fave fuel, in order to derive as much heat as poffible
from a given quantity of fuel, the flue from the fur¬
nace, which heats the boiler, is conveyed into common
ftone pipes placed in the gable. Thefe are erefted fo as
to prevent any danger of fire, in the manner lliown in
the engraving, fig. 2. The fleam with this auxiliary
communicates a heat of about 70° to the mill, the
rooms of which are 50 feet long, feet wide, and 84-
feet high, except the lower ftory and garret; the former
of which is 11, and the latter feven feet high. The
rooms warmed in this manner are much more whclefcme
and agreeable than thole heated by the beft conftru&ed
floves, being perfeftly free from vapour or contaminated
air.
“ The application of the principle to buildings already
conftrudfed, it is prefumed, will be fufficiently obvious
from the foregoing details. In new7 manufaffories, where
the mode of heating may be made a part of the original
plan, a more convenient apparatus may be introduced.
This will be beft explained by a defcription of fig. 2.
which gives a fedlion of a cotton-mill conftrudled lb as
to apply the fleam apparatus to a new building.
“ The furnace for the boiler is ftiowm at a (fig. 2). The
flue of the furnace conveys the fmoke into the call iron
ftove pipes, 1, 2, 3, 4. Thefe pipes are placed in a fpace
in the gable, entirely inclofed with brick, except at the
fmall apertures, 5, 6, 7, 8. A current of air is admit¬
ted below at 9, and thrown into the rooms by thole
openings, after being heated by contaft with the pipes.
This part of the plan is adopted with a view to prevent,
as much as pofixble, any of the heat, produced by the
fuel ufed, from being thrown away. It may be omitted
where any danger of fire is apprehended from it, and
the fmoke may be carried off in any w7ay that is confi-
dered abfolutely fecure. So far, however, as appears
from experience, there feeras to be little or no dan¬
ger of fire from a ftove of this conflruftion. The greateft
inconvenience of a common ftove is, that the cockle or
metal furnace is liable to crack from the intenfity of the
heat. By the continuity of the metal from the fire¬
place, an intenfe heat is alfo conduced along the pipes,
which expofes them to the fame accident. Here the
fmoke being previoufly conveyed through a brick fluer
can never communicate to the pipes a degree of heat
fufficient to crack them. In like manner the pipes, hav¬
ing no communication with the rooms but by the fmall
apertures, cannot come in contaft with any combuftible
fubftance ; and from being furrounded with air, which
is conftantly changing, can impart only a very moderate
degree of heat to the walls. The iron fupporters of the
pipes may be imbedded in fome fubftance which is a bad
conduftor of heat, as furnace allies and lime, &c. The
emiflion of heated air into the rooms may be regulated
by valves. As the pipes are not expofed to cracking,
there is no vifk of their throwing fmoke or vapour into
the rooms.
“ The boiler £, b, is fix feet long, three and a half
broad, and three feet deep. As there is nothing pecu¬
liar in the feeding apparatus, it is omitted. The boiler
may be placed in any convenient fituaticn. Where a
fleam engine is ufed for other purpofes, the fleam may
be taken from its boiler. 'Hie pipe d7, c, conveys the
Seam from the boiler, to the firft perpendicular pipe
2 i s t E
d, d, d, d. There is an expanding joint at e, fluffed, to Steam,
make it fleam-tight. The fleam afcending in the firft Steatites.
pipe d,d,d, enters the horizontal pipe ffff, (which
is (lightly inclined) expelling the air, which partly ef-
capes by the valve g, and is partly forced into the other
pipes. The valve g being confiderably loaded, forces
the accumulating fleam down into the reft of the pipes
d, d, d. The air in thefe pipes recedes before the fleam,
and is forced through the tubes h, h, h, into the pipe
wz, m, m, whence it efcapes at the valve z, and the fy-
phon k. The water, condenfed in the whole of the
pipes, paffes alfo through the tubes/z,/z, Z7,//, into the
pipe z/z, /zz, zzz, which has fuch a declivity as to difeharge
the water at the fyphon Z, into the hot well zz, whence
it is pumped back into the boiler.
“ The whole of the pipes are of caft iron, except
zzz, m. m, w7hich is of copper. The perpendicular pipes-
ferve as pillars for fupporting the beams of the houfe, by
means oi the projefting pieces 0,0,0, w7hich may be
railed or lowered at pleafure by the wedges p, The
pipes are funk in the beams about an inch, and are made
faft to them by the iron ftraps 7, 7. Thofe in the lower
flory reft on the ftones r, j7, r, r, and are made tight at
the junfilion with fluffing. The pipe in each flory fup-
ports the one in the flory above by a fluffed joint as
iliown at r. The pipes in the lower ftory are feven
inches in diameter ; thofe in the higher fix inches; thofe
in the other two are of intermediate diameters. The
thicknefs of the metal is three-eighths of an inch. The
lower pipes are made larger than the upper, in order to
expofe a greater heated lurface in the lower rooms, be-
caufe the fleam being thrown from above into all the
pipes, except the firft, would otherwife become incapable
of imparting an equal heat as it defeends. There is no
neceflity for valves opening inwards in this apparatus,
the pipes being ftrong enough to refift the preffure of the
atmofphere.
“ The cotton mill is 60 feet long, 33 wide, and four
ftories high, the upper being a garret ftory. In the en¬
graving, five parts out of nine in the length of the
building are only ftiown. The apparatus will heat the
rooms to 85° in the coldeft feafon. It is evident that,
by increafing the fize, or the number of the pipes, and
the fupply of fleam, any degree of heat up to 212° may
be eafily produced. It may even be carried beyond that
point by an apparatus ftrong enough to comprefs the
fleam : this, however, can feldom be wanted. At firft:
it was objefted to this conftruftion, that the expanfion of
the pipes, when heated, might damage the building :
but experience has proved, that the expanfion occafion-
ed by the heat of fleam is quite infenfible.”
Steam has alfo been advantageoufly employed In dry¬
ing muflin goods, v hen the ftate of the xveather inter¬
rupts this procefs out of doors. This application of fleam,
we underftart’d, was the invention of an ingenious me¬
chanic in Paifley, who never derived the fmalleft benefit
from the difeovery. It was adopted immediately by fome
bleachers in the neighbourhood, and has now come into
very general ufe. The fieam is introduced into cylin¬
ders of tin plate, and the goods to be dried are wrapped
round the cylinders which communicate to them a heat
equal at leaft to the temperature of boiling water, and
ifx this way the procefs of drying is expeditioufly accom¬
pli (hed.
STEATITES or Soap-earth, a fpecies of mineral
belonging
Steatoma
II
Steel-yard
Plate
DVI.
Fig- !•
S T E.
belonging lo llie magnefian genus.
hid* "
ST E ATOM A, a kind of encyfted tumor, confiding
' of a matter like fuel or lard, foft, without pain, and
without difcolouring the fkin. .
STEEL, iron united with carbone, from which it
poffeiTes properties diftindl from thofe of iron, and which
render it of fuperior value. From its higher degree of
hardnefs it admits a finer polilh and affumes a brighter
colour. When tempered, it poffeffes a higher degree of
elafticity, and is alio more fonorous. It is more weak¬
ly attraded by the loadftone, it receives more (lowly the
magnetic power, but it preferves it longer. When ex-
poled to a moift air, it does not contrad ruft fo eafiiy as
iron. See Iron, Chemistry Index,
Steel Bow Tenants. See Tenure.
STEEL-Yard, is one of the molt ancient prefents
which i’cience has made to fociety j and though long in
defuetude in this country, is in molt nations of tne
world the only inftrument for afcertaining the weight
of bodies. What is tranllated balance in the Penta¬
teuch, is in fad fteelyard, being the word ufed by the
Arabs to this day for their inilrument, which is a lleel-
yard. It is in common ufe in all the Afiatic nations.
It was the flatera ot the Greeks and Romans, and feems
to have been more confided in by them than the ba¬
lance ; for which reafon it was uled by the gordfmiths,
while the balance was the inilrument of the people.—
Non aurjicis flaterafedpopidan trutina exanunai e. Cic.
de Oral. 238. . .
The tleelyard is a lever of unequal arms, and, in its
moll perfed form, is conlfruded much like a common
balance. It hangs in iheers E (fig. 1,) refting on the
nail C, and the fcale L for holding the goods hangs by
a nail D on the ftiort arm EC. The counter weight
P hangs by a ring of tempered fteel, made (harp in the
infide, that it may bear by an edge on the long arm
CA of the lleelyard. The under edge of the centre
nail C, and the upper edge of the nail D, are in the
ftraight line formed by the upper edge of the long arm.
Thus the three points of fufpenfion are in one ftraight
line. The needle or index of the fteelyard is perpen¬
dicular to the line of the arms, and plays between the
Iheers. The ftiort arm may be made fo mafiive, that,
together with the fcale, it will balance the long arm un¬
loaded. When no goods are in the fcale, and the coun¬
ter weight with its hook are removed, the fteelyard ac¬
quires a horizontal pofition, in confequence of its centre
of gravity being below the axis of fufpenfion. The
rules for its accurate conftrudion are the fame as for a
common balance.
The inftrument indicates different weights in the fol¬
lowing manner : Phe diftance Cl) of the two nails is
confidered as an unit, and the long arm is divided into
a number of parts equal to it } and thefe are fubdivided
as low as is thought proper; or in general^ the long
arm is made a fcale of equal parts, commencing at the
edge of the nail C •, and the fhort arm contains fome de¬
termined number of thofe equal parts. Suopofe, then,
that a weight A of 10 pounds is put into the fcale L.
The counterpoile P muft be of fuch a weight, that,
when hanging at the divifion 10, it fhall balance th s
weight A. Now let any unknown weight W be put
into the fcale. Slide the hook of the counterpoife
along the long arm till it balances this weight. Sup-
[ 683 ] s T E
See MINERALOGY pofe it then hanging at the divifion 38. We conclude Steel-yard-
that there is 38 pounds in the fcale. This we do on v ^
the authority of the fundamental property of the lever,
that forces aifting on it, and balancing each other, are
in the inverfe proportion of the diftances from the ful¬
crum to their lines of direction. Whatever weight the
counterpoife is, it is to A as CD to 10, and it is to
the weight W as CD to 38 ; therefore A is to the
weight W as 1 o to 38, and W is 38 pounds: and thus
the weight in the 1’caiewill always be indicated by the
divifion at which it is oalanced by the counterpoife.
Our well-informed readers know that this fundamen¬
tal property of the lever wras dilcovered by the renowned
Archimedes, or at leaft rirlt demonftrated by him ; and
that his demonftration, belides the defedt of being ap¬
plicable only to comraenfurable lengths of the arms, has
been thought by metaphyficians of ihe firit note to pro¬
ceed on a poliul ite which leems equally to need a de¬
monftration. It has accordingly employed the utmoft
refinement of the firlt rnathematiciai.s ot Europe to tur-
mih a demonftration free from objection. Mi D’Alem¬
bert has given two, remarkable for their ingenuity and
fubtlety $ Foncenex has done the fame 5 and Profeffor
Hamilton of Trinity-college, Dublin, has given one
which is thought the leaft exceptionable. But critics
have even objected to this, as depending on a poftuiate
which fhould have been demonftiated.
The following demonftration by Mr Vince, we think
unexceptionable, and of fuch fimplicity that it is afton- EhilTranf.
iffiing that it has not occurred to any perfon who thinks T794-
on the fubjeCt.
Let AE (fig. 2.) be a mathematical lever, or index¬
ible ftraight line, refting on the prop A, and fupported Fig. 2.
at D by a force acting upwards. Let two equal weights
b and d be hung on at B and D, equidiftant from A and
E. Preffures are now exerted at A and E \ and becaufe
every circumftance of weight and diftance is the fame,
the preffure at E, arifing from the aflion of the weight
b on the point B, muft be the fame with the preffure at
A, arifing from the aftion of the weight d on the point
D j and the preffure at E, occafioned by the weight </,
muft be the fame with the preffure at A, occafioned by
the weight b. This muft be the cafe wherever the
weights are hung, provided that the diftance AB and
DE are equal. Moreover, the fum of the preffures at
A and E is unqueftionably equal to the fum of the
weights, becaufe the weights are fiipported folely at A
and E. Let the two weights be hung on at C the mid¬
dle point j the preffure at E is ftill the fame. Therefore,
in general, the preffure excited at the point E, by two
equal weights hanging at any points B and D, is the
•Panic as if they w-ere hung on at the middle point between
them : but the preffure excited at E is a juft meafure of
the effort or energy of the weights b and d to urge the
lever round the point A. It is, at leaft, a meafure of
the oppofite force which muft be applied at E to fuftain
or balance this preffure. A very faftidious metapayfi-
cian mav ftill fay, that the demonftration is limited to
a point E, whofe diftance from A is twice AC, or
— AB -j- AD. But it extends to any other point, on
the authority of a poftuiate which cannot be refufed,
viz. that in whatever proportion the preffure at E is
augmented or dimimfhed, the preffure at this other point
muft augment or diminilh in the fame proportion. This
being proved, the general theotem may be demonftra-
4 R 2 ted
s T E t 684 ] 5 T E
:'f !! y"rt1- tetl In proportions of dillance, in the manner of Ar-
-- v chimedes, at once the molt iimple, perfpicuous, and ele¬
gant of all.
We cannot help obferving, that all this difficulty;
(and it is a real one to the philofopher who aims at ren¬
dering mechanics a demonlfrative faience) has arifen
from an improper iearch after fimplicity. Had Archi¬
medes taken a lever as it really exifts in nature, and
confidered it as material, confiding of atoms united by
cohefion } and had he traced the intermediate preffures
by whofe means the two external weights are put in op-
pofition to each other, or rather to the fupport given to
the fulcrum ; all difficulty would have vaniflied. (See
Vthat is faid on this fubjedi in the article STRENGTH of
Timber, &c.
The quantity of goods which may be weighed by
this inftrument depends on the weight of the counter-
poffie, and on the difbnce CD from the fulcrum at
which the goods are fufpended. A double counter-
poife hanging at the fame divifion will balance or indi¬
cate a double quantity of goods hanging at D ; and
any counterpoife will balance and indicate a double
quantity of goods, if the diftance CD be reduced to
one half. And it fometimes occurs that fteelyards are
fo conftrudled that they have two or more points of
fufpenfion D, to which the fcale may occafior -lly be
attached. It is evident, that in this cafe the value
or indication of the divifions of the long arm will be
different, according to the point from which the fcale
is fufpended. The fame divifion which would indicate
20 pounds when CD is three inches, will indicate 30
pounds when it is two inches. As it would expofe to
chance of miitakes, and be otherwife troublefome to
make this reduclion, it is ufual to make as many divi¬
ded feales on the long arm as there are points of fufpen¬
fion D on the ffiort arm •> and each leak having its
own numbers, all trouble and all chance of miltake is
avoided.
But the rang^ of this inftrument is not altogether at
the pleafure of the maker. Befides the inability of a
flender beam to carry a great load, the divifions of the
fcale anfwering to pounds or half-pounds become very
minute when the diiiance CD is very ffiert j and the
balance becomes lei's delicate, that is, lefs fenfibly affect¬
ed by final 1 differences of weight. This is becaufe in
fuch cales the thicknefs which it is neceffary to give
the edges of the nails does then bear a fenfible propor¬
tion to the diftance CD between them ^ fo that when
the balance inclines to one fide, that arm is fenfibly
fhortened, and therefore the energy of the prepondera¬
ting weight is leffened.
We have hitherto fuppofed the fteelyard to be in'
equilibrio when not loaded. But this is not neceffary,
nor is it ufual in tbofe which are commonly made.
The long arm commonly preponderates confiderablv.
This makes no difference, except in the beginning of
the fcale. The preponderancy of the long arm is equi¬
valent to fome goods already in the leak, fuppofe four
pounds. Therefore when there are really 10 pounds
in the leak, the counterpoife will balance it when hang¬
ing at the divilion 6. This divifion is therefore rec¬
koned 10, and the reft of the divifions are numbered ac¬
cordingly.
A feientific examination of the fteelyard will con-
vinee us that it is inferiar to the balance of equal arms
in point of ienfibility : But it is extremely compendi- Stcel-rarA
cus and convenient; and when accurately made and at- ——'
tentively ufed, it is abundantly exaCt for moft commer¬
cial purpefes. We have feen one at Leipzig which has
been in ufe fince the year 1718, which is very fenfible
to a difference of one pound, when loaded with nearly
three tons on the ffiort arm ; and we faw a waggon
loaded with more than two tons weighed by it in about
fix minutes.
T he fteelyard in common ufc in the different coun¬
tries of Europe is of a conftruction ftill Ampler than
what we have deferibed. It confifts of a batten of hard
wood, having a heavy lump A (fig. 3.) at one end, and Fig- 3*
a fwivel-hook B at the other. The goods to be weighed
are fufpended on the hook, and the whole is carried in a
loop of whip-cord C, in which it is Hid backward and
forward, till the goods are balanced by the weight of
the other end. The weight of the goods is eftimated by
the place of the loop on a fcak of divifions in harmonic
progreffion. They are marked (we prefume) by trial
with known weights.
The chief ufe that is now’ made of the fteelyard in
thefe kingdoms is for the weighing of loaded waggons
and carts. For this it is extremely convenient, and
more than fufficiently exadft for the puvpofe in view.
We ffiall ckfcribe one or two of the moft remarkable j
and we ffiall begin with that at Leipzig already men¬
tioned.
This fteelyard is reprefented in fig. 4. as run out,n
and juft about to be hooked for lifting up the load. The
fteelyard itfelf is OPQ, and is about 12 feet long. The
ffiort arm PO has two points of fufpenfion c and b ;
and the ftirrup which carries the chains for holding the
load is made with a double hook, inftead of a double
eye, that it may be eafiiy removed from the one pin to
the other. For this purpofe the two hooks are con-
ne£led above an hafp or ftaple, which gees over the
arm of the fteelyard like an arch. This is reprefented
in the little figure above the fteelyard. The fufpenfion
is ffiifted when the fteelyard is run in under cover, by
hooking to this ftaple the running block of a fmall
tackle which hangs in the d;-or through which the
fteelyard is run out and in. This operation is eafy,
but neceffary, becaufe the ftirrup, chains, and the ftage
on which the load is placed, weigh fome hundreds.
The cuter pin £ is 14 inches, and the inner one c is
feven inches, diftant from the great nail which refts in
the fheers. The other arm is about 10-j feet long,
formed with an obtufe edge above. On the inclined
plane on each fide of the ridge is drawn the fcak of
weights adapted to the inner pin c. The feales corre-
fponding to the outer pin b are drawn on the upright
fides. The counterpoife Aides along this arm, hanging
from a faddle-piece made of brafs, that it may not con¬
tract ruft. The motion is made eafy by means of rollers.
This is neceffary, becaufe the counterpoife is greatly
above a hundred weight. This faddle-picce has like
two laps on each fide, on which are engraved vernier
feales, which divide their refpeftive fcaks on the arm
to quarters of a pound. Above the faddle is an arch,
from the fummit of which hangs a little plummet,
which fhows the equilibrium of the fteelyard to the
weigher, becaufe the fheers are four feet out of the houfe,
and he cannot fee their coincidence with the needle of
the fteelyard. Laftly, near the end of. the long., arm
are
S T E- [68
Sterl yard, are two pins (I and <?, for fufpending occafionally two
eke weights for continuing the fcale. Thefe are kept
hanging on adjoining hooks, ready to be lifted on by a
little tackle, which is alfo hooked immediately above the
pins d and e.
The fcales of weights are laid down on the arm as
follows. Let the eke-weights appropriated to the pins
d and e be called D and E, and call the counterpoife
C. Although the ftirrup with its chains and ftage weigh
fomc hundreds, yet the length and fize of the arm OP
gives it a preponderancy of 300 pounds. Here, then,
the fcale of weights mutt commence. The counterpoife
weighs about i 25 pounds. Therefore,
1. When the load hangs by tbe pin £,14 inches from
the centre, the diftance from one hundred to another on
the fcale is about x 1 inches, and the firft fcale (on the
fide of tbe atm) reaches from 300 to I2DO. In order
to repeat or continue this, the eke-weight E is hung on
the pin e, and the counterpoife C is brought back to the
mark 300 ; and the two together balance 1100 pounds
hanging at b. Therefore a fecond fcale is begun on the
fide of the arm, and continued as far out as the firft, and
therefore its extremity majk^ 2000 ; that is, the coun¬
terpoife C at 2000 and the eke-weight E at ^ balance
2000 hanging at b.
2. To continue the fcale beyond 2000, tbe load muft
be hung on the inner pin c. The eke-we:ght E is
taken oft', and the eke-weight D is hung on its pin d.
The general counterpoife being now brought clofe to
the (beers, it, together with the weight D at d, balance
2000 pounds hanging at c, A fcale is therefore begun
on one of tbe inclined planes a-top, and continued out
to 4000, which falls very near to the pin d, each hun¬
dred pounds occupying about five inches on the arm.
To complete the fcale, hang on the eke-weight E on its
pin n, and bring back the counterpoife to the (beers, and
the three together balance 3800 hanging at c. There¬
fore when the counlerpoife is now (lid out to 4000, it
muft complete the balance with 5800 hanging at c.
It required a little confideration to find out what
proportion of the three weights C, D, and E, would
make the repetitions of the fcale extend as far as pof-
fible, having very little of it expreffed twice, or upon
two fcalcs, as is the cafe here. We fee that the fpace
correfponding to a (ingle pound is a very fenfible quan¬
tity on both (calcs, being one-ninth of an inch on the
firft two fcales, and one-twentieth on the laft two.
This very ponderous machine, with its mafiy weights,
cannot be eafily managed without fome afliftance from
mechanics. It is extremely proper to have it fufcep-
tible of motion out and in, that it may be prote&ed
from the weather, which would foon deftroy it by ruft.
The contrivance here is very effectual, and abundantly
fimple.
When the fteelyard is not in ufe, it is {Imported at
one end by the iron rod F, into which the upper end
of the (beers is hooked. The upper end of this rod has
a ftrong hook E, and a little below at a it is pierced
with a hole, in which is a very ftrong bolt or pin of
tempered (feel, having a roller on each end clofe to the
rod on each fide. Thefe rollers reft on two joifts, one
of which is reprefented by MN, which traverfe the
building, with juft room enough between them to al¬
low the rod F to hang freely down. The other end Q
of the fteelyard refts in the bight of a large fiat hook
5 1 S T £
at the end of a chain W, which hangs down between Steel-yarsh
the joifts, and is fupported on them by a frame with
rollers H. This is connected with the rollers at G,
which carry the (beers by means of two iron-rods, of
which one only can be feen. Thefe conned! the two
fets of rollers in fuch a manner that they muft always
move together, and keep their diftance invariable. This
motion is produced by means of an endlefs rope HI
ZLKVH palling over the pulleys I and K, which turn
between the joifts, and hanging down in a bight be¬
tween them. It is evident that by pulling on the part
LZ we pull the frame of rollers in the diredlion GH,
and thus bring the whole into the houfe in the pofition
marked by the dotted figure. It is alfo plain, that by
pulling on the part LK we force the roller frame and
the whole apparatus out again.
It remains to (how how the load is railed from the
ground and weighed. When the fteelyard is run out
for ufe, the upper hook E juft enters into the ring D,
which hangs from the end of the great oaken lever
EGA about 22 feet long, turning on gudgeons at C
about 5 feet from this end. From the other end A
defeends a long iron-rod SR, which has 6ne fide formed
into a toothed rack that is adled on by a frame of
wheel-work turned by an endlefs ferew and winch O.
Therefore when the hook E is well engaged in the
ring D, a man turns the winch, and thus brings down
the end A of the great lever, and raifes the load two
or three inches from the ground. Every thing is now
at liberty, and the weigher now manages his weights
on the arm of the fteelyard till he has made an equi¬
librium.
We need not deferibe the operation of letting down
the load, difengaging the fteelyard from the great
lever, and bringing it again under cover. The whole
of this fervice is performed by two men, and may be
done in fucceflion by one, and is over in five or fix
minutes.
The moft compendious and economical machine of
this kind that we have feen is one, firft ufed (we have
heard) for weighing the riders of race-horles, and af¬
terwards applied to the more reputable fervice of weigh¬
ing loaded carriages.
Fig. 5. is a plan of the machine. KLMN is the Fig* 5*
plan of a reftangular box, which has a platform lid or
cover, of fize fufficient for placing the wheels of a cart
or waggon. The box is about a foot deep, and is funk
into the ground till the platform cover is even with the
furface. In the middle of tbe box is an iron lever fup¬
ported on tbe fulcrum pin ih, formed like tbe nail of a
balance, which refts with its edge,on arches of hardened
fteel firmly faftened to the bottom of the box. This
lever goes through one fide of the box, and is furniih-
ed at its extremity with a hard fteel pin /m, alfo
formed to an edge below. In the very middle of the
box it is croffed by a third nail of hardened fteel g hy
alfo formed to an edge, but on the upper fide. Thefe /
three edges are in one horizontal plane, as in a well
made balance.
In the four corners A, A', E;, E, of the box are
firmly fixed four blocks of tempered fteel, having their
upper furfaces formed into fpherical cavities, well polifti-
ed and hard tempered. AECDE reprefents tbe upper
edge of an iron bar of confiderable ftrengtb, which reft^
on the cavities pf the fteel blocks in A and E, by means _
of
S T E [68
5..-'-. ymJ. 0f tu,0 {[eei {lU(Js projefting irom its under edge,
and formed into obtufe-angled points or cones. Thefe
points are in a ftraight line parallel to the fide KN of
the box. The middle part C of this crooked bar is
faced with hard-tempered iteel below, and is there
formed into an edge parallel to AE and KN, by which
it refts on the upper edge of the ftsel g h which is
in the lever. In a line parallel to AE, and on the up¬
per fide of the crooked bar AGE, are fixed two ftuds or
points of hardened ileel B and D projefting upwards
above half an inch. The platform-cover has four thort
feet like a ftool, terminated by hard fteel ftuds, which
are lhaped into ipherical cavities and well polilhed. With
thefe it refts on the four fteel points B, B', D', D. The
bar ACE is kneed in fuch a manner vertically, that the
points A, B, D, E and the edge C are all in a horizon¬
tal plane. Thefe particulars will be better underftood
by looking at the elevation in fig. 6. What has been
laid of the bar ACE mutt be underftood as alfo faid of
the bar A' C' Eb
Draw through the centre of the box the line a 6 c
perpendicular to the line AE, BD. It is evident that
the bar ACE is equivalent to a lever a 6 c, having the
fulcrum or axis AE refting with its extremity C on the
pin Ag and loaded at A. It is alfo evident that c C is
to a b ns the load on this lever to the preffure which it
exerts on the pin g A, and that the fame proportion fub-
fifts between the whole load on the platform and the
preffure which it exerts on the pin g A. It will alfo ap¬
pear on an attentive confideration, that this proportion
is nowife deranged in whatever manner the load is placed
on the platform. If very, unequably, the two ends
of the pin g A may be unequally preflhd, and the lever
wrenched and {trained a little j but the total pteflure is
not changed.
If there be now placed a balance or fteelyard at
the fide LK, in fuch a manner that one end of it may
be diredtly above the pin I m m the end of the lever
EOF, they may be connedted by a wire or {lender rod,
and a weight on the other arm of the balance or fteel¬
yard may be put in equilibrio with any load that can
be laid on the platform. A fmall counterpoife being
firft hung on to balance the apparatus when unloaded,
any additional weight will meafure the load really laid
on the platform. If £ Z> be to a c as i to 8, and EO
to EF, alfo as I to 8, and if a common balance be
ufed above, 64 pounds on the platform will be balanced
by one pound in the fcale, and every pound will be ba¬
lanced by ■Jth of an ounce. This would be a very con¬
venient partition for moft purpofes, as it would enable us
to ufe a common balance and common weights to com¬
plete the machine : Or it may be made with a balance
of unequal arms, or with a fteelyard.
Some have thought to improve this inftrument by
ufing edges like thole of the nails of a balance, inftead
of points. But unlefs made with uncommon accuracy,
they will render the balance very dull. The final! de¬
viation of the two edges A and E, or of B and D,
from perfect parallelifm to KN, is equivalent to a broad
furface equal to the whole deviation. We imagine
tha , with no extraordinary care, the machine may be
made to weigh within of the truth, which is ex-
aft enough for any purpofe in commerce.
It is n? ceflary that the points be attached to the
bars. Some have put the points at A and E in the
4
6 ] § T E
blocks of ftecl faftened to the bottom, becaufe the cavi- Stfel-yanl,
ty there lodged water or dirt, which foon deftroyed Steele,
the inftrument _ with ruft. But this occafions a change '~'v—^
of proportion in the firft lever by any {Lifting of the
crooked bars ; and this will frequently happen when the
wheels of a loaded cart are pufhed on the platform.
The cavity in the fteel ftud ftiould have a little rim
round it, and it ftiould be kept full of oil. In a nice
machine a quarter of an inch of quickfilver would effec¬
tually prevent all thefe inconveniences.
The fimpleft and moft economical form of this ma¬
chine is to have no balance or fecond Iteelyard j but
to make the firft fteelyard EOF a lever of the firft
kind, viz. having the fulcrum between O and F, and
allow it to projeft far beyond the box. The long or
outward arm of this lever is then divided into a fcale of
weights, commencing at the fide of the box. A coun-
terpoile mud be cholen, fuch as will, when at the begin¬
ning of the fcale, balance the fmalleft load that will
probably be examined. It will be convenient to carry
on this fcale by means of eke-Wcights hung on at the
extremity of the lever, and to ufe but one moveable
weight. By this method the divilions of the fcale
will always have one value. The beft arrangement is
as follows ; Place the mark O at the beginning of the
fcale, and let it extend only to 100, if for pounds ; or to
11 2, if for cwts.; or to 10, if for {tones 5 and let the
eke-weights be mumbered I, 2, 3, &c. Let the
loweft weight be maiked on the beam. This is al¬
ways to be added to the weight ihown by the opera¬
tion. Let the eke-weights itand at the end of the
beam, and let the general councerpoife always hang at
O. When the cart is put on the platform, the end of the
beam tilts up. Hang on the heavieft eke weight that is
not fufticient to prefs it down. Now complete the ba¬
lance by Hiding out the counterpoife. Suppofe the con-
ftant load to be 3121b. and that the counterpoife {lands
at 86, and that the eke-weight is 9) we have the load
=2986 4-312,= 1298185.
S iEELE, Sir Richard, was born about the year
1676 in Dublin ; in which kingdom one branch of the
family was poffeffed of a confiderable eftate in the county
of Wexford. His father, a counfellor at law in Dub¬
lin, was private fecretary to James duke of Ormond j
but he was of Englifti extraftion : and his fon, while
very young, being carried to London, he put him to
fchool at the Charter-houfe, whence he was removed to
Merton College in Oxford. Our author left the uni-
verfity, which he did without taking any degree, in the
full refolution to enter into the army. This ftep was
highly difpleafing to his friends ; but the ardour of his
paftion for a military life rendered him deaf to any other
propofal. Not being able to procure a better flation,
he entered as a private gentleman in the horfe guards,
notwithftanding he thereby loft the fucceffion to his Irifh
eftate. However, as he bad a flow of good nature, a ge¬
nerous opennefs and franknefs of fpirit, and a fparkling
vivacity of wit, thefe qualities rendered him the delight
of the foldiery, and procured him an enfign’s commiffion
in the guards. In the mean time, as he had made
choice of a profeflion which fet him free from all the or¬
dinary reftraints in youth, he fpared not to indulge his
inclinations in the wildeft exceffes. Yet his gaitfLs and
revels did not pafs without fome cool hours of refleft o 1;
it was in thefe that he drew up his little trealiie intitled
The
S T E
[ G87 ]
S T E
Steele. The Chriflwn Hen, with a defign,_ if we may believe
 V  himfelf, to be a check upon his paflions. For this pur-
pofe it’had lain home time by him, when he printed
it in 1701, with a dedication to Lord Cutts, who had
not only appointed him his private fecretary, but procu-
red.for him a company in Lord Lucas’s regiment of Fu-
fileers.
'['he fame year he brought out his comedy called The
Funeral, or Grief« la Mode. This play procured him the
regard of King William, who refolved to give him fome
effential marks of his favour and though, upon that
prince’s death, his hopes were difappointed, yet, in the
beginning of Queen Anne’s reign, he was appointed to
the profitable place of gazetteer. He owed tnis poll
to the friendfhip of Lord Halifax and tne earl of Sun¬
derland, to whom he had been recommended by his
fchoolfellow Mr Addifon. That gentleman alfo lent
him an helping hand in promoting the comedy called
The Tender Hujhand, which was afted in 1704 whn
great fuccefs. ' But his next play, The Lying Lover,
had a very different fate. Upon this rebuff^ from the
itage, he turned the fame humorous current into ano¬
ther channel } and early in the year 1709, he began to
publilh the Tatler : which admirable paper was under¬
taken in concert with Dr Swift. His reputation was
perfectly eflablifhed by this work •, and, _ during the
courfe of it, he was made a commiflioner of the ftamp-
duties in 1710. Upon the change of the mimflry the
fame year, he joined the duke of Marlborough, who
had feveral years entertained a friendfhip for him } and
upon his Grace’s difmifTion from all employments in
17x1, Mr Steele addreffed, a letter of thanks to him
for the fervices which he had done to his country.
However, as our author ftill continued to hold, his
place in the ftamp-ofhce under the new adminiflration,
lie wifely declined the difeuflion of political fubjefts j
and, adhering more clofely to Mr Addifon, he dropt
the Tatler, and afterwards, by the affiftance chiefly
of that Heady friend, he carried on the fame plan,
much improved, under the title of 1 he SpeSlator. 1 he
fuccefs of this paper was equal to that of the for¬
mer ; which encouraged him, before the clofe of it, to
proceed upon the fame delign in the character of the
Guardian. This was opened in the beginning of the
year 1713, and was laid down in October the fame
year. But in the courfe of it his thoughts took a
ftronger turn to politics: he engaged with great warmth
againfl the miniftry 5 and being determined to profe-
cute his views that way by procuring a feat in the
houfe of commons, he immediately removed all obffa-
cles thereto. For that purpofe he took care to pre¬
vent a forcible dbmilTion from his poft in the flamp-of-
fice, by a timelv refignatlon of it to the earl of Oxford ;
and at the fame time gave up a penfion, which nad been
till this time paid him by the queen as a fervant to the
late Prince George of Denmark. This done, he wrote
the famous Guardian upon the demolition of Dunkirk,
which was publifhed Auguft 7. 170 ’■> ar,d the parlia¬
ment being diffblved next day, the Guardian was foon
followed by leveral other warm political traffs againft
the adminiflration. Upon the meeting or the new par¬
liament, Mr Steele having been returned a member for
the borough of Stockbridge in Hamplhire, took his
feat accordingly in the houfe of commons; but was ex¬
pelled thence in a few days after, for writing the dole
of the paper called the Englijhtnan, and one of his poli¬
tical pieces intitled the Crifis. Prefently after his ex-
pulfion, he publifhed propolals for writing the hiftory
of the duke of Marlborough ; at the fame time he allb
wrote the Spinjler ; and, in oppofition to the Examiner,
he fet up a paper called the Reader, and continued pub-
liflung feveral other things in the fame fpirit till the
death of the queen. Immediately after wdiicb, as a re¬
ward for thefe fervices, he was taken into favour by
her fucceffot to the throne, King George I. He was
appointed furveyor of the royal ftables at Hampton-
Court, governor of the royal company of comedians,
put into the commiflion of the peace for the county
of Middlefex, and in 1715 received the honour of
knighthood. In the firft parliament of that king, he
was chofen member for Boroughbridge in he orkfhire j
and, after the luppreflion of the rebellion in the north,
was appointed one of the commiffioners of the forfeited
eftates in Scotland, In 1718, he buried his fecond
wife, who had brought him a handfome fortune and n
good eftate in Wales 5 but neither this, nor the ample
additions lately made to his income, were fufficient to
anfwer his demands. The thoughtlefs vivacity of bis
fpirit often reduced him to little ihifts of wit for its
fupport ; and the projeft of the fifh-pool tins year
owed its birth chiefly to the proje&or’s neceffities.
This veffel was intended to carry filh alive, and with¬
out wafting, to any part of the kingdom : but not-
withftanding all his towering hopes, the fcheme proved
very ruinous to him } for after he had been at an im-
menfe expence in contriving and building his veflel,
befides the charge of the patent, which he had pro¬
cured, it turned out upon trial to be a mere projeft.
His plan was to bring falmon alive from the coaft of
Ireland 5 but thefe Mi, though fupplied by this contri¬
vance with a continual ftream of water while at fea,
yet uneafy at their confinement, Ihattered themfelves to
pieces againft the fides of the pool 5 fo that when they
were brought to market they were worth very little.
The following year he oppofed the remarkable peer¬
age bill in the houfe of commons ; and, during the
courfe of this oppontion to the court, his licence for
afling plays was revoked, and his patent rendered in-
effe&ual, at the inttance of the lord chamberlain. He
did his utmoft to prevent fo great a lofs ; and finding
every direft avenue of approach to his royal matter
effedually barred againft him by his powerful adver-
fary, he had recourfe to the method of applying to the
public, in hopes that his complaints would reach the ear
of his fovereign, though in an indiredl courfe, by that
canal. In this fpirit he formed the plan of a periodical
paper, to be publifhed twice a week, under the title of
the Theatre ; the firft number of which came out on the
2d of January 1719-20. In the mean time, the mif-
fortune of being out of favour at court, like other mif-
fortunes, drew after it a train of more. During the
courfe of this paper, in which he had aflumed the feign¬
ed name of Sir John Edgar, he was outrageoufly attack¬
ed by Mr Dennis, the noted critic, in a very abufive
pamphlet, entitled The CharaBer and ConduR of Sir
John Edgar. To this infult our author made a proper
reply in the Theatre.
While he was ftruggling with all his might to fave
himfelf from ruin, he found time to turn his pen againft
the mifehievous- South fea fcheme, which had nearly
brought
Stfek.
s T E [ 68S ] ST
brought the nation to ruin in 1720; and the next year the land, clouds, moon, cr ftars
E
he was reltored to his office and authority in the play
houfe in Drury-Lane. • Of this it was not long before
he made an additional advantage, by bringing his ce¬
lebrated comedy called the Confcious Lovers upon that
Itage, where it was a&ed with prodigious fuccefs; fo
that the receipt there muft have been very confiderable,
befides the profits accruing by the fale of the copy,
and a purfe of 500I. given to him by the king, to whom
he dedicated it. Yet notwithfianding thefe ample fup-
plies, about the year following, being reduced to the
utmofl: extremity, he fold his ffiare in the play-houfe j
and foon after commenced a law-fuit with the managers,
which in 1726 was decided againft him. Having now
again, for the laft time, brought his fortune, by the moft
heedlefs profufion, into a delperate condition, he was
rendered altogether incapable of retrieving the lofs, by
being feized with a paralytic diforder, which greatly im¬
paired his underftanding. In thefe unhappy circum-
ilances, he retired to his feat at Languanor near Caer-
marthen in Wales, where he died on the 21 ft of Sep¬
tember 1729, and was privately interred, according to
his own defire, in the church of Caermarthen. Among
his papers were found the manufcripts of two plays, one
called 7 he Gentlemen, founded upon the Eunuch of Te¬
rence, and the other intitled The School of Milan, both
nearly finifiied.
Sir Ricnard was a man of undiffembled and extenfive
benevolence, a friend to the friendleis, and, as far as his
circumftances would permit, the father of every orphan.
His works are chafte and manly. He was a ftranger to
the moil diftant appearance of envy or malevolence •,
never jealous of any man’s growing reputation } and fo
far from arrogating any praife to himfelf from his con-
junftion with Mr Addifon, that he was the firft who de-
fired him to diftinguilh his papers. His great fault was
want of economy •, and it has been faid of him, he was
certainly the moll; agreeable and the moft innocent rake
that ever trod the rounds of diffipation.
STEEPLE, an appendage erected generally on the
weftern end of churches, to hold the bells. Steeples
are denominated from their form, either fpires or towers :
the firft are fuch as afcend continually diminiffiing either
conically or pyramidally 5 the latter are mere parallele¬
pipeds, and are covered a-top platform-like.
STEERAGE, on board a ihip, that part of the
(hip next below the quarter-deck, before the bulk-head
of the great cabin, where the fteerfman ftands, in moft
fhips of war. See Steering.
STEERING, in Navigation, the art of dire&ing
the fhip’s way by the movements of the helm ; or of
applying its efforts to regulate her courfe when ffie ad¬
vances.
The perfe&ion of fleering confifts in a vigilant at¬
tention to the motion of the fhip’s head, fo as to check
every deviation from the line of her courfe in the firft
inftant of its motion ; and in applying as little of the
power of the helm as poffible. By this fhe will run
more uniformly in a ftraight path, as declining lefs to
the right and left ^ whereas, if a greater effort of the
helm is employed, it will produce a greater declination
from the courfe, and not only increafe the difficulty
of fleering, but alfo make a crooked and irregular
track through the water. See Helm.—The helmfman
ffipuld diligently watch the movements of the head by
3
. ,  7 becaufe, although
the courfe. is in general regulated by the compafs, yet
the vibrations of the needle are not fo quickly per¬
ceived ^as the failles of the fhip’s head to the right cr
left, wnich, if not immediately reftiained, will acquire
additional velocity in every inftant of their motion, and
demand a moie powerful impulfe of the helm to re¬
duce them •, the application of which will operate to
turn her head as far on the contrary fide of her courfe.
— I he plnafes ufed in fleering a ffiip vary according
to the relation of the wind to her courfe. Thus, if
the wind is fair or large, the phrafes ufed by the pilot
or officer who fuperintends the fteerage are, port, /lar¬
board, an&Jieadij. The firft is intended to direct the
fhip’s courfe farther to the right ; the fecond is to
guide her farther to the left j and the laft is defigned
to keep her exadlly in the line whereon (lie advances,
according to the courfe preferibed. The excels of the
firft and fecond movements is called hard-a-port, and
hard-a-Jlarboard; the former of which gives her the
greateft poffible inclination to the right, and the latter
an equal tendency to the left.—If, on the contrary, the
wind is foul or leant, the phrafes are luff, thus, and no
item cr $ the firft of which is the order to keep her clole
to the wind •, the fecond, to retain her in her prefent
fituation j and the third to keep her fails full.
In a ffiip of war, the exercife officering the fliip is
ufually divided amongit a number of the moft expert
labors, who attend the helm in their turns 5 and are ac¬
cordingly called timoneers, from the French term timo-
tucr, which fignifies “ helmfman.” The fteerage is
conflantly fuperintended by the quarter-mailers, °who
alfo attend the helm by rotation. In merchant fhips
every feaman takes his turn in this fervice, being di-
refled therein by the mate of the watch, or fome other
officer. As the fafety of a fiiip, and all contained there¬
in, depends in a great meafure on the fteerage or effeds
of the helm, the apparatus by which it is managed thould
often be diligently examined by the proper officers.
Indeed, a negligence in this important duty appears
almod unpardonable, when the fatal effeds which may
refult from it are duly confidered.
STEEVENS, George, the moft fuccefsful of all the
editors and commentators of Shakefpeare, was bom in
the year 1735* We know nothing refpeding his pa¬
rents, but they appear to have been in affluent circum¬
ftances. Our author received the rudiments of his edu¬
cation at Kingfton-upon-Thames, and had Gibbon the
hiflorian for a companion at that fchool. From hence
he went to Eton, and in a few years was admitted a
fellow commoner of King’s college, Cambridge 5 but no
mention is made of his peculiar courfe of ftudies. It ap¬
pears, however, that he had little relifh for the mathe¬
matics, which lead at Cambridge to academical ho¬
nours. On the firft eftabliffiment of the Effex militia, he
accepted of a commiffion j but he fpent the concluding
years of his life in almoft total feclufion from the world,
feldom mingling with fociety, but in the ftiops of book-
fellers, in the Shakefpeare gallery, or in the morning
converfations of Sir Joleph Banks.
. Although not an original writer, we cannot in ju-
ftice refufe him a place among the firft literary charac¬
ters of the age, when we confider the works he illuftrated,
and the learning, fagacity, tafte, and general knowledge
which he brought to the talk. With a verfatility of ta¬
lents,
Steering;,
Steevens.
S T E r 689 ] S T E
Steevens lents, he was eminent b<Sth by his pen and his pencil,
il but his chief excellence lay in his critical knowledge of
Stellaria. an text j and the belt fpecimen of his great
,J abilities is his edilion of Shakefpeare, in which he has
left every competitor far behind him. He had lludied
the age of Shakefpeare, and employed his perfevering
induftry in becoming acquainted with the writings, man¬
ners, and laws of that period, as well as the provincial
peculiarities, whether of language or cuftoms, which
prevailed in different parts of the kingdom, but more
particularly in thofe where Shakefpeare paffed the early
years of his life. He was continually increafing this
flore of knowledge, by the acquifition of the oblblete
publications of a former age, which he fpared no ex¬
pence to obtain. His critical fagacity and obfervation
were conftantly employed in calling forth the hidden
meanings of the dramatic bard, and of courfe enlarging
the difplay of his beauties. This advantage is apparent
from his laft edition of Shakefpeare, which contains fo
large a portion of new, interefling, and accumulated in-
ftrubtion. In preparing it for the prefs, he gave an in-
ftance of aflivity and perfeverance without example. To
this work he exclufively devoted a period of 18 months,
during which he left his houfe every morning at one
o’clock, going to his friend Mr Ifaac Read’s chambers
in Barnard’s-inn, without any confideration of the wea¬
ther or the feafon,and there he found a flieet of the Shake¬
fpeare letter-prefs ready for correftion. Thus, while
the printers flept the editor was awake, by which means
he completed, in lefs than 20 months, his fplendid edi¬
tion of Shakefpeare in 15 vols. odlavo; a labour almoft
incredible, and by which the energy and perfevering
powers of his mind were fully proved.
He probably refted fatisfied with being a commentator
from the particular habits of his life, and his devotion to
the name of Shakefpeare. But at the fame time he was
•a claflical fcholar of the firft order, and well acquaint¬
ed with the belles lettres of Europe. He ftudied ancient
and modern hiftory j and particularly that of his own
country. His genius was ftrong and original ■, his wit
abundant; his imagination of every colour ; and his fen-
timents enlivened with the mod brilliant cxpreflions.
His eloquence was logical and animated; bis defcrip-
tions were fo true to nature, his figures fo curioufly fe-
lefted, and fo happily grouped, that he might be regard¬
ed as a fpeaking Hogarth. He fcattered his wit and his
humour too freely around him, and they were not loft
for want of gathering.
Mr Steevens had a very handfome fortune, which he
managed with difcretion. His generofity was equal to
his fortune j and though not profufe of his money to
fturdy beggars, few perfons diffributed with more libe¬
rality to truly deferving objefts. fie pofleffed all the
graces of outward accomplifhment, at a period when ci¬
vility and politenefs were charafteriftics of a gentleman.
He bequeathed his valuable Shakefpeare, illuftrated
with about 1500 pwnts, to Lord Spencer ; his Hogarth
perfeft, with the exception of one or two pieces, to
Mr Windham ; and his correfted copy of Shakefpeare,
with 200 guineas, to his friend Mr Read. He died in
the month of January 1800, about 65 years of age.
S I EG ANOGR APHY, the art of fecret writing,
or of writing in ciphers, known only to the perfons cor-
refponding. See Cipher.
STELLARIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
Vol. XIX. Part II.
clafs decandria, and in the natural fyftem arranged un- Steluis
der the 22d order, Caryophyllcce. See Botany Index. II
STELLATE, in Botany, a term applied to leaves ,Stenilon; ,
which grow not lefs than lix at a joint, and are arran- v
ged like the rays of a ftar.
STELLERA, German Groundsel, a genus of
plants belonging to the clafs octandria *, and in the na¬
tural fyftem arranged under the 3 ift order, VeprecuLe.
See Botany Index.
STELLIONATE, in the civil law, a kind of crime
committed by a fraudulent bargain, where one of the
parties fells a thing for what it is not 5 as if I fell an
eftate for my own which belongs to another, or convey
a thing as free and clear which is already engaged to
another, or put off copper for gold, &c.
STEM, in Botany, that part of a plant arifing out
of the root, and which fuftains the leaves, flowers,
fruits, &c. By waffling and rubbing the Items of
trees, their annual increafe is promoted j for the me ¬
thod of doing which, fee the article Tree.
STEM of a Ship, a circular piece of timber into which
the twro fides of a fhip are united at the fore-end :
the loiver end of it is fcarfed to the keel, and the
bow’fprit refts upon its upper end. The Item is form¬
ed of one or two pieces, according to the lize of the
veffel 5 and as it terminates the fhip forward, the ends
of the wales and planks of the fides and bottom are let
into a groove or channel, in the midft of its furface.
from the top to the bottom ; which operation is called
rabiting. The outfide of the Item is ufually marked
with a fcale, or divifion of feet, according to its per¬
pendicular height from the keel. The intention of
this is to afcertain the draught of water at the fore¬
part, when the fhip is in preparation for a fea-voyage,
&c. The ftem at its lower end is of equal breadth and
thicknefs with the keel, but it grows proportionally
broader and thicker towards its upper extremity. See
Ship-Building.
STEMMATA, in the hiftory of infeiffs, are three
fmooth hemifpheric dots, placed generally on the top
of the head, as in moft of the hymenoptera and other
claffes. The name was firft introduced by Linnaeus.
STEMODIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs didynamia ; and in the natural fyftem ranging un¬
der the 40th order, Perfonatee. See Botany Index.
STEMPHYLA, a word ufed by the ancients to
exprefs the hulks of grapes, or the remains of the
prefiings of wine. The fame word is all’o ufed by fome
to exprefs the remaining mafs of the olives, after the
oil is preffed out.
STEMPHYLITES, a name given by the ancients
to a fort of wine preffed hard from the hulks.
STEMPLES, in mining, crofs bars of wood in the
fliafts which are funk to mines.
In many places the way is to fink a perpendicular
hole, or fhaft, the fides of which are ftrengthened from
top to bottom with wood-work, to prevent the earth
from falling in j the tranfverfe pieces of wood are called
femples, and jay means of thefe the miners in fome places
defcend, without ufing any rope.
STEMSON, in a fhip, an arching piece of timber
fixed within the apron, to reinforce the fcarf thereof,
in the fame manner as the apron fupports the fcarf of
the ftern. In large fhips it is ufually formed of two
pieces.
4S
STENOGRAPHY.
E 690 ]
* Vide
Bi/xtorf
Diog. Laer¬
tius, Plu¬
tarch, gcc.
STENOGRAPHY 0).
CHAP. I.
r”PHE art of ftenography, or fhort writing, was known
and praftifed by moft of the ancient civilized na¬
tions. The Egyptians, who were diftinguifhed for
learning at an early period, at firft expreffed their words
by a delineation of figures called hieroglyphics. A more
concife mode of writing feems to have been afterwards
introduced, in which only a part of the fymbol or pic¬
ture was drawn. This anfwered the purpofe of ihort-
hand in Ibme degree. After them the Hebrews, the
Greeks, and the Romans *, adopted different methods of
abbreviating their words and fentences, fuited to their
refpedtive languages. The initials, the finals, or radi¬
cals, often ferved for whole words 5 and various combi¬
nations of thefe fometimes formed a fentence. Arbitrary
marks were likewife" employed to determine the meaning,
and to aflift legibility ; and it feems probable that every
writer, and every author of antiquity, had fome pecu¬
liar method of abbreviation, calculated to facilitate the
expreffion of his own fentiments, and intelligible only
to himfelf.
It is alfo probable, that fome might by thefe means
take down the heads of a difeourfe or oration j but few,
very ferv, it is prefumed, could have followed a fpeaker
through all the meanders of rhetoric, and noted with
precifion every fyllable, as it dropt from his mouth, in
a manner legible even to themfelves.
To arrive at fuch confummate perfe&ion in the art
was referved for more modern times, and is flili an ac-
quifition by no means general.
In every language of Europe, till about the clofe of
the 16th century, the Roman plan of abbreviating (viz.
fubftituting the initials or radicals, with the help of ar-
bitraries, for words) appears to have been employed.
Till then no regular alphabet had been invented ex-
prefsly for ftenography, when an Englifh gentleman of
the name of Willis invented and publilhed one (b). His
plan was foon altered and improved, or at leaf! pretend¬
ed to be fo. One alteration fucceeded another } and at
intervals, for a feries of years paft, fome men of inge¬
nuity and application have compofed and publiftied fy-
ftems of ftenography, and doubtlefs have themfelves reap¬
ed all the advantages that attend it. But among the
various methods that have been propofed, and the dif¬
ferent plans that have been adopted by individuals, none
has yet appeared fortunate enough to gain general ap¬
probation ; or proved fufficiently finaple, clear, and con¬
cife, to be univerfally ftudied and praftifed.
Some fyftems are replete with unmeaning fymbols,
perplexing arbitraries, and ill-judged contradlions j
which render them fo difficult to be attained by a com¬
mon capacity, or ordinary application, that it is not to
be wondered at if they have funk into negledl, and are
now no longer known (c). Other fyftems, by being
too prolix, by containing a multiplicity of characters,
and thole characters not fimple or ealily remembered,
become ineffectual to the purpofe of expedition, and are
only fuperior in obfeurity to a common hand. Some,
again, not only rejeCt all arbitraries and contractions,
but even prepofitions and terminations j which laft, if
not too lavifhly employed and badly devifed, highly
contribute to promote both expedition and legibility -f
and though they reduce their characters to few'er than
can poffibly exprefs the various modifications of found,
yet they make nearly one half of them complex. In the
difpofition of the vowels, there is the greateft perplexity
in molt fyftems. A dot is fometimes fubftituted for all
the vcwTels indiferiminately, and the judgement is left
to determine which letter out of fix any dot is intended
to exprefs ; or a minute fpace is allotted them ; fo that
unlefs they be arranged with mathematical precifion
they cannot be diftinguilhed from one another; but
fuch a minute attention is inconfiftent with the nature
of fnort-hand, which ftrould teach us to write dowm in
a ftiort time, as well as in fmall bounds, what we wiftr
to preferve of what we hear. Nor is the plan of lifting
the pen and putting the next confonant in the vowel’s
place, in the middle of words, lefs liable to objeClions j
or that of reprefenting all the vowrels by diftinCt cha-
rafters, being obvioufly ill calculated for facility and
difpatch,
(a) The value of ftenography is not unknown to the learned ; and the care and fuccefs with which it has been
lately cultivated in thefe kingdoms will, in all probability, foon render it an objeft of general attention. No
one, however, appears to us to have fimplified and improved the art fo much as Dr Mavor, author of Ur/iverfal
Stenography, who has liberally permitted us to prelent our readers with a complete view of his fcheme. To
thofe who with to become proficients in Short-writing, we eameftly recommend his entire publication (printed
for Cadell and Davis, Strand, London), which in many fchools of the firft reputation now forms a deferved clafsc
book.
(B) Mr Locke fays, a regular method of fhort-writing feems to be knowm and praftifed only in Britain. 'I his
is not now the cafe •, and indeed there is no reafon to doubt whether charafters may not be invented to exprefs
the various founds, or letters, employed in any language, either ancient or modern.
(c) A lift of waiters on ftenography. Mr Addy, Alridge, Angell, Annet, Blandemcre, Bloffet, Botley,
Bridges, Byrom, Coles, Crofs, Dix, Everardt, Ewen, Facey, Farthing, Gibbs Graeme, Gurney, Heath, Holdf-
worth, Hopkins, Jeake, Labourer, Lane, Lyle, Macauley, Mafon, Mavor, Metcalfe, Nicholas, Palmer, Rich,
Ridpath, Shelton, Steele, Tanner, Taylor, Tbickneffe, Tiffen, Webfter, Wefton, Williamfon, Willis, B. D.
and Willis, &c,
STENOGRAPHY.
691
diTpatch, and confequently inadmiffible into any ufetal
fytiem.
It is to be confefled, that the perfon who firft propo-
fed the omiffion of vowels in the middle of words (d),
which it is obvious are not wanted, and invented let¬
ters, which could be connefted as in a running hand
without lifting the pen in the middle of the word, made
a real improvement on the works of his predeceffors.
But, in fine, moft fyftems, either in their plan or execu¬
tion, labour under fome capital defeft, attended with
circumflances highly difeouraging to the learner, and
which in a great meafure defeat the end of their inven¬
tion, by being too complicated to be learned with eafe
and remembered with accuracy, or to be praftiled with
the expedition which is requifite 5 and io difficult to be
deciphered, that a man can fcarcely read what he has
juft written.
To obviate thefe defers *, to provide againft prolixity
and concifenefs, which might occafion obfeurity ; to ex¬
hibit a fyftem founded on the fimpleft principles, which
might be eafily learned and read, and yet be capable of
the utmoft expedition—wrere the motives that gave rife
to the prefent attempt.
This method will be found different from any yet
publifhed, and fuperior to all in the difpofition of the
vowels and the facility cf arranging them •, the confufion
in placing which feems to detraft from the merit of the
beft performances on the fubjeft ; and it may be affirm¬
ed, without oilentation, that charafters fimpler in their
form, and more perfect in their union, have not been
applied to the art of (lenography.
As well as it could be determined, the fimpleft cha-
raflers are appropriated to the letters moft ufually em¬
ployed : indeed, as far as poffible, thofe which are com¬
plex have been reje&ed ; but as it was an objett always
kept in view that the writing fhould he on a line, a few
are admitted into the alphabet for that reafon.
The chara&ers for the double and triple confonants
are the eafieft that could be invented, confiftent with
perfpicuity (e) } for care has been taken to provide
againft all obfeurity which might arife by adopting
letters too fimilar in their formation *, and with re-
fpefh to the prepofitions and terminations, thofe which
occur moft frequently are expreffed by the fimpleft cha-
rafters, which wall be found perfectly eafy in their ap¬
plication.
The arbitraries are few in number (f), and the arbi¬
trary abbreviations, as they are entirely from the letters
of the alphabet, and chofen from fome thoufands of
words in common ufe, will well repay the learner for
an hour’s trouble in committing them to memory.
The laft chapter lays down a fcheme of abbreviation,
comprifed in a few rules, perfectly eafy to be underftood
and praftifed by proficients in this art, which we hope
will anfwer the expectation of the author, and will be
found free from the perplexity complained of in many
lyitems where abbreviation is admitted. The principal
rules are new, are fo eafy, fo extenfive in their ufe, and
fo confident with expedition and legibility, if applied
with judgement, that they alone might luffice. Ihe
learner is however advifed by no means to adopt any
of them, till experience has convinced him that they
may be ufed without error or injury to legibility. All
abbreviating rules are fuited to thofe only who have
made fome progrefs in the ftenographic art; for al¬
though they certainly promote expedition in a wonder¬
ful manner, and afford the greateft eafe to a proficient,
yet a learner, as expedition is not his firft, though his
ultimate view, ftiould admit cf nothing that in the leaft
renders the reading difficult.
CHAP. II.
The Englifli alphabet confifts of t-wenty-fix letters ^
fix of which are vowels, a, e, i, 0, u, and y; and the ra| ep^"j.
other twenty confonants, b, c, d, f,g, h, ky /, my /?, />, y, plesoffte-
rj r, /, ■y, and 2. nography.
This alphabet, as is obferved by the beft grammari- * Lowth's
ans that have written on the language, is both defective
and redundant in exprefting the various modifications of S
lound *. . Sheridan's
Cuftom or prejudice has afligned fome letters a place, LeSlures on
when others would with much more propriety ex- Elocution.
prefs the fame found : and to this may be added, that
feveral letters, fometimes in one word, feem to be ad¬
mitted for no other reafon than to perplex a young be¬
ginner or a foreigner, as an obftruftion to true pronun¬
ciation, and to add to the apparent length of the word,
when they are entirely quiefeent and ufelefs. That this
is the genius of the orthography of our language muft
be perceived by the moft fuperficial obfet ver ; but no
modern tongue is abfolutely free from the fame ex¬
ceptions. In particular, the French has a great num¬
ber of dormant letters, which, it is obvious, render the
pronunciation more difficult and perplexing to learn¬
ers (g).
But as it is neither our bufinefs nor our intention to
propofe a mode of fpelling different from that in com¬
mon ufe, when applied to printing or long-hand writing
(fince feveral innovators in orthography have fallen into
contempt, and their plans have been only preferved as
beacons to xvarn others of the folly of endeavouring to
fubvert eftablifhed principles f) •, we fhall only obferve, f Prefacs
that in ftenography, where the moft expeditious and*0 John-
15 4S2 concife/0”’'^-
“ tionury.
(d) Mr Byrom reje&ed vowels entirelv in the middle of words, as others before him had only done partially.
Without critically examining the executive part of his performance, which is very defe&ive, it muft be owned,
that it is above the reach of human ingenuity to exceed his general plan j wffiich for ever muft be the bafts of
every future rational fyftem. ^
(e) Thofe for th and ch may be either made upright or Hoping to the right.
(f) Thefe are not by any means preferibed ; they may be employed or not according to the fancy of the
learner.
(g) The Latin and Greek claim a juft fuperiority over every modern tongue in this refpe£V. In them no con¬
fufion or doubt can arife from the manner of fpelling } and the reader can fcarcely be wrong (unlefs in quantity)
in founding all the letters he fees.
6c)2
STENOGRAPH Y.
concife melliod is the belt, ii conhftent with perfpicuity,
the following fimple rules are ftudioufly to be regarded
and pradtifed.
Rules for Hule I. All quiefcent confonants in words are to
the conib- be dropped j and the orthography to be diredled only
cants. by the pronunciation : which being known to all, will
render this art attainable by thofe who cannot fpell wdth
precifion in long hand.
Rule II. When the abfence of confonants, not en¬
tirely dormant, can be eafily known, they may often be
omitted without the lead obfcurity.
Rule III. Two or fometimes more confonants may,
to promote greater expedition, be exchanged for a fingle
one of nearly fimilar found ; and no ambiguity as to the
meaning enfue (h).
Rule IV. When two confonants of the fame kind
or fame found come together, without any vowel be¬
tween them, only one is to be exprefled j but if a vowel
or vowels intervene, both are to be written : only ob-
ferve, if they are perpendicular, horizontal, or oblique
lines, they muft only be drawn a fize longer than ufual ;
and charadlers with loops muft have the fize of their
pj^e heads doubled *.
DVIL Might is to be written mit, fight yf/, machine i7iafhin,
3 enough enuf laugh laf, prophet profet, phyfics ffiks,
rirft rule through f/zro’, foreign foren, fovereign foveren, pfalm
exempli- fa/n, receipt refet, write rite, wright rit, illand Hand,
knavery navery, temptation temtation, knife nife, flick
Jhh, thigh thi, honour onour, indictfnent inditernent, ac-
4 quaint aquaint, chaos kaos, &c.
Second rule Strength Jlrenth, length lenth, {xizn&ftxi'p frenfhip, con-
ne<^: conek' commandment comanment, conjundl conjunt,
humble humic, lumber lamer, (lumber Jlumer, number
5 numer, exemplary exemlanj, &c.
Third rule Rocks rox, a£ts aks or ax, fafts faks or fax, diftridts
iiedmpli" dijlriks, or dj/lrix, affects afeks or afex, afflidls afliks ox
' 6 ajlix, conquer konkr, &c.
Fourth rule Letter leter, little litle, command comand, error eror,
exempli- terror teror, &c. But in remember, t?ioment,fJler, and
Rich like words, where two confonants of the fame name
have an intervening vowel, both of them muft be writ¬
ten.
Tbefe four rules, with their examples, being carefully
confidered by the learner, will leave him in no doubt
concerning the difpofition and management of the con¬
fonants in this fcheme of (hort-writing ; we (hall there¬
fore proceed to lay down rules for the application of the
, ? vowels with eafe and expedition,
thevo'.vcb Rule I. Vowels, being only fimple articulate founds,
though they are the conneflives of confonants, and em¬
ployed in every word and every fyllable, are not necef-
fary to be inferted in the middle of words ; becaufe the
confonants, if fully pronounced, with the aftiftance of
connection, will always difcover the meaning of a wutd,
and make the writing perfectly legible.
Rule II. If a vowel is not ftrongly accented in the
incipient fyllable of a word, or if it is mute in the final,
it is likewife to be omitted j becaufe the found of the
incipient vowel is often implied in that of the firft con-
fonant, which will confequently fupply its place.
Rule III. But if the vowel conftitutes the firft or
laft fyllable of a word, or is ftrongly accented at its
beginning or end, that vowel is continually to be writ¬
ten.
Rule IV. If a word begins or ends with two or more
vowels though feparated, or when there is a coalition of
vowels, as in diphthongs and triphthongs; only one of
them is to be expreffed, w'hich muft be that which agrees
beft with the pronunciation.
Rule V. In monofyllables, if they begin or end with
a vowel, it is always to be inferted, unlefs the vowel be
e mute at the end of a wTord.
Such are the general principles of this art} in vindi¬
cation and fupport of which it will be needlefs to offer
any arguments, when it is confidered that brevity and
expedition are the chief objeCls, if confident with legi¬
bility and the fubfequent (pecimens in the orthography
recommended will, we hope, be fufficient to (how that
there is no real deficiency in the laft mentioned parti¬
cular. §
He who md us mft be etrnl, grt, nd mnptnt. It is Specimen
or dty, as rfnl bugs, to (rv, Iv, nd oby km.—A mn tht °| the mode
wd avd blm, (hd be frkmfpk in al hs axns, nd ndvr ftenoera-
al hs mt to pis evry bdy.—I wd nt frm any knxns wth pjiy<
a mn who hd no rgrd fr hmslf; nthr w7d I blv a mn who
hd ons tld me a li.— Onr is of al thngs the mft dfklt to
prfrv ntrnfhd'j nd whn ons mpchd, ik the chftty of a
wmn, nvr (hns wth its wntd Iftr.—Wth gd mnrs,
kmplfms nd an efy pit adrs, mny mk a fgr in the wrl,
whs mnl ablts wd (krfly hv rsd thm aby the rnk of a
ftmn.—Idlns is the prnt of a thfnd msfrtns, w-ch ar nvr
(It by the ndftrs: it is a pn nd a pnfhmnt of itslf, nd
brngs writ nd bgry in its trn.—Vrtu is the frft thng tht
(lid be rgrdd j it is a rwrd of itslf; mks a mn rfpktbl
hr, nd wl mk hm etrnly hpy hrftr.—Prd is a mft prnfs
psn, wch yt ws plntd by hvn in ur ntr, to rs ur emlsn
to imtt grt nd wrthy krktrs or axns, to xt in us a si fr
wdrt is rt nd gft, nd a Idbl ndgnfn gnft oprfrs nd wrks
of any knd of nkyty ; in (hrt, to mk us st a prpr vlu upn
urvfis, nd dfps a wrthls flo, hu evr xltd. Ths fr prd is
a vrtu, nd my gftly be kid a grtns of (1. Bt prd, Ik
othr pfns, gnrly fxs upon rng obgks, or is apld in rng
prprfns. Hu kmn is it to fe a rtch whm evry vs hs
rndrd mfrbl, nd evry fly kntmtbl, vlng hmflf on hs Iff
brth, nd bftng ths ilftrs nffttrs, of whm he nhrts nthng
bt the nm or ttl! nfftrs who if thy nu hm, w'd dfn thr
dfndnt wth kntmt. But al prd of ths frt is. fly, nd evr
to be avdd.
CHAP. III.
As the whole of this art depends upon a regular me¬
thod and a fimple alphabet, we have not only endea¬
voured to eftablifh the former on fatisfaftory principles,
but have been careful to appropriate, according to the
comparative frequency of their occurrence, fuch charac¬
ters
(h) By this rule likewife q and v in the middle of words, but never in the beginning, may be exchanged for
h and f, when they admit of an eafier conncfling with the following charafter, or will make the writing appear
neater.
9
Stenogra¬
phic alpha¬
bet.
Hate
DVIL
10
Lines.
It
Circles.
iz
Curves and
lines.
STENOGRAPHY.
693
levs for the letters as, after repeated trials and altera¬
tions, were conceived to be the bed; adapted for dif-
patch.
The ftenographic alphabet conlills of 18 diftinft cha¬
racters (viz. two for the vowels and the red for the con-
fonants), taken from lines and femicircular curves; the
formation and application of which we diall now explain,
beginning with the vowels.
For the three fird vowels, *, e, and /, a comma is ap¬
propriated in different pofitions •, and for the other
three, 0, u, and y, a point. The comma and point,
when applied to a, and 0, is to be placed, as in the Plate
DVII. at the top of the next character ; when for e
and oppofite to the middle j and when for z and y, at
the bottom.
This arrangement of the vowels is the mod fimple
and dittinft that can eafily be imagined. Places at the
top, the middle, and the bottom of charafters, which
make three different pofitions, are as eafily didinguifhed
from one another as any three feparate characters could
be ; and a comma is made with the lame facility as a
point.
Simple lines may be drawn four different ways 5 per¬
pendicular, horizontal, and with an angle of about 45
degrees to the right and left. An afcending oblique
line to the right, which will be perfectly diftinft from
the red; when joined to any other character, may like-
wife be admitted. Thefe characters being the ftmpleft
in nature, are afligned to thofe five conlbnants which
mod; frequently occur, viz. /, r, /, c hard or £, and c foft
or j1.
Every circle may be divided with a perpendicular and
horizontal line, fo as to form likewife four didinCt chaT
racters. Thefe being the next to lines in the fimplicity
of their formation, we have appropriated them for b, d,
«, and m.
The characters exprefling nine of the confonants are
all perfectly didinCt from one another ; eight only re¬
main which are needful, v\z.f,g or j, /z,/>, y, v, w, and
x ; to find characters for which we mud have recourfe
to mixed curves and lines. The characters which we
have adopted are the fimpled in nature after thofe al¬
ready applied, admit of the eafied joining, and tend to
preferve lineality and beauty in the writing.
It muft be obferved that we have no character for c
when it has a hard found, as in cajlle ; or foft, as in citij ;
for it naturally takes the found of k or x, which in all
cafes will be fufficient to fupply its place.
R likewife is reprefented by the fame character as /;
only with this difference, r is written wfith an afcending
droke (l), and / with a defcending j which is always to
be known from the manner of its union with the follow¬
ing character; but in a few monofyllables where r is the
only confonant in the word, and confequently ftands
alone, it is to be made as is drown in the alphabet for
diftinCtion’s fake.
Z, as it is a letter feldom employed in the Englifh
language, and only a coarfer and harder expredion of x,
muft be fupplied by x whenever it occurs j as for Zede-
kiah write Sedekiah, &c.
CHAP. IV.
The prepofitions and terminations in this fcheme aret-or
fo Ample, that the greateft benefit may be reaped from prepofitionS
them, and very little trouble required to attain them ; and termi-
as the incipient letter or the incipient confonant of all1121110115,
the prepofitions and of feveral of the terminations is
ufed to exprefs the whole. But although in Plate
I3VII. fufficient fpecirttens are given of the manner of
their application, that the learner of lefs ingenuity or
more flow perception may have every afiiftance, we have
fubjoined the following directions.
Rule I. The prepofition is always to be rvritten
without joining, yet fo near as plainly to ffiow what
word it belongs to ; and the belt way is to obferve the
fame order as if the whole was to be connected.
Rule II. A prepofition, though the fame letters
that conftitute it may be met with in the middle or end
of a word, is never to be ufed, becaufe it would expofe
to obfcurity.
Rule III. Obferve that the prepofition omni is ex-
preffed by the vowel 0 in its proper pofition; and for
anti, anta, ante, by the vowel a, which the radical part
of the word will eafily diftinguiih from being only fimple
vowels.
The firft rule for the prepofitions is (allowing fuch
exceptions as may be feen in the Plate) to be obferved
for the terminations; and alfo the fecond, mutatis mutan¬
dis ; except that whenever Jis, fus, ftjs, cions, tious, and
ces occur, they are to be expreffed as direCted in the
fourth rule for the confonants, whether in the begin¬
ning, middle, or end of words (k).
Rule IV. The terminative character for tion, Jion,
cion,cian,tian, is to be expreffed by a fmall circle joined
to the neareft letter, and turned to the right; and the
plurals tions,Jions, cions, cians, tians, tience, by a dot on
the fame fide.
Rule V. The terminative character for ing, is to be
expreffed likewife by a fmall circle, but drawn to the
left hand ; and its plural ings by a dot (l).
Rule VI. The plural lign x is to be added to the"
terminative characters when neceffary.
Rule VII. The feparated terminations are never to
be ufed but in polyfyllables or words of more fyllables
than one.
Thefe rules duly obferved will point out a method as
concife and elegant as can be defired, for exprefting the
moft
(1) The character for fi, when lineality requires it, may be made from the bottom and inverted (fee Plate DVII.}-'
And often h may be omitted entirely, or a vowel may be fubftituted in its Head, without any injury to legibility, it
being rather a breathing than letter.
(k) But in a few words where three horizontal characters meet, it will be better to exprefs the fis, See. by the
femielliptical character in Plate DVII. oppofile tious.
(l) In horizontal characters, by the left hand is meant the top, and by the right the fpace below' the letter (L-«
ing joined, Plate DVII.). In all other characters the right and left pofitions will naturally be known,-
STENOGRAPHY.
molt frequent and longelt prepofilions and terminations
in the Englilh language. If it Ihould be thought ne-
cefiary to increafe their number by the addition of
others, it will be an eafy matter for any one of the lead
difccrnment to do fo, by proceeding on the principles
before laid down.
CHAP. V.
Rule* for Though a more concife method of writing, or more
abbrevia- numerous abbreviations, may not be indifpenfably ne-
tion. ceffary, if the foregoing dire&ions be pradtifed for a
confiderable time, yet contradHons wall be found ex¬
tremely ufeful and convenient to thofe who have attain¬
ed a proper knowdedge of the fubjedl, and lead to. a
greater degree of expedition, at the fame time that they
diminilh the labour of waiting. It has been obferved in
the introduction, that abbreviations are only to be em¬
ployed by proficients in this art $ becaufe expedition is
not the firlt, though the ultimate, objedt in view ; and
that an eafy legibility is of the utmoll confequence to
the learner j which, however, cannot be preferved, if
he adopts too foon thofe very rules which in time will
afford him the greateit eafe when applied with judge¬
ment.
The following fhort and pradfical rules will be found,
we hope, fully adequate to every purpofe for which they
were intended, and are far fuperior in the facility of theix
application to any w’hich we have feen.
Rule I. The ufual abbreviations in long hand are al¬
ways to be followed; as Mr for Matter, M. D. for Doc¬
tor of Phyfic, and Abp. tor Archbilhop, Stc.
Rule II. Subttantives, adjedtives, verbs, and parti¬
ciples, when the fenfe will diredt to the meaning, are
to be exprefied by their initial confonant with the di-
flinguilhing marks exhibited in Plate DVil. viz. a fub-
ttantive mutt have the dot exadlly over its initial con-
fonant; an adjedlive mutt have a dot under it; a verb
-is to be expreffed by a comma over its initial confonant ;
and a participle by a comma under (m). Thefe being
the four principal parts of fpeech will be fufficient ; and
an adept will never be at a lofs to know' when he can
with fafety apply this rule to them.
Rule III. To render the writing more legible, the
laft letter of the word may be joined to the firft, and
the proper mark applied.
Rule IV. The conftituent or radical part of words,
efpecially if they are long, will often ferve for the whole,
or fometimes the firft fyliablet as, we ought to mode¬
rate our ex. by our circum.; a man’s man. commonly
fhape his /or. *
Rule V. All long words without exception may
have their prepofitions or terminations exprefled by the
incipient confonant of fuch prepofition or termination.
Rule VI. When there is a great dependence be¬
tween the parts of a fentence, the initial letter wall often
fuffice ; as L. is the capital of Great B.; the eldeft S.
of the king of Great B. is ftyled prince of TV. Every
one, it is prefumed, will allow this to be perfedfly le¬
gible in long-hand, then why may it not in ftenogra-
phy ?
Rule VII. The terminations nejs and /e/s may be
omitted ; as faithfu/ncfs is only to be wnitten faithful;
forwardnefS) forward; heedlefs, heed ; fubbornefsjhib-
born. &c.
Rule VIII. The fecond and third perfons of verbs,
ending in eth and ef, may be expreiTed by s ; as, he
loves, thou teaches ; inttead of he toveth, thou teachcf:
or even without s ; as, he love, &c.
Rule IX. Words may often be entirely omitted,
and yet no ambiguity enfue ; as, In beginning God crea¬
ted heaven and earth, for In the beginning God ciealed
the heaven and the earth.
Rule X. When there is an immediate repetition of
a fentence ©r word, a line is to be drawn under the fen¬
tence or w7ord to be repeated; as, Amen, Amen, is to be
written Amen; but if any words intervene before a
word or lenience is to be repeated, the line mutt be
drawn as before, and a a or mark of omiftion placed
where the repetition fhould begin ; as, Is it jujf the in¬
nocents fhould be condemned a reviled ?
The Contents of the Stenographic Plates,
Fabricius's Reply to Pyrrhus.
As to my poverty, you have indeed, Sir, been rightly Plate
informed. My whole eftate confifts in a houfe of but DVIU.
mean appearance, and a little fpot of ground, from
which by my own labour I draw my fupport. But if
by any means you have been perfuaded to think, that
this poverty makes me lefs confidered in my country,
or in any degree unhappy, you are extremely deceived.
I have no reafon to complain of fortune, Die fupplies me
with all that nature requires; and if I am without fu-
perfluities, I am alfo free from the defire of them.
With thefe I confefs I fhould be more able to fuccour
the neceflitous, the only advantage for which the weal¬
thy are to be envied; but as fmall as my pofltfiions are,
I can ftill contribute fomething to the fupport of the
ftate and the aflittance of my friends. With regard to
honours, my country places me, poor as I am, upon a
level with the richeft : for Rome knowrs ho qualifica¬
tions for great employments but virtue and ability. She
appoints me to officiate in the moft augutt ceremonies
of religion ; flie entrufts me with the command of her
armies; fhe confides to my care the moft important ne¬
gotiations. My poverty does not Itffen the weight and
influence of my counfels in the fenate ; the Roman
people honour me for that very poverty which you con-
fider as a difgrace ; they know the many opportunities
I have had in war to enrich myfelf withoxrt incurring
cenfure; they are convinced of my difinteretted zeal
for their profperity ; and if I have any thing to com¬
plain of in the return they make, it is only the excefs
of their applaufe. What value then can I fet upon
your gold and filver ! What king can add any thing to
my fortune ! Always attentive to difeharge the duties
incumbent
(m) The dot or comma being placed thus will never occafion them to be miftaken for vowels, becaufe they
■fhould always b« on one fide or other; whereas the mark for parts of fpeech may conftantly be placed exactly over
or under.
2
STENOGRAPHY.
incumbent on me, I have a mind free from felf-reproach,
and I have an honeft fame. Dodjleifs Preceptor.
Letter to a Friend againjl wq/Ie of Time.
Converfe often with yourfelf, and neither lavifh your
time, nor fuffer others to rob you of it. Many of our
hours are ftolen from us, and others pafs infenfibly away;
but of both thefe Ioffes the mofl: ftiameful is that which
happens through our own neglect. If we take the
trouble to obferve, we (hall find that one confiderable
part of our life is fpent in doing evil, and the other in
doing nothing, or in doing what w-e (hould not do. We
don’t feem to know the value of time, nor how precious
a day is j nor do wre confider that every moment brings
us nearer our end. Refledt upon this, I entreat you,
and keep a itridt account of time. Procraftination is
the moft dangerous thing in life. Nothing is properly
ours but the infiant we breathe in, and all the reft is
nothings it is the only good we poffefs) but then it is
fleeting, and the firft comer robs us of it. Men are fo
weak, that they think they oblige by giving of trifles,
and yet reckon that time as nothing for which the moft;
grateful perfon in the world can never make amends.
Let us therefore confider time as the moft valuable of
all things •, and every moment fpent, without fome im¬
provement in virtue or fome advancement in goodnefs,
as the greateft fublunary lofs.
St Paul's Speech before Plgrippa and Fefus.
I think myfelf happy, King Agrippa, that I (hall an-
fwer for myfelf this day before thee, touching all things
whereof I am accufed of the Jews : efpecially becaufe
I know thee to be expert in all cuftoms and queftions
which are among the Jews, wherefore I befeech thee to
hear me patiently. My manner of life from my youth,
which was at firft among mine own nation at Jerufalem,
know all the Jews, which knew me from the begin¬
ning (if they would teflify), that, after the ftiaiteft iedt
of our religion I lived a Pharifee. And now I ftand
and am judged for the hope of the promife made by
God unto our fathers : unto which promife our tvrelve
tribes inftantly ferving God day and night hope to
come ; for which hope’s fake, King Agrippa, I am ac¬
cufed of the Jews. Why ftiould it be thought a thing
incredible with you, that God ftrould raife the dead,
when God himfelf has given afiurance of it unto all
men, in that he hath raifed Chrift from the dead ? As
for my owm part, moft noble Feftus, I own I once ve¬
rily thought that even I myfelf ought to do many things
contrary to the name of Jefus of Nazareth. Which
thing I alio did in Jerufalem. I punilhed the faints
olt in every fynagogue, and compelled them to blaf-
pheme •, and being exceedingly mad againft them, I
perfecuted them even unto ftrange cities. In purfuit
of which, as I went to Damafcus, with authority and
comtniffion from the chief priefts : At mid-day, O king,
I Paw in the way a light from heaven, above the bvight-
neis of the fun, fliining about me, and them which jour¬
neyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the
earth, I heard a voice fpeaking unto me, and faying in
tae Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why perfecuteft thou
me ? It is hard for thee to kick againft the pricks.
And I faid, Who art thou, Lord ? And he faid, I am
Jefus whom thou perfecuteft But rife, and ftand up¬
on thy feet; for I have appeared unto thee for this pur-
pofe, to make thee a minifter and a witnefs both of
thele things which thou haft feen, and of thofe things
in which I will appear unto thee. Whereupon, O king
Agrippa, I was not difobedient to the heavenly vifion :
but fhevved firft unto them of Damafcus, and at Jeru¬
falem, and throughout all the coafts of Judea, and then
to the Gentiles, that they fhould repent and turn to
God. For thefe caufes the Jews caught me in the
temple, and went about to kill me. Having therefore
obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, wit-.
nefting both to fmall and great, faying none other things
than thofe wdiich the prophets and Mofes did fay fhould
come : That Chrift ftiould fuffer, and that he fhould be
the firft that ftiould rife from the dead, and fhould fhovv
light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. This is the
real truth : Believe me, I am no peftilent fellow, nor
mover of fedition 5 but always endeavour all that lies
in me to preferve a confcience void of offence towards
God and towards man : nor can the Jews prove the
things whereof they now accufe me. Neither am I,
Feftus, befides myfelf j but fpeak thus freely before the
king, becaufe he knows thefe things to be faft yea, I
am fully perfuaded the king knows them all to be fa£t j
for they were not done in a coiner. King Agrippa,
believeft thou the prophets i1 I know that thou believefL
And would to God that not only thou, but alfo all that
hear me this day, were altogether fuch as I am except
thefe bonds. Holmes's Rhetoric.
Pope to Atierbury.
Once more I w^rite to you as I promlfed, and this
once I fear will be the laft j the curtain will foon be
drawn between my friend and me, and nothing left but
to wifti you a long good night; may you enjoy a ftate
of repofe in this life not unlike that fleep of the foul
which fome have believed is to fucceed it, where we lie
utterly forgetful of that world from which we are gone,
and ripening for that to which we are to go. If you
retain any memory of the paft, let it only image to
you what has pleafed you beft ; fometimes prefent a
dream of an abfent friend, or bring you back an agree¬
able converfation. But, upon the whole, I hope you
will think lei's of the time paft than the future ; as the
former has been lefs kind to you than the latter infal¬
libly will be. Do not envy the world your ftudies :
They will tend to the benefit of men, againft whom
you can have no complaint ; I mean, of all pofterity :
and, perhaps, at your time of life, nothing elfe is worth
your care. What is every year of a wife man’s life
but a cenfure or critic on the paft ? Thofe whole date is
the ihorteft, live long enough to laugh at one half of it:
The boy defpifes the infant, the man the body, the phi-
lofopher both, and the Chriftian all. You may now be¬
gin to think your manhood was too much a puerility j
and you will never fuffer your age to be but a fecoird
infancy. The toys and baubles of your childhood
are hardly norv more below you than thofe toys of
our riper and our declining years j the drums and rat¬
tles of ambition, and the dirt and bubbles of avarice.
At this time, when you are cut off from a little fociety,
and made a citizen of the world at large, you ftiould
bend your talents not to ferve a party, or a few, but ail
mankind. Your genius flrould mount above that mill,
in which its participatioir and neighbourhood with earth
hath long involved it; To (hine abroad, and to heaven,
%6
STENOGRAPHY.
ought to be the bufinefs and the glory of your prefent
lituatkm. Remember it was at fuch a time that the
greateft lights of antiquity dazzled and blazed the moft j
in their retreat, in their exile, or in their death. But
why do I talk of dazzling or blazing ? it was then that
they did good, that they gave light, and that they be¬
came guides to mankind. Thole aims alone are wor¬
thy of fpirits truly great, and fuch I therefore hope
will be yours. Refentment indeed may remain, per¬
haps cannot be quite extinguifhed, in the nobleft minds j
but revenge will never harbour there : Higher principles
than thofe of the firft, and better principles than thofe
of the latter, will infallibly influence men whofe
thoughts and whofe hearts are enlarged, and caufe them
to prefer the whole to any part of mankind, efpecially
to fo fmall a part as one’s Angle felf. Believe me, my
Lord, I look upon you as a fpirit entered into another
life, as one juft upon the edge of immortality, where
the paflions and afteflions muft be much more exalted,
and where you ought to delpife all little views and all
mean retrofpetts. Nothing is worth your looking back :
and therefore look forward, and make (as you can) the
world look after you ; but take care it be not with
pity, but with efteem and admiration. I am, with the
greateft fmcerity and paffion for your fame as well as
happinefs, your, &c.
The above moft charming and moft aflfeflionate let¬
ter was written about a month before Atterbury bi-
ftiop of Rochefter was fent into baniftiment, and is uni-
verfally admired.
S T E
STENTOROPHONIC tube, a fpeaking trumpet;
thus called from Stentor, a perfon mentioned by Homer.
See Trumpet.
STEP, in a (hip, a block of wood fixed on the decks
or bottom of a {hip, and having a hole in its upper fide,
fitted to receive the heel of a maft or capftern. The
Heps of the main and foremafts of every (hip reft upon
the kelfon, to which they are firmly fecured by knees,
bolts, or fpike-nails. The ftep of the mizen-maft ufually
lefts upon the lower deck.
STEPHANIUM, a genus of plants belonging to
the pentandria clafs ; and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 47th order, Stellated. See Botany In¬
dex.
STEPHANOPHORUS, in antiquity, the chief
prieft of Pallas, who prefided over the reft. It was
ufual for every god to have a chief prieft ; that of Pal¬
las was the Stephanophorus juft mentioned, and that of
Hercules was called Dadouchus.—Stephanophorus was
alfo a prieft who aflifted the women in the celebration
of the feftival Thefmophoria.
STEPHANUS Byzantinus, an able grammarian,
who lived in the fifth or fixth century. He w'rote a
Didtionary, in which he made a great number of obfer-
vations, bomwed from mythology and hiftory, which
fhowed the origin of cities and colonies, of which we
have nothing remaining but a mean abridgement by Her-
molaus the grammarian ; but from that work the learn¬
ed have received great light; and Sigonius, Cafaubon,
Scaliger, Salmalius, &c. have employed themfelves in
illuftrating it.
STEPHEN, king of England. See England,
N° 108, &c.
Stephen, or St Stephen’s Day, a feftival of the Chri-
ftian church, obferved on the 26th of December, in me¬
mory of the firft martyr St Stephen.
STEPHENS, a family of printers defervedly celebra¬
ted. They flourifhed at the time of the revival of learning,
and contributed a great deal towards difpelling the cloud
of ignorance which had fo long overfhadow'ed Europe.
Some of the dailies before the 16th century were in a
great meafure loft, and all of them were exceedingly
S T E
corrupted. By their abilities and indefatigable induftry St .
thefe defedts were fupplied, and the learned were furnifti- ■ ,
ed with beautiful and corredt editions of the Greek and
Roman authors. Thus the world was not only fupplied
with an inexhauftible fund of amufement and inftrudtion
in thefe ancient writings; but it is to the ardour which
they infpired, and to the model of elegance which they
difplayed, that the prefent advanced ftate of literature is
in a great meafure owing.
Henry Stephens, the firft of thefe illuftrious men,
was born in France, foon after the difeovery of print¬
ing, perhaps about the year 1465. He fettled as a
printer at Paris, and was probably patronized by Louis
XII. A great proportion of the books which he pub-
lilhed were Latin : They are printed in the Roman
letter, and are not inelegant, though fome of them
abound rather too much in contradlions. He died about
the year 152c, and left behind him three fons, Francis,
Robert, and Charles. His widow married Simeon de
Colines {Colineeus in Latin), who thus got poffeflion of
Henry’s printing-houfe, and continued the profeflion till
his death.
Of Francis, the eldeft fon, little more is known than
that he carried on bufinefs along with his father-in-law
Colinasus, and that he died at Paris in 1550.
Robert Stephens, the fecond fon, was born in 1503.
In his youth he made great proficiency in the Roman,
Greek, and Hebrew languages, and at the age of 19
had acquired fo much knowledge, that his father-in-law
entrufted him with the management of his prefs. An
edition of the New Teftament was publiflied under his
infpeftion, which gave great offence to the Paris divines,
who accufed him of herefy, and threatened to prevent
the fale of the book. Soon after he began bufinefs him-
felf, and married Perrete the daughter of Jodocus Ra¬
dius, a printer and an author. She was a woman of
learning, and underftood Latin, which indeed was the
neceffary confequence of her fituation. Her hufband
always entertained a number of learned men as corre&ors
of the prefs: Being foreigners, and of different nations,
they made ufe of no other language but Latin ; which
Perrete being accuftomed to hear, was able in a fhori tim«
not
it5* rs
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Plate l>Vn.
Double/ and Tnjblo/
Consonants.
let. Char. Arb. Abbrcv.
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I
S T E
Stephens, not only to underftand, but even to fpeak with tolerable
—y——'
In 1531 he publilhed his Latin “ Thefaurus 5” a
work of great importance, which he laboured at for two
vears. The mark which he put upon all his books was
a tree branched, with a man looking upon it, and thefe
words noli ahum fapere, to which he fometimes added
fed tune. In 1539, Francis I. made him his printer,
and ordered a new let of elegant types to be founded
for him. His frequent editions of the New' Teftament
gave great oftence to the doftors of the Sorboane, who
accufed him of herefy for his annotations, and infilled
upon the fupprelfion of fome of his books. Although
Henry the French king in fome meafure protected him,
the perfecution of thefe divines rendered him fo unhappy,
not to mention the expence and lofs of time which an
almoft conftant attendance at court unavoidably occa'-
fioned, that in 1552 he abandoned his country and urent
to Geneva. Here he embraced the Proteftant religion,
and thus jultified in fome meafure the fufpicions of his
theological enemies. It has been affirmed by feveral
writers that he carried along wdth him the royal types,
and the moulds alfo in which they were call j but it is
certain that he never afterwards made ufe of thofe types.
Befides, is it poffible that the author of fo daring a theft
could have been not only protected in Geneva, but even
courted and honoured by the moft eminent men of the
age ? Is it credible that fuch a crime could have been
concealed for 60 years •, or that Henry, the fon and heir
of the perpetrator, wmuld have enjoyed the favour of the
French king, if Robert Stephens had afted fuch a Ihame-
ful part ? If he was burnt in effigy at Paris, it was not
for theft, but for having changed his religion. After
his arrival at Geneva, he publiffied an account of the
difpute between him and the Paris divines, which does
as much honour to his abilities as his Thefaurus does
to his learning. He died in 1559, after a life of the
molt extraordinary indultry. The books of which he
was the editor were not fewrer than 360. Many of them
were ancient claffics in different languages. Several
were accompanied with annotations wnich he ccllefted,
and all of them were correfted by collating manufcripts.
He wTas fo anxious to obtain perfe£t accuracy, that he
ufed to expofe his proofs in public, and reward thofe who
difcovered a miltake. His books confequently were very
correct. It is faid that his New Teftament, called 0
Mirificam (becaufe the preface begins with thefe words),
has not a fingle fault.
It was Robert Stephens who firft divided the New
Tellament into verfes during a journey between Paris
and Lyons. The advantages of this improvement are
fully counterbalanced by its defefts. It has deftroyed
the unity of the books, and induced many commentators
to confider every verfe as a diffinft and independent
aphorifm. To this in fome meafure is to be afcribed the
many abfurd interpretations and creeds that have been
forced out of that book.
By his lalt will his eftate was left exclufively to fuch
of his children as ffiould fettle at Geneva. He left be¬
hind him three fons, Henry, Robert, and Francis.
Charles Stephens, the third fon of Henry, was,
like the reft of his family, familiarly acquainted with
the learned languages. This recommended him to La¬
zarus de Baif, who made him tutor to his fon, and in
1540 carried him along with him to Germany. He
Vol. XIX. Part II.
S T E
ftudied medicine, and prattifed it with fuccefs in Fiance. Stephen*.
He did not, however, forfake the profeffion of his fami- ^ ^
ly, but exercifed it in Paris, where he became the editor
of many books remarkable for neatnefs and elegance.
He wrote above thirty treatifes on difterent fubjedfs,
particularly on botany, anatomy, and hiftory. He died
in 1564.
Robert Stephens, the fon of Robert the firft of
that name, did not accompany his father to Geneva,
but continued to profefs the Catholic religion, and tu
refide at Paris. His letter was remarkably beautiful.—
He was made king’s printer, and died about 1589*
His brother Francis was alfo a printer. ^ He em¬
braced the Proteftant religion, and refided at Geneva.
Henry Stephens, the remaining fon ot Robert,
was bom at Paris in 1528. He became the moft learn¬
ed and moft celebrated of all his family. From his very
birth almoft he gave proofs of uncommon abilities, and
difplayed an ardent paffion for knowledge. 1 he Medea
of Euripides, which he faw adted while at Ichool, firft
kindled his love for poetry, and infpired him with the
defire of acquiring the language in which that tragedy
is written. He intreated his father not to condemn him
to ftudy Latin, which he already underftood from con-
verfation, but to initiate him at once into the knowledge
of Greek. His father willingly granted his requeft j
and Henry applied with fuch vigour, that in a fhort time
he could repeat the Medea by heart. He afterwards
ftudied Greek under Peter Danefius, who was tutor to
the Dauphin, and finally he^rd the leftures of Tufanus
and Turnebus. He became eager at an early age to
underftand aftrology, and accordingly attended a pro-
feffor of that myfterious art; but he was not long in dif-
covering its abfurdity. At 19 he began his travels,
which he undertook in order to examine foreign libraries,
and to become acquainted wdth learned men. He fpent
two years in Italy, and returned into France completely
mafter of Italian, and bringing along wdth him copies of
feveral fcarce authors, particularly a part of Anacreon,
which before was thought loft.
He found his father publifhing an edition of the New
Teftament, to which he prefixed fome Greek verfes.-—
Soon after, he vifited England and the Netherlands,
where he met with John Clement, an Engliftiman, to
w'hom he was indebted for the remaining odes of Ana¬
creon. During this journey he learned the Spanifti lan¬
guage, which was very much fpoken at that time in the
Low Countries.
Whether Henry accompanied his father to Geneva or
not is uncertain •, at lead he muft have returned imme¬
diately to France, for we find him foon after eftablifiied
at Paris, and publiffiing the odes of Anacreon. In 1554
he went to Rome, and thence to Naples, d his journey
was undertaken at the requeft, and in the fervice, of the
French government. He was difcovered, and would
have been arrefted as a fpy, had he not by his addrefs
and fkill in the language of the country been able to
pafs himfelf for a native of Italy. On his. return to
France he affumed the title of printer to Ulric Fugger,
a very rich and learned German nobleman, who allowed
him a confiderable penfion.
In 1560 he married a relation, as is generally fuppo-
fed, of Henry Scrimgeour, a Scotch nobleman, with
whom he rvas intimately acquainted. She was a wo¬
man, as he himfelf informs us, endowed with the nobleft
4 T fpkii
[ 697 ]
S T E [ 698 ] S T E
Stephens, fpirit and tlie moll amiable difpofitions. Her death,
l"'"" V' —1 -which happened in 1586, brought on a difeafe that had
twice attacked him before. It was a difguft at all thofe
purfuits which had formerly charmed him, an averfion
to reading and the fight of books. It was probably
occafioned by too conftant and fevere an application to
literary purfuits. In 1572 he publithed his Thefaurus
Linguce Greece?, one of the greateft works, perhaps, that
ever was executed by one man, if we confider the wretch¬
ed materials which more ancient dictionaries could fur-
niih, if we confider the fize and perfection of the work,
and the immenfe labour and learning which mult have
been employed in the compilation. This work had been
carried on at a greater expence than he could well bear.
He expeCted to be reimbuiied by the fale of the book,
See Sea- but he w’as unfortunately dilappointed. John Scapula,
pula. one 0f jjjg own fervants, extracted from it whatever he
thought would be molt ferviceable to Itudents, and pub-
lilhed it beforehand in 4th. By this aCt of treachery
Henry w7as reduced to poverty.
About this time he was much beloved by Henry III.
of France, who treated him fo kindly, and made him
flich flattering promifes, that he refided frequently at
court. But thefe promifes were never fulfilled, owing
to the civil wars which foon after diltraCted France,
and the unfortunate death of King Henry himfelf. Du¬
ring the remainder of his life his fituation was very un¬
fettled. We find him fometimes at Paris, fometimes in
Geneva, in Germany, and even in Hungary. He died
at Lyons in 1598, at the age of 70. He was fond of
poetry from his very infancy. It wras a cultom of his
to compofe verfes on horfeback, and even to write them,
though he generally rode a very mettlefome deed. His
Thefaurus wTas his great work, but he was alfo the au¬
thor of feveral other treatifes. His poems are numerous:
His Apology for Herodotus is a witty fatire on the
Roman Catholics. His Concordance to the New Tef-
tament mull have been a laborious work, and has de-
fervedly endeared him to every Chriftian who wilhes to
acquire a rational and critical knowledge of the Scrip¬
tures. The number of books which he publilhed,
though fewer than his father, wras great, and fuperior in
elegance to any thing which the world had then feen.
A great proportion of them wTere Greek ) he was the
editor, however, of many Roman and even of fome eait-
ern writings. His Greek clalfics are remarkably cor-
veCt 5 the principal of them are Homer, Anacreon, Alf-
chylus, Maximus Tyrius, Diodorus Siculus, Pindar, Xe¬
nophon, Thucydides, Herodotus, Sophocles, Diogenes
Laertius, Plutarch, Plato, Apollonius Rhodius, Aif-
chines, Lyfias, Callimachus, Theocritus, Herodian, Di-
onyfius Hallicarnailenfis, Dion Caflius, Ifocrales, Appi-
nn, Xiphilin, &c. His temper in the latter part of his
life is reprefented as haughty and fevere, owing probably
to his difappointments. He left behind him a fon and
two daughters, one of whom was married to the learned
Ifaac Cafaubon.
Paue Stephens, the fon of Henry, continued his
father’s profefiion at Geneva. He was a man of learn¬
ing, and u’rote tranflations of feveral books, and publilh¬
ed a confiderable number of the ancient claflics 5 but his
editions poffefs little of his father’s elegance. Fie died
in 1627, at the age of 60, after felling his types to one
Chouet a printer.—His fon Antony, the lalt printer
of the family, abandoned the Pi-otellant religion, and re¬
turned to France, the country of his ancefiors. He re¬
ceived letters of naturalization in 1612, and was made
printer to the king j but managing his affairs ill, he was
reduced to poverty, and obliged to retire into an hofpi-
tal, where he died in 1674, miferable and blind, at the
age of 80.
SLERCORARIANS, or Stercoranistje, formed
from Jicrcus “ dung,” a name which thofe of the Ro-
mith church anciently gave to fuch as held that the holf
was liable to digeftion, and all its confequences, like
other food.
Stephens-
it
Stereome¬
ter.
STERCULIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs monoecia $ and in the natural fy Item ranging under
the 38th order, tricoccea\ See Botany Index.
S L EREOGRAPHIC projection, is the projedfion
of the circles of the Iphere on the plane of fome one great
circle, the eye being placed in the pole of that circle.
See Projection of the Sphere.
STEREOMETER, an inttrument Invented in France
for mealuring the volume of a body, however irregular,
without plunging it in any liquid. If the volume of air
contained in a veffel be meafured, when the vefiel con¬
tains air only, and alfo when it contains a body whofe
volume is required to be known, the volume of air af-
certained by the firft meafurement, dedudtir.g the volume
afeertained by the fecond, will be the volume of the bo¬
dy ilfelf. Again, if the volume of any mafs of air be
inverlely as the preffure to which it is lubjedfed, the
temperature being fuppofed contlant, it will be eafy to de¬
duce, from the mathematical relations of quantity, the
whole bulk if the difference between the two bulks un¬
der two known preffures be obtained by experiment.
Suppofe that the firft preffure is double the lecond,
or the fecond volume of air double the firft, and the dif¬
ference equal to 50 cubic inches j the firft volume of air
will likewife be 50 cubic inches. The defign of the fte-
reometer is to afeertain this difference at two known pref¬
fures.
The inftrument is a kind of funnel AB (fig. 1.) com- Plate
pofed of a capfule A, in which the body is placed, and D1X-
the tube B as uniform in the bore as can be procured. I*
The upper edge of the capfule is ground with emery,
that it may be hermetically clofed with a glafs cover M
flightly greafed. A double fcale is palled on the tube,
having two fets of graduations ; one to denote the
length, and the other the capacities, as determined by
experiment.
When this inftrument is ufed, it muft be plunged in¬
to a veffel of mercury, with the tube very upright, till
the mercury rife within and without to a point C of the
fcale. See fig. 2. pjgi 2<
The capfule is then clofed with the cover, which be-
ing gveafed will prevent its communication between
the external air and that contained within the capfule
and tube.
In this fituation of the inftrument, the internal air is
compreffed by the weight of the atmofphere, expreffed
by the length of the mercury in the tube of the common
barometer.
The inftrument is then elevated, ftill keeping the tube
in the vertical pofition. It is thus reprefented, fig. 2.
feccnd pofition. The mercury defeends in the tube, but
not to the level of the external furface, and a column of
mercury DE remains fufpended in the tube, the height
of which is known by the fcale. The interior air is lefs
compreffed
S OIL S Analysis of.
’
.
'
'
■
, -
■
«
S T E
[
Stereome- ccmpreffed ihan before, the increafe of its volume being
ter equal to the rvhole capacity of the tube from C to D,
StereiLy.1™11^^ by fthe (eCOnd ^ ,
v-- It is thereiore known that the prenures are in propor¬
tion to the barometrical column, and to the fame co¬
lumn —DE. The bulks of the air in thefe two ttates
are inverfely in the fame proportion ; and the difference
between thefe bulks is the abfolute quantity left void in
the tube by the fall of the mercury ; from which data
the following rule ,is deduced. Multiply the number
exprefling the lefs preflure by that which denotes the
augmentation of capacity, and divide the product by the
number which denotes the difference of the prelfures.
The quotient is the bulk of the air when fubjedt to the
greater preffure.
Suppofe the height of the mercury in the barometer
to be 78 centimetres, and the inftrument being empty
to be plunged into the mercury to the point C. It is
then covered and railed till the fmall column of mer¬
cury DE is fufpended, fay at the height of fix centi¬
metres. The internal air at firft compreffed by a force
reqjrefented by 78 centimetres, is now only compreffed
by a force =: 72 centimetres, or 78 — 6 = 72.
Suppofe that the capacity of the part CD of the tube
which the mercury has quitted is two cubic centimetres.
72
Then -C- x 2 = 24 cubical centimetres, the volume of
the air included in the inftrument when the mercury rofe
as high as C in the tube.
The body of which the volume is to be afeertained
muft then be placed in the capfule, and the operation
repeated. Let the column of mercury fufpended be
=r8 centimetres, when the capacity of the part CD of
the tube is = 2 centimetres cubic. Then the greateft
preffure being denoted by 78 centimetres, the leaft wall
be 70 centimetres, the difference of preffure being 8,
and difference of the volumes tw7o cubic centimetres.
70
Hence -C- x 2 gives the bulk of the included air under
O
the greateft preffure 17.5 cubic, centimetres. Then
24 —17.5 =6.5 the volume of the body introduced.
If the abfolute w'eight of the body be multiplied by its
bulk in centimetres, and divided by the abfolute weight
of one cubic centimetre of diftilled water, the quotient
will be =r the fpecific gravity of the body in the com¬
mon form of the tables, where diftilled water is taken as
unity, or the term of comparifon.
Mr Nicholfon fuppofes that the author of the inven¬
tion had not finilhed his meditations on the fubjecl. If
he had, it is probable that he would have determined
his preffures, as well as the meafures of bulks, by weight.
For if the whole inftrument were fet to its pofitions by
Fig. 3. fufpending it from one arm of a balance at H (fig. 3.)
the quantity of counterpoife, when in equilibrio, might
be applied to determine the preffures to a degree of ac¬
curacy much greater than can be obtained by linear
meafurement.
STEREOMETRY, Sr^se^sTg;*, formed of
folid, and fitr^ov meafure, that part of geometry which
teaches how to meafure folid bodies, i. e. to find the fo-
lidity or folid contents of bodies j as globes, cylinders,
cubes, veffels, {hips, &c.
STEREOTOMY, formed from and
699 ] ST E
feBion, the art or a& of cutting folids, or making fee- Stereotype
tions thereof •, as walls and other membranes in the pro- R
files of architecture. Stem med.
STEREOTYPE PRINTING, a method of printing,
which wras introduced into this country by William Ged
of Edinburgh before the middle of the i8lh century,
and which has been revived of late, and greatly im¬
proved by the French. It has alfo been brought into
pradftice in Britain by Earl Stanhope, who has produced
fome beautiful fpeciraens of it. Some perfons feem dif-
pofed to difpute the invention of Ged, feeing that the
fame method of printing by wooden blocks was pradtifed
by the Chinefe and Japanefe many hundred years ago.
See Ged, life of and Printing.
STERILITY, barrennefs, in oppofition to fertility.
It has been afferted by many authors, that all monfters
produced by a mixture of different fpecies of animals,
luch as mules, are barren 5 but this does not hold uni-
verfally, even with the mule, which is the inftance moft
generally adduced.
Sterility in women fometimes happens from a mifear-
riage, or violent labour injuring fome of the genital
parts j but one of the moil frequent caufes is the fup-
preflion of the menftrual flux.—There are other caufes
aidfing from various difeefes incident to thofe parts, by
which the uterus may be unfit to receive or retain the
male feed ;—from the tubas fallopianae being too lliort,
or having loft their eredtive power j in either of which
cafes no conception can take place 5-—from univerfal de¬
bility and relaxation j or a local debility of the genital
fyftem j by which means, the parts having loft their
tone or contradlile power, the femen is thrown off im¬
mediately pojl coitum ;—from im perforation of the va¬
gina, the uterus, or the tubce, or from difeafed ova, &c.
Hence medical treatment can only avail in cafes arifing
from topical or univerfal debility 5 in corredting irregu¬
larities of the menftrual flux, or in removing tumors,
cicatrices, or conftridlions of the paffage, by the art of
furgery.
STERIS, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs
pentandria. See Botany Index.
STERLING, an epithet by which genuine Englifti
money is diftinguilhed. It is unneceffary to mention
the various conjedfuries of antiquaries about the origin
and meaning of this appellation. The moft probable Henry's
opinion feems to be this, that fome artifts from Ger- Hijlory of.
many, who were called FJierlings, from the fituation of
their country, had been employed in fabricating our .jJ[<
money, which confifted chiefly of filver pennies j and
that from them the penny was called an ejlerling, and
our money ejlerling or Jlerling money.
STERN, the pofterior face of a (hip ; or that part
which is reprefented to the view of a fpedlator, placed
on the continuation of the keel behind. The (tern is
terminated above by the taffarel, and below by the coun¬
ters ; it is limited on the fides by the quarter-pieces, and
the intermediate fpac? comprehends the galleries and
windows of the different cabins. See QUARTER of a
Ship, Ship, and Ship-building.
STERN-FaJl, a rope ufed to confine the ftern of a (hip
or boat to any wharf or jetty head, &c.
STERN-MoJl, in fea language, ufually denotes that
part of a fleet of drips which is in the rear, or fartheft:
a-ftern, as oppofed to head-moft.
4 T 2 Stern-
Stern-Port
Sten.e.
S T E [ 700
STERN-PoJ, a long ft might piece of timber erefted
on the extremity of the keel, to fuftain the rudder and
terminate the Ihip behind.
This piece ought to be well fecured and fuppbrted ;
becaufe the ends of all the lower planks of the (hip’s
bottom are fixed in a channel, cut on its furface } and
the whole weight of the rudder is iuftained by it.
STERN-Sheets, that part of a boat which is contained
between the ftern and the aftmoft or hindmoft feat of
the rowers. It is generally furnifhed with benches to
accommodate the paffengers. See Boat.
STERNA, the Tern •, a genus of birds arranged
under the order of palmipedes. See Ornithology In¬
dex.
STERNE, Laurence, an Englifh writer of a very
peculiar caft, was born at Clotnwell, in the fouth of Ire¬
land, on 24th November 1713. His father Roger
Sterne was the grandfon of Sterne archbilhop of York,
who has been fuppofed, we know not upon what grounds,
to have been the author of the excellent book entitled
“ The Whole Duly of Man.” Laurence inherited no¬
thing of his anceftor’s manner of writing, but rather re-
lembled Rabelais, whofe wit he carried with him even
into the pulpit.
In 1722 he was fent to fchool at Halifax in York-
fhire, where he continued till 1732, when he was re¬
moved to Jefus College in Cambridge. How long he
refided in college, or what progrefs he made in litera¬
ture or fcience, is not known : his works difplay rather
native genius than profound erudition. Upon quitting
the unxverfity he wrent to York, and being in orders w-as
prefented to the living of Sutton by the intereft of his
uncle Dr Sterne, a prebendary of that church. In 1741
he married, and was foon afterwards made a prebendary
of York, by the intereft alfo of his uncle, who was then
upon very good terms with him •, but “ quickly quar¬
relled with him (he fays), and became his bittereft ene¬
my, becaufe he wrould not be a party man, and write
paragraphs in the newfpapers.” By his wife’s means he
got the living of Stillington, but remained near 20
years at Sutton, doing duty at both places. He was
then in very good health, which, however, foon after
iorfook him; and books, painting, fiddling, and {hoot¬
ing, w’ere, as he tells us, his amufements.
In 1760, he wTent to London to publilh his twro
firft volumes of “ Triftram Shandy j” and was that
year prefented to the curacy of Coxwmld. In 1762 he
went to France, and two years after to Italy, for the
recovery of his health •, but his health never was reco¬
vered. He languiflied under a confumption of the
lungs, without the flighteft depreflion of fpirits, till
1768, when death put a period to his terreftrial exift-
cnce.
The works of Sterne are very generally read. They
confift of, 1. The Life and Opinions of Triftram Shan¬
dy ; 2. Sermons *, 3. A Sentimental Journey *, 4. Let¬
ters, publilhed iince his death. In every ferious page,
and in many of much levity, the author writes in praife
of benevolence, and declares that no one who knew him
oould fuppofe him one of thofe wretches -who heap mis¬
fortune upon misfortune : But we have heard anecdotes
of him extremely well authenticated, which proved that
it was eafier for him to praife this virtue than to
praftife it. His wit is univerfally allowed ; but many
senders have peifuaded themfelves that they found wit
] S T E
in his blank pages, while it is probable that he intended
nothing but to amufe himfelf with the idea of the Urge
conjectures to which thefe pages xvould give occafion.
Even his originality is not fuch as is generally fuppofed
by thofe fond admirers of the Shandean manner, who
have prefumed to compare him with Swift, Arbuthnot,
and Butler. He has borrowed both matter and manner
from various authors, and in particular from an old
work, “ The Anatomy of Melancholy by Burton,” as
every reader may be convinced by the learned, elegant,
and candid comments on his works publilhed by Dr Fer-
riar, in the fourth volume of the Memoirs of the Lite¬
rary and Philofophical Society of Manchefter.
STERNOCOSTALES, commonly called the muf-
culi triangulares Jlerni, in Anatomy, are five pairs of
flelhy planes, difpofed more or lets obliquely on each fide
the fternum, on the infides of the cartilages of the fe-
cond, third, fourth, fifth, and fixth true ribs.
STERNO-hyoiDjEUS, in Anatomy. See Table of
the Mufcles, under the article Anatomy.
STERNOM ANTIS, in antiquity, a defignation gi¬
ven to the Delphian prieftefs, more ufually called Pr-
thia.—Sternomantis is alfo ufed for any one that had
a prophefying demon within him.
STERNOMASTOIDiEUS, a mufcle. See Table
of the Mufcles, under Anatomy.
STERNOTHYROIDEUS, a mufcle. See Table
of the Mufcles, under Anatomy.
STERNUM. See Anatomy Index.
STERNUTATIVE, or Sternutatory, a medi»
cine proper to produce fneezing. See Sneezing.
STETIN, or Stettin, a fea-port town of Germany,
in the circle of Upper Saxony, and capital of Hither
Pomerania,, with the title of a duchy, and a caftle. Iti: u
had long a famous fchool, which the wars of Germany
never difturbed. The ancient dukes of Pomerania re¬
fided here ; and it was taken by the eledlor of Branden¬
burg in 1676, but given to Sweden by the treaty of
Nimeguen. In 1713 it fubmitted to the allies j and
then the faid eleCIor was put in poffeftion again of this
important place, which is a bulwark to the marche of
Brandenburg ; and the fortifications have been greatly
improved. It is now a fiourifhing place, and carries on
a confiderable trade. It is feated on the river Oder, 72
miles north of Francfort, and 70 north by eaft of Ber¬
lin. E. Long. 14. 38. N. Lat. 53.35. The duchy is
125 miles in length, and borders upon Mecklenburg,
and partly upon Brandenburg. The bieadth is from 17
to 25 miles, and it is divided by the river Oder into
two parts.
STEW, a fmall kind of fifti-pond, the peculiar ufe
of which is to maintain fi(h, and keep them in readinefs
for the daily ufe of the family, &c.
Stews (from the French efuves, i. e. thermce, bal¬
neum), thofe places which were permitted in England
to women of profeffed incontinency ; fo called, becaufe-
diflblute perfons are wont to prepare themfelves for ve-
nereous a£ts by bathing ; and hot baths W’ere by Homer
reckoned among the effeminate fort of pleafures. Thefe
ftews were fuppreffed by King Henry VIII. about the
year 1546.
STEWARD (fenefcallus, compounded of the Saxon
feda, i. e. “ room” or “ ftead,” and nxteard, “ a ward” or
“ keeper”), an officer appointed in another’s ftead or
place, and always taken for a principal officer within his
jurifdi£Uon>,.
Sterne
y
Steward.
S T E
[ 7°
Sttward. jurirdiaiGn. Of thefe there are various kinds. The
v——' greateft officer under the crown is the lord high-fteward
of England, an office that was anciently the inheritance
of the earls of Leicefter, till forfeited ^ by Simon de
Mountfort to King Henry III. But the power of this
officer is fo very great, that it has not been judged fafe
to trull it any longer in the hands of a fubjed, except¬
ing only pro hoc vice, occafionally : as to officiate at a
coronation, at the arraignment of a nobleman for high-
treafon, or the like. During his office, the lleward
bears a white ilaff in his hand ; and the trial, &c. end¬
ed, he breaks the ftaff, and with it his eommiffion ex¬
pires. There is likewife a lord-fteward of the king’s
houfehold, who is the chief officer of the king’s court,
has the care of the king’s houfe, and authority o'ver all
the officers and fervants of the houfehold, except luch
as belong to the chapel, chamber, and liable.
Steward, an officer in a fhip of war, appointed by
the purfer to dillribute the different fpecies of provi-
fions to the officers and crew 3 for which purpofe he is
furnilhed with a mate and proper affillants.
Court of the Lord High STEWARD of Great Britain,
is a court inftituted for the trial of peers inditted for
s treafon or felony, or for mifprihon of either. The office
of this great magiftrate is very ancient, and was former¬
ly hereditary, or at lead held for life, or dum benefe gef
ferit: but now it is ufually, and hath been for many cen¬
turies pad, granted pro hac vice only 3 and it hath been
the condant praaice (and therefore feems now to have
become neceffary) to grant it to a lord of parliament,
clfe he is incapable to dry fuch delinquent peer. When
fuch an indiament is therefore found by a grand jury
of freeholders in the King’s bench, or at the affizes be-
r e the judices of oyer anffi terminer, it is to be removed
uy a writ of certiorari into the court of the lord high-
deward, which has the only power to determine it. A
peer may plead a pardon before the court of King’s-
bench, and the judges have power to allow it, in order
to prevent the'trouble of appointing an high-deward
merely for the purpofe of receiving fuch plea : but he
may not plead in that inferior court any other plea, as
guilty or not guilty of the indiament, but only in this
court 3 becaufe, in confequence of fuch plea, it is pof-
fible that judgement of death might be awarded againd
him. The king, therefore, in cafe a peer be indiaed of
treafon, felony, or mifprifion, creates a lord high-deward
pro hac vice by commiffion under the great feal 3 which
recjtes the indiament fo found, and gives his Grace
power to receive and try it fecundum legem et confuetu-
dlncm Hnglice. Then when the indiament is regularly
removed by writ of certiorari, commanding the inferior
court to certify it up to him, the lord high-deward di-
reas a precept to a ferjeant at arms, to fummon the
lords to attend and try the indiaed peer. This pre¬
cept was formerly iffued to fummon only 18 or 20 fe-
kaed from the body of the peers 3 then the number
came to be indefinite 3 and the cudom was for the lord-
high-deward to furmnon as many as he thought proper
^but of late years not lefs than 23) 3 and that thofe
lords only fnould fit upon the trial 3 which threw a
inondrous weight of power into the hands of the crown,
and this its great officer, of fekaing only fuch peers as
the then predominant party diould mod approve of.
And accordingly, when the earl of Clarendon fell into
di(grace with Charles II. there was a defign formed to
T.lackJL
Comment
vol. IV.
1 ] S T E
prorogue the parliament, in order to try him- by- a-fe-q Steward,
left number of peers; it being doubted whether the
whole houfe could be induced to fall in with the views
of the court. But noxv, by datute 7 W. III. c. 3. up¬
on all trials of peers for treafon or mifprifion, all the
peers who have a right to fit and vote in parliament,
diall be fummoned at lead 20 days before fuch trial, to
appear and vote therein 3 and every lord appearing {hall
vote in the trial of fuch peer, fird taking the oaths of
allegiance and fupremacy, and lubferibing the declara¬
tion againd popery.
During the leffion of parliament, the trial of an in¬
dicted peer is not properly in the court of the lord high-
deward, but before the court lad mentioned of our lord
the king in parliament. It is true, a lord high-deward
is always appointed in that cafe to regulate and add
weight to the proceedings: but he is rather in the na¬
ture of a fpeaker pro tempore, or chairman of the court,
than the judge of it 3 for the colleftive body of the peers
are therein the judges both of law and faft, and the
high-deward has a vote with the red in right of his
peerage. But in the court of the lord high-deward,
which is held in the recefs of parliament, he is the foie
judge of matters of law, as the lords triors are in matters
of faft 3 and as they may not interfere with him in re¬
gulating the proceedings of the court, fo he has no
right to intermix with them in giving any vote upon
the trial. Therefore, upon the conviftion and attain¬
der of a peer for murder in full parliament, it hath been
holden by the judges, that in cafe the day appointed in
the judgement for execution diould lapfe betore execu¬
tion done, a new time of execution may be appointed
by either the high court of parliament during its fit¬
ting, though no high-deward be exiding, or, in the re¬
cefs of parliament, by the court of King’s-bench, the
record being removed into that court.
It has been a point of fome controverfy, whether the
bidiops have now a right to fit in the court of tbe.lerd-
high-deward to try indiftments of treafon and milpri-
fion. Some incline to imagine them included under
the general words of the datute of King William “ all
peers who have a right to dt and vote in parliament 3”
but the expreffion had been much ckarer, if it had been
“ all lords,” and not “ all peers 3” for though biffiops,
on account of the baronies annexed to their bidioprics,
are clearly lords of parliament, yet their blood not be¬
ing ennobled, they are not univerfally allowed to be
peers with the temporal nobility : and perhaps this
word might be inferted purpofely with a view to ex¬
clude them. However, there is no indance of their fit?
ting on trials for capital offences, even upon impeach¬
ments or indiftments in full parliament, much lefs In the
court we are now treating of 3 lor indeed they ufually
withdraw voluntarily, but enter a proted, declaring their
right to day. It is obfervable, that in the nth chap¬
ter of the conditutions of Clarendon, made in parliament
nth Henry II. they are exprefsly excufed, rather than
excluded, from fitting and voting in trials, which con¬
cern life or limb : epifcopi,ficut ca-teri bar ones, debent
intere[fe judiens cum baronibus, quoufque perveniatur ad.
dimmulionem membrorum vel ad mortem. And Becket’s
quarrel with the king hereupon was not on account of
the exception (which was agreeable to the canon law),
but of the general rule, that compelled the bifhops to
attend at all. And the determination of the houfe of
lords
S T E [70
lords in the earl of Danby’s cafe, which hath ever fmce
been adhered to, is confonant to thefe conflitutions;
“ that the lords fpiritual have a right to Hay and fit in
court in capital cafes, till the court proceeds to the vote
of guilty or not guilty.” It mult be noted, that this
refolution extends only to trials in full parliament 5 for
to the court of the lord high-fteward (in which no vote
can be given, but merely that of guilty or not guilty),
no bifliop, as fuch, ever was or could be fummoned: and
though the ftatute of King William regulates the pro¬
ceedings in that court, as well as in the court of parlia¬
ment, yet it never intended to new-model or alter its
conflitution j and confequently does not give the lords
Ipiritual any right, in cafes of blood, which they had
not before. And what makes their exclufion more rea-
fonable is, that they have no right to be tried themfelves
in the court of the lord high-fteward, and therefore
furely ought not to be judges there. For the privilege
of being thus ttied depends upon nobility of blood ra¬
ther than a feat in the houfe, as appears from the trials
of the popiftr lords, of lords under age, and (fince the
union) of the Scotch nobility, though not in the num¬
ber of the fixteert ; and from the trials of females, fuch
as the queen confort or dowager, and of all peereffes by
birth ; and peereffes by marriage alfo, unlefs they have,
tvhen dowagers, difparaged themfelves by taking a com¬
moner to their fecond hufband.
Steward of the Chi/tem Hundreds. See CH1LTF.RN
Hundreds.
SI EWART, Dr Matthew, an eminent mathe¬
matician, was in 1717 born at Rothfay in the ille of
Bute, of which parifti his father was minifter. Being
intended for the church, he went through the ufual
courfe of a grammar-fchool education, and was in 1734
received as a ftudent into the univerfity of Glafgow.
There he had the happinefs of having for his preceptors
in moral fcience and in mathematics the celebrated pro-
feffors Hutchefon and Simfon ; by the latter of whom
lie was inftrufted in what may not improperly be called
the arcana of the ancient geometry.
Mr Stewart’s views making it neceflary for him to
remove to Edinburgh, he was introduced by Dr Simfon
Account of to Mr Maclaurin, that his mathematical ftudies might
fnffer no interruption j and he attended the ledtures of
dinlurgh t^at 8reat raafter with fuch advantage as might be ex-
Philofophi- pedled from eminent abilities, diredled by the judge-
calTranf- ment of him who made the philofophy and geometry of
aAwns, Newton intelligible to ordinary capacities. Mr Stew-
bv Mr art’ h°wever> had acquired, from his intimacy with Dr
Play fair. Simfon, fuch a prediledfion for the ancient geometry, as
the modern analyfis, however powerfully recommended,
-could not leffen ; and he kept up a regular correfpond-
ence with his old mafter, giving him an account of his
progrefs and his difcoveries in geometry, and receiving
in return many curious communications refpedling the
1.GCI P/ani and the porifms of Euclid. See Porism and
SlMSON.
While the fecond invention of porifms, to which more
genius was perhaps required than to the firft difcovery
of them, employed Dr Simfon, Mr Stewart purfued
the fame fubjedi in a different and new diredlion. In
doing fo, he was led to the difcovery of thofe curious
and interefting propofitions which were publifiied under
the title of General Theorems in 1746. They were gi¬
ven without the demonftrations j but did not fail to place
2
2 ] S T E
their difcoverer at once among the geometers of the Stewart,
firft rank. They are for the moft part porifms, though '“■““'Y—“*
Mr Stewart, careful not to anticipate the difcoveries of
his friend, gave them no other name than that of theo¬
rems.
Our author had before this period entered into the
church } and obtained, through the patronage of the
duke ot Argyle and the earl of Bute, the living of
Rofeneath, a retired country parilh in the weft of Scot¬
land : but in 1747 was eledled to the mathematical
chair in the univerfity of Edinburgh, which had become
vacant the year before by the death of Mr Maclaurin.
The duties of this office gave a turn fomewhat different
to his purfuits, and led him to think of the moft fimple
and elegant means of explaining thofe difficult propofi¬
tions which were hitherto only acceffible to men deeply
verfed in the modern analyfis. In doing this, he was
purfuing the objeft which of all others he moft ardently
wiftied to attain, viz. the application of geometry to
fuch problems as the algebraic calculus alone had been
thought able to refolve. His folution of Kepler’s pro¬
blem was the firft fpecimen of this kind which he gave
to the world ; and it was impoffible to have produced
one more to the credit of the method he followed, or of
the abilities with which he applied it. On this problem
the utmort refources of the integral calculus had been
employed. But though many excellent folutions had
been given, there was none of them at once direft in
its method and fimple in its principles. Mr Stewart
was fo happy as to attain both thefe objedts; and his
folution appeared in the fecond volume of the Effays of
the Philofophical Society of Edinburgh for the year
1756. In the firft volume of the fame colledtion there
are feme other propofitions of Mr Stewart’s, which arc
an extenfion of a curious theorem in the fourth book of
Pappus. They have a relation to the fubjedt of porifms,
and one of them forms the 91ft of Dr Simfon’s Reftora-
tion. They are befides very beautiful propofitions, and
are demonftrated with all the elegance and fimplicity of
the ancient analyfis.
The profecution of the plan which he had formed of
introducing into the higher parts of mixed mathematics
the ftndl and fimple form of ancient demonftration, pro¬
duced the Tradts Phyfical and Mathematical, which
were published in 1761, and the Effay on the Sun’s Di-
ftance, which was publilhed in 1763. In this laft work
it is acknowledged that he employed geometry on a talk
which geometry cannot perform 5 but while it is grant¬
ed that his determination of the fun’s diftance is by no
means free from error, it may fafely be afferted that it
contains a great deal which will always intereft geome¬
ters, and will always be admired by them. Few errors
in Icience are redeemed by the difplay of fo much inge¬
nuity, and what is more fingular, of fo much found rea-
foning. The inveftigation is everywhere elegant, and
will probably be Jong regarded as a fpecimen of the moft:
arduous inquiry which has been attempted by mere geo¬
metry.
The Sun’s Diftance was the laft work which Dr
Stewart publilhed 5 and though he lived to fee feveral
animadverfions on it made public, he declined entering
into any controverfy. His difpdfition w’as far from po¬
lemical ; and he knew the value of that quiet which a
literary man ffiould rarely fuffer his antagonifts to in¬
terrupt. He ufed to fay, that the decifion of the point
S T E [ 703 ] S T I
Stewart, in queftlon was now before the public ; that if his invef-
Sttwartia. tigalion was right it would never be overturned, and
'“"""Y'—that if it was wrong it ought not to be defended. A
few months before he publhhed the effay juft mentioned,
he gave to the world another work, intitled Pr-opo/i-
tiones Geometric# More Veterum Demonjirat#. This
title, it is faid, was given to it by Dr Simfon, who re¬
joiced in the publication of a work fo well calculated
to promote the ftudy of the ancient geometry. It con-
filts of a feries of geometrical theorems for the moft
part new 5 inveftigated firft by an analyfis, and after¬
wards fynthetically demonftrated by the inverfion of the
fame analyfis.
Dr Stewart’s conftant ufe of the geometrical analyfis
had put him in poffeflion of many valuable propqfitions
which did not enter into the plan of any of the works
that have been enumerated. Of thefe not a few have
found a place in the writings of Dr Simfon, where
they will for ever remain to mark the friendihip of
thefe two mathematicians, and to evince the efteem
which Dr Simfon entertained for the abilities of his
pupil.
Soon after the publication of the Sun’s Diftance, Dr
Stewart’s health began to decline, and the duties of his
office became burdenfome to him. In the year 1772
he retired to the country, where he afterwards fpent
the greater part of his life, and never refumed his la¬
bours in the univerfity. But though mathematics had
now ceafed to be his bufinefs, they continued to be his
amufement till a very few years before his death,
which happened on the 23d of January 1785, at the
age of 68.
1 The habits of ftudy, in a man of original genius,
are objefls of curiofity, and deferve to be remembered.
Concerning thofe of Dr Stewart, his writings have
made it unneceflhry to remark, that from his youth he
had been accuftomed to the moft intenfe and continued
application. In confequence of this application, added
to the natural vigour of his mind, he retained the me¬
mory of his difcoveries in a manner that will hardly be
believed. He rarely wrote down any of his inveftiga-
tions till it became neceflary to do fo for the purpofe of
publication. When he difcovered any propofition, he
would put down the enunciation with great accuracy,
and on the fame piece of paper would conftruft very
neatly the figure to which it referred. To thefe he
trufted for recalling to his mind at any future period
the demonftration or the analyfis, however complicated
it might be. Experience had taught him, that he
might place this confidence in himfelf without any dan¬
ger of difappointmeRt; and for this lingular porver he
was probably more indebted to the a£livity of his in¬
vention than the mere tenacioufnefs of his memory.
Though he was extremely ftudious, he read few books,
and verified the obfervation of M. D’Alembert, that of
all the men of letters, mathematicians read leaft of the
writings of one another. His own inveftigations occu¬
pied him fufficiently \ and indeed the world would
have had reafon to regret the mifapplication of his ta¬
lents, had he emploved in the mere acquifition of know¬
ledge that time which he could dedicate to works of in¬
vention.
Stewart, in Scots Law. See Law Index.
STEWARTIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs monadelphia, and in the natural fyftem ranging
under the 37 th order, Columniferce. See Botany Stibadiam
Index. II
STIBADIUM, among the Romans, a low kind of
table couch or bed of a circular form, which fucceeded ■ <
to the triclinia, and was of different lizes, according to
the number of guefts for which it was defigned. Tables
of this kind were called hexaclina, oclaclina, or ennea-
din a, according as they held fix, eight, or nine guefts,
and fo of any other number.
STIBIUM, a name for Antimony.
STICHOS, a name given by the old writers to a
pecforal coniedtion, the principal ingredient of which
was the herb mar rub, um or horehound.
STICKLEBACK a genus ut fifties. See Gaster-
osteus, Ichthyology Index.
FooT-S 1 ICKS, in Printing, flips of wood that lie
between the foot of the page and the chefs, to which
they are wedged fall by the quoins, to keep the form
firm, in conjunction with the fide-fticks, which are pla¬
ced at the fide of the page, and fixed in the fame man¬
ner by means of quoins.
STIFFLE, or Great Muscle, in the manege, is the
part of the hind leg of a horfe which advances towards
his belly. This is a moft dangerous part to receive a
blow upon.
STIGMA, a brand or impreflion with a hot iron ; a
mark of infamy. See Stigmatizing.
Stigma, in Botany, the fummit or top of the ftyle,
accounted by the fexualifts the female organ of genera¬
tion in plants, which receives the fecundating drift of
the tops of the ftamina, and tranfmits its vapour or ef¬
fluvia through the ftyle into the heart of the feed-bud,
for the purpofe of impregnating the feeds.
STIGMATA, in Natural Hi/lory, the apertures in
different parts of the bodies of infedfts communicating
with the trachese or air-veffels, and ferving for the office
of refpiration.
Stigmata, in antiquity, certain marks impreffed on-
the left (boulders of the foidiers when lifted.
Stigmata, were alfo a kind of notes or abbrevia¬
tions, confifting only of points, difpofed various ways j
as in triangles, fquares, croffes, &c.
Stigmata, is alfo a term introduced by the Francif-
cans, to exprefs the marks or prints of our Saviour’s
wounds, faid to have been miraculoufly impreffed by
him on the body of their feraphic father St Francis.
STIGMATIZING, among the ancients, was in¬
flicted upon (laves as a punilhment, but more frequently
as a mark to know them by : in which cafe, it was done
by applying a red-hot iron marked with certain letters
to their foreheads, till a fair impreffion was made ; and
then pouring ink into their furrows, that the infcription
might be the more confpicuous.
Soldiers were branded in the hand with the name or
character of their general.
After the fame manner, it was cuftomary to ftigma-
tize the worflftppers a^d votaries of fome of the gods.
The marks ufed on thefe occafions were various j fome-
times they contained the name of the god, fometimes
his particular enfign, as the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the
trident of Neptune, the ivy of Bacchus, &c. or they
marked themfelves with fome myftical number, whereby
the god’s name was defcribed. To thefe three ways of
ftigmatizing St John is fuppofed to refer (Rev. chap,
xiii. ver, 16, 17.). Theodoret is of opinion, that the
Jews
s T I r 7-4 1 S T I
Btigmah- Jews wTere Forbidden to brand themfelves with ftigmata,
zing becaufe the idolaters, by that ceremony, ufed to confe-
Stilling- crate themfelves to their falfe gods,
fleet." Among fome nations, ftigmatizing w^as confidered as
'v— 1 a diftinguifhing mark of honour and nobility. In Thrace,
^ Lib. v. as Herodotus tells us *, it was prattifed by none but
perfons of credit, nor omitted by any but perfons of the
meaneft rank. The ancient Britons are alfo faid to have
imprinted on the bodies of their infants the figures of
animals, and cither marks, with hot irons.
STIL DE GRAIN, in the colour trade, the name of a
compofition ufed for painting in oil or wmter, and is
made of a decodlion of the lycium or Avignon berry,
in alum-cvater, •which is mixed with whiting into a
pafte, and formed into twilled Hicks. It ought to be
chofen of a fine gold yellow, very fine, tender, and fri¬
able, and free from dirt.
STIL AGO, a genus of plants belonging to clafs gy-
nandria. See Botany Index.
STILBE, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs
polygamia, and order of dioecia. See Botany Index.
STILBITE, a fpecies of mineral, or variety of zeo¬
lite. See Zeolite, Mineralogy Index.
STILE. See Style.
STILL, the name of an apparatus ufed in chemiflry
for various purpofes, and in the diftiilation of ardent fpi-
rits.
STILL-Bottoms, in the diftillery, a name given by the
traders to what remains in the ftill after working the
walh into low wines. Thefe bottoms are procured in
the greateft quantity from the malt-wafh, and are of fo
much value to the diftiller in the fattening of hogs, &c.
that he often finds them one of the molt valuable articles
of the bufinefs.
STILLINGFLEET, Edward, bilhop of Wor-
cefter, was the fon of Samuel Stillingfleet, gentleman,
and was born at Cranborn in Dorfetlhire in 1635. He
was educated at St John’s College, Cambridge ; and
having received holy orders, was, in 1657, prefented to
the reftory of Sutton in Nottinghamlhire. By publifhing
his Origincs Sacra-, one of the ableft defences of reveal¬
ed religion that has ever been written, he foon acquired
iuch reputation, that w^as appointed preacher of the
Rolls Chapel j and in January 1665 was prefented to
the reftory of St Andrew’s, Holborn. He was after¬
wards chofen lefturer at the Temple, and appointed
chaplain in ordinary to King Charles II. In 1668 he
took the degree of do&or of divinity } and was foon
after engaged in a difpute with thofe of the Romifli reli¬
gion, by publifliing his difeourfe concerning the idola¬
try and fanaticifm of the church of Rome, which he af¬
terwards defended againft feveral antagonifts. In 1680
he preached at Guildhall chapel a fermon on Phil,
iii. 26. which he publilhed under the title of Tie Mif-
chief of Separation ; and this being immediately attack¬
ed by feveral writers, he in 1683 publifhed his Unrea-
fonablenefs of Separation. In 1685 appeared his Ori-
gines Britannicce, or the Antiquities of the Biitifh
Church, in folio. During the reign of King James II.
he wrote feveral trails againft popery, and was prolocu¬
tor of the convocation, as he had likewife been under
Charles II. After the Revolution he was advanced to
the biftiopric of Worcefter, and was engaged in a dif-
piute with the Socinians, and alfo with Mr Locke •, in
which laft conteft he is generally thought to have been
I
unfuccefsful. He died at Weftminfter in 1699, and Stilling,
was interred in the cathedral ofWorcefter, where a mo- ^eet-
nument was erected to his memory by his ton. Dr Stil- "" v ~
lingfleet wrote other works betides thofe here mention¬
ed, which, with the above, have been reprinted in (j
vols. folio.
Stillingfleet, Benjamin, an ingenious naturalift,
was grandfon of the preceding. His father Edward
was fellow’ of St John’s College in Cambridge, F. R. S.
M. D. and Gretham profeflbr of phytic : but marrying
in 1692, he loft his lucrative oftices and his father’s fa¬
vour } a misfortune that aftebted both himfelf and his
pofterity. However, going into orders, he obtained,
by his father’s means, the living of Newington-Butls,
which he immediately exchanged for thofe of Wood-
Norton and Swanton in Norfolk. Fie died in 1708.
Benjamin, his only fon, was educated at Norwich
fchool, which he left in 1720, with the chara&er of an
excellent fcholar. He then w’ent to Trinity-College in
Cambridge, at the requeft of Dr Bentley, the mailer,
who had been private tutor to his father, domeftic chap¬
lain to his grandfather, and much indebted to the fami¬
ly. Here he W’as a candidate for a fellowfhip, but was
rejected by the mafter’s influence. This was a fevere
and unexpe£led difappointment, and but little alleviat¬
ed afterwards by the Doftor’s apology, that it was a
pity that a gentleman of Mr Stillingfleet’s parts ftiould
be buried within the walls of a college.
Perhaps, however, this ingratitude of Dr Bentley
was not of any real differvice to Mr Stillingfleet. By
being thrown into the world, he formed many honour¬
able and valuable conneftions. He dedicated fome
tranflations of Linnaeus to the late Lord Lyttleton,
partly, he fays, from motives of private refpeft and ho¬
nour. Lord Barrington gave him, in a very polite
manner, the place of the mailer of the barracks at Ken^
fington 5 a favour to which Mr Stillingfleet, in the de¬
dication of his Calendar of Flora to that nobleman, al¬
ludes with equal politenefs, as w’ell as with the w’armeft
gratitude. His Calendar of Flora was formed at Strat¬
ton in Norfolk in the year 1755, at the hofpitable feat
of his very worthy and ingenious friend Mr Marlhanj,
who had naade feveral obfervations of that kind, and
had communicated to the public his curious obfervations
on the growth of trees. But it was to Mr Wyndham of
Felbrig in Norfolk that he appears to have had the
greateft obligations: he travelled abroad wTith him,
fpent much of his time at his houfe, and was appointed
one of his executors (Mr Garrick was another), with a
confiderable addition to an annuity which that gentle¬
man had fettled upon him in his lifetime.
Mr Stillingfleet’s genius feems, if we may judge from
his works, to have led him principally to the ftudy of
natural hiftory ; which he profecuted as an ingenious
philofopher, an ufeful citizen, and a good man. In this
walk of learning he mentions, as his friends, Dr Wat-
fon, Mr (afterwards Dr) Solander, Mr Hudfon, Mr
Price of Foxley, and fome others-, to whom may be ad¬
ded the ingenious Mr Pennant. Nor can we omit the
flattering mention which Mr Gray makes of him in one
of his letters, dated from London in 1761 : “ I have
lately made an acquaintanoe with this philofopher, who
lives in a garret here in the winter, that he may fupport
fome near relations who depend upon him. He is al¬
ways employed, confequently (according to my old
maxim)
S T I
[ 7°5 3
S t' I
Stming-
fleet
H
Stiipo.
maxim) always happy, always cheerful, and feems to
me a very worthy honeft man. His prefent fcheme is
to fend fome perfons, properly qualified, to refide a year
, or two in Attica, to make themfelves acquainted with
the climate, productions, and natural hitlory of the
country, that wre may underftand Ariltotle, I heophraf-
tus, &c. who have been heathen Greek to us for fo
many ages j and this he has got propofed to Lord Bute,
no unlikely perfon to put it in execution, as he is him-
felf a botanift.” _ 1
Mr Stillingflcet publilhed a volume of mifcehaneous
traCts, which is in much efteem, and does great honour
to his head and heart. They are chiefly tranilations of
fome eiTays in the Amcenitates Academics, publilhed by
Linnaeus, interfperled with iome obfervations and ad¬
ditions of his own. In this volume he flrows alfo a
tafle for claffical learning, and entertains us with fome
elegant poetical elfufions of his own. But his Ehay on
Converfation, publiflied in the firfl volume of Dodtley s
ColleClion of Poems, entities him to a diftinguifhed rank
among our Englifli poets. J his poem is addrefled to
Mr Wyndham, with all that warmth of Mendfliip which
diitinguiflres Mr Stillingfleet. As it is chiefly didac¬
tic, it does not admit of fo many ornaments as fume
compofitions of other kinds. However, it contains
much good fenfe, (hows a confiderable knowledge of
mankind, and has feveral paffages that in point of har¬
mony and eafy verfification would not difgrace the writ-
tings of our moft admired poets. Here more than once
Mr Stillingfleet fhows himfelf Hill foie for Dr Bentley’s
cruel treatment of him j and towards the beautiiul and
moral clofe of it (where it is fuppofed he gives us a
Iketch of himfelf) feems to hint at a mortification of a
more delicate nature, w’hich he is faid to have fullered
from the other fex.
To thefe difappointments it was perhaps owing that
Mr Stillingfleet neither married nor went into orders.
His London refidence was at a faddler s in Piccadilly j
where he died in 1771, aged above 70, leaving Seve¬
ral valuable papers behind him. He was buried in St
James’s church, without the flighted: monument to his
memory.
STILL1NGIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs moncecia, and to the order of monadclphia. See
Botany Index.
STILYARD. See STEEL-Yard.
STILPO, a celebrated philofopher of Megara, flou-
rilhed under the reign of Ptolomy Euergetes. In his
youth he had been addided to licentious pleafures, from
which he religioufly refrained from the moment that he
ranked himfelf among plnlofophers. When Ptolemy
Soter, at the taking of Megara, offeied him a large fum
of money, and requefted that he would accompany him
into Egypt, he accepted but a fmall part of the offer,
and retired to the iflani of/Egina, whence, on Ptole¬
my’s departure, he returned to Megara. .1 hat city be-
hig again taken by Demetrius the fon of Antigonus,
and the philofopbcr required to give an account of any
efifeft* which he had loft during the hurry of the plun¬
der, he replied, that he had loft nothing j for no one
could take from him his learning and eloquence,. So
great was the fame of Stiipo, that the moft eminent
philofophers of Athens took pleafure in attending upon
his difeourfes. His peculiar dofftiines were, that fpe-
‘ \ou XIX. Part II.
Stimuli.
cies or univerfals have no real exiftence, and that one Stop*
thing cannot be predicated of another. With relpeft
to the former of tbefe opinions, he feems to have taught
the fame dodrine with the fed afterwards known by
the appellation of Nominalijis. To prove that one
thing cannot be predicated of another, he faid, that
goodnefs zndi men, lorinitance, are different things, which
cannot be confounded by afferting the one to be the
other: he argued farther, that goodnefs is an univerfal,
and univerfals have no real cxiftence *, confequently
fince nothing cannot be predicated of any thing, good- £ * ^
nefs cannot be predicated of man. Ihus, whilft Hijoty of
fubtle logician was, through his whole argument, pre- Philofophy,
dicating one thing of another, he denied that any one vol. 1.
thing could be the accident or predicate of another.
If Stiipo was ferious in this reafoning j if he meant any
thing more than to expofe the fophiitry 01 the ichools,
he muft be confelfed to have been an eminent mafter of
the art of wrangling ; and it was not wholly without
reafon that Glycera, a celebrated courtezan, when .fl;e
was reproved by him as a corrupter of youth, replied,
that the charge might be juffly retorted upon himfelf,
who fpent his time in filling their heads with fophiftical
quibbles and ufelefs fubtleties. In ethics he ieems to
have been a Stoic, and in religion he had a public and
a private dodtrine, the former for the multitude, and
the latter for his friends. He admitted the exiftence
of a fuprerhe divinity, but had no reverence for the Gre¬
cian fuperftitions.
ST1LOBATUM, in ArchiteBure, denotes the body
of the ptdeftal of any column.
STILTON, a town of England, in Huntingdon {hire,
7 ij miles from London, fouth-weft of Yaxley, on the Re¬
man highway from Caftor to Huntingdon, called Er-
mine-Jlreet, fome parts of which, in this neighbourhood,
appear ftill paved with ftone. This place is famous for
cheefe called Erglijh Partvefan, which is generally kept
till it is old before it is brought to table, and even the
proccfs of decay is accelerated by various means, to ren¬
der it agreeable to a vitiated tafte. For making Stilton
cheefe, the following receipt is given in the firit volume
of the Repofitomj of Arts and ManitfaBurcs :
“ Take the night’s cream, and put it to the.morning’s
new milk, with the rennet j when the curd is come, it
is not to be broken, as is done with other clieefes, but
take it out with a foil-difh altogether, and place it in a
fieve to drain gradually ; and as it drains, keep gradu¬
ally prefling it till it becomes firm and dry ; then place
it in a wooden hoop j afterwards to be kept dry on
boards, turned frequently, with cloth binders round it,
which are to be tightened as occafion requires, and!
changed every day until the cheefe become firm enough
to fupport itfelf j after the cloth is taken off, the cheefe
is rubbed every day all over, for two or three months,
with a bruflr; and if the weather be damp or moift
twice a-day j and even before the cloth is taken off, the
top and bottom are well rubbed every day.”
STIMULANTS, in Medicine, fubftances which in-
create the aftion of certain parts of the body. In par¬
ticular, they quicken the motion of the blood, increafe
the adfion of the mufcular fibres, and affect the nervous
fyflem.
STIMULI, in Botany, a fpecies of armature or of-
fenfive weapon, with which fome plants, as nettle, caffa-
4 U xk,
I
S T I [ y
Svng da, acalypha, and tragia, are futnifhed. Their ufe, fays
Stirling. -^nnaeusj> is hy their venomous punftures to keep off
naked animals that would approach to hurt them.
S1ING, an apparatus in the bodies of certain in¬
fers, in form of a little fpear, ferving them as a wea¬
pon of offence.
St]ng-R(uj. See Raia, Ichthyology Index.
Falconer's STINK-pot, an earthen jar or fhell, charged with
'imion'■ ■■■ powder’ grenadoes, and other materials of an offen-
wnary. plvg and hjffocating fmell. It is frequently ufed by pri¬
vateers, in the wettern ocean, in the attack of an enemy
whom he defigns to board 5 for which purpofe it is fur-
niffied with a light fufe at the opening or touch-hole.
See Boarding.
STINT, a fpecies of bird. See Tringa, Ornitho¬
logy Index.
SI IP A, Feather Grass, a genus of plants belong-
ing to the clafs triandria, and order of digynia ; and in
the natural fyftem ranging under the 4th order, Grami-
na. See Botany Index.
SIIPEND, among the Romans, fignifies the fame
with tribute ; and hence Jlipendarii were the fame with
tributarii.
Stipend, in Scots Law. See Law, § clix. 12.
SI IPQLA, in Botany, one of the fulcra or props of
plants, defined by Linnaeus to be a fcale, or fmall leaf,
Rationed on each fide the bafe of the footftalks of the
flower and leaves, at their firft appearance, for the pur¬
pofe of fupport. Elmgren reffri&s it to the footftalks
of the leaves only.
SIIPULA FION, in the civil law, the aft of ffi-
pulating, that is, of treating and concluding terms and
conditions to be inferted in a contraft. Stipulations were
anciently performed at Rome, with abundance of cere¬
monies 5 the firff whereof was, that one party ftrould in¬
terrogate, and the other anfwer, to give his confent, and
oblige himfelf. By the ancient Roman law, nobody could
flipuiate but for himfelf; but as the tabelliones were pub¬
lic fervants, they were allowed to ftipulate for their ma¬
ilers j and the notaries fucceeding the tabelliones have
inherited the fame privilege.
STIRIA, a province of Germany, in the circle of
Auftria, with the title of a duchy. It is bounded on
the north by the archduchy of Auftria, on the eaft by
Hungary, on the fouth by Carniola, and on the weft
by Carinthia and the archbifhopric of Saltfburg ; it is
125 miles in length and 17 in breadth, and is faid to
contain 22 cities, 95 towns, 338 caftles, 15 convents,
and 200,000 inhabitants. 1 hough it is a mountain¬
ous country, yet there is a great deal of land fit for til¬
lage, and the foil is fo good, that the inhabitants never
w’ere in want of corn. In contains mines of very good
iron ; whence the arms made there are in great efteem.
The w'omen differ greatly from the Auftrians, and are
very plain and ingenious. They have all fwellings on
their throats, called bronchoce/es. The men are alfo very
Ample, and are rather difpofed to indulge in indolence.
The chief town is Gratz.
SIIRLING, a town of Scotland, fituated on the
river Forth, 35 miles north-weft of Edinburgh, in W.
Long. 3. 59 N. Lat. 56. 6. It is alfo called Sterling
and Strtveling ; from the former of which Boethius falfe-
ly derives the name Sterling money; becaufe, fays he,
Olbeit, a Saxon prince, after the overthrow of the Scots’
eftablifhed a mint there. The name of Strive ling is faid
6 ] S T I
to have been derived from the frequency of ftrifes or Stirling,
conflifts in the neighbourhood. The town contains
about 4000 inhabitants. It has a manufafture of tar¬
tans and lhalloons, and employs about 30 looms in that
of carpets. I he great ftreet is very broad. In it is the
tolbooth, where is kept the ftandard for the wet mea-
fures of Scotland. I he other ftreets are narrow and ir-
legular. Stirling is in miniature arefemblance of Edin-
burgh.j being built on a rock of the fame form, with a
fortrefs on the lummit. I he origin of the caftle is un¬
known. The rock of Stirling was ftrongly fortified by
the Pifts, amongft whom architefture and feveral other
ufeful arts had made a conliderable progrefs. As it lay
in the extremities of their kingdom, the poffeflion of it
was the occafion of frequent contefts betwixt them and
their neighbours the Scots and Northumbrians; each
of whole dominions did, for feme time, terminate near it.
When the Scots, under Kenneth II. overthrew the
Piftilh empire near the middle of the ninth century,
they endeavoured to obliterate every memorial of that
people. They not only gave new names to provinces
and towns, but, with all the rage of barbarians, demo-
liflied many magnificent and ufeful edifices which had
.'een reared up by them, and this fortrefs among the reft.
It was, however, foon rebuilt, though upon an occafion
not very honourable to the Scots.
Upon the death of Kenneth II. in 855, his brother
Donald V. mounted the throne of Scotland. In the
beginning of his reign the kingdom was invaded by
Ofbrecht and Ella, two Northumbrian princes, who,
uniting their forces with the Cumbrian Britons, and a
number of Pifts, who upon their expulfion from their
native country had taken refuge in England, advanced
to Jedburgh, where Donald encountered them 5 and, af¬
ter a fierce and bloody battle, obtained a complete vic¬
tory : but, having taken up his Ration in Berwick, in
fnpine fecurity, the Northumbrians, informed of the care-
lefs pofture in which the Scottifh army lay, furprifed
them by a hafty march, difperleo them, and made a pri-
loner of the king. Purfuing the advantage they had
gained, they marched northward, and fubdued all be¬
fore them to the frith of Forth and the town of Stir¬
ling. But the forlorn fituation of the Scots, without a
king and without an army, obliging them to fue for
peace, they obtained it, upon condition that they ffrould
pay a fum of money for the ranfom of the king, and
\Ield up all their dominions upon the fouth fide of the
Forth to the conquerors.
The Northumbrians taking poffeflion of the territo¬
ries ceded to them by this treaty, rebuilt the caftle of
Stirling, and planted it with a ftrong garrifon, in order
to preferve their new conquefts, upon the frontiers of
wdiich it wTas fituated. Our authorities alfo inform us,
that they erefted a ftone bridge over the Forth, upon the
fum mi t of which a crofs w'as raifed, with the following
infeription in menkifh rhyme.
Anglos a Scotis feparat crux ijla remotis ;
Armis hieJ1 ant Bruti, Scotijlant hie, cruce tuti.
Which is thus tranlkted by Bellenden.
I am free marche, as paffengeris may ken,
To Scottis, to Britonis, and to Inglifmen.
None of the ancient Englifh hiftorians mentions this
conqueft. I he whole Rory, as well as the infeription,
■ v wears
S T I
[ 7°7 1
S T I
Stirling, wears much of a monkith garb*, yet its authenticity is
   not a little confirmed by the arms of the town of Stir¬
ling, upon which is a bridge, with a crofs, and the latt
line of the above Latin dittich is the motto round it.
We mutt not, however, imagine, that in thofe times
that fortrefs bore any refemolance to the prefent ftruc-
tme, which is adapted to the ufe of fire-arms. Its
lize and form probably refembled thofe cailles which,
under the feudal conftitution, the Englith and Scottifh
barons ufed to erect upon their eftates for dwelling-
houfes •, and which, in thofe barbarous ag£s, they found
neceffary to fortify for their defence, not only againft
foreign invaders, but often againft the attacks of their
own neighbours. It is dire£tly fuch a Gothic figure as
this which reprefents the Cojh'ntn Strivchnje upon the
arms of Stirling.
This fortrefs, after it had continued in the poffeftion
of the Northumbrian Saxons about 20 years, was, to¬
gether rvith the whole country upon the fouth fide of
the Forth, reftored to the Scots, upon condition of their
affifting the Saxons againft their turbulent invaders the
Danes. Upon the arms of Stirling are two branches
of a tree, to reprefent the Nemus Stnvelenfe ; but the
lituation and boundaries of that foreft, which was pro¬
bably a wing of the Caledonian, cannot be afcertained.
Upon the fouth of Stirling, veftiges of a foreft are ftill
difcernible for feveral miles. Banks of natural timber
ftill remain in the caftle park, at Murray’s wood, and
near Nether Bannockburn ; and flumps of trees, with
much brulhwood, are to be (een in all the adjacent
fields.
When Kenneth III. received intelligence of the Danes
having invaded his dominions, he appointed the caftle of
Stirling to be the place of rendezvous for his army j and
he marched from thence to the battle of Loncarty, where
he obtained a viitory over thofe rovers, in the end of the
10th century.
In the 12th century, this caftle is fpoken of as a place
of great importance, and one of the ftrongeft fortreffes
in the kingdom. In 1174, a calamity, not unufual
amongft the Scottilh monarchs, befel William, who at
that time occupied the throne. He was taken prifoner
in an unfuccefsful expedition which he made into Eng¬
land ; and, after having been detained 12 mqnths in
captivity, was releafed, upon ftipulating to pay a large
fum of money for his ranfom •, and, until payment there¬
of, delivering into the hands of the Engliih the four
principal fortrefles in the kingdom, which in thofe days
were Stirling, Edinburgh, Roxburgh, and Berwick.
This was the fir ft great afcendant that England obtained
over Scotland ; and indeed the moft important tranfac-
tion which had pafild between thefc kingdoms from the
Norman conqueft.
Though the Scottifir monarchs, in their frequent per¬
ambulations through the kingdom, often vifited Stirling,
and held their courts for fome time in the caftle ; yet it
did not become a royal refidence till the family of Stuart
mounted the throne, and it was from different princes
of this family that it received its prefent form. It was
the place of the nativity of James II. ; and, when raifed
to the throne, he frequently kept his court in it. It is
well known to have been the place where that prince
perpetrated an atrocious deed, the murder of William
earl of Douglas, whom he ftabbed with his own hand.
The royal apartments were at that time in the north-weft
corner of the caftle, and are now the refidence of the Stirling-,
fort-major. The room where the murder was committed '****V'~ra
ftill goes by the name of Douglas's room.
James III. contrafting a fondnefs for the caftle on ac¬
count of its pleafant fituation, made it the chief place
of his refidence, and added feveral embellifhments to it.
He built within it a magnificent hall, which in thofe
days was deemed a noble ftrufluie, and is ftill entire.
It now goes by the name of the parliamerit-h0uje, having
been defigned for the accommodation of that lupreme
court. It was covered with an oaken roof of exqui-
fite workmanlhip, which, though very little decayed,
was a few years ago removed to make way for one
of more modern ftrudlure. James alio erected a college
of fecular priefts in the caftle, which he called the cha-'
pel royal, and which proved one caufe of his own rum.
As the expences neceffary for maintaining the numerous
officers oi tuch an mftitution were confiderable, he an¬
nexed to it the revenues of the rich priory of Coluing-
ham in the Merfe, which at that time happened to be¬
come vacant. I his priory had for a long time been
holden by perfons conne&ed with the family of Hume }
and that family, confidering it as belonging to them,
ftrongly oppofed the annexation, ihe dispute feems to
have lafted feveral years } for one parliament had paffed
a vote, annexing the priory to the chapel-royal, and a
fubfequent one enacted a ftatuta prohibiting eveiy at¬
tempt that was contrary or prejudicial to that annexa¬
tion.
James V. was crowned in the caftle of Stirling \ and
the palace, which is the chief ornament of it, was the
work of that prince. This is a (lately and commodious
ftruCture, all of hewn (tone, with much ftatuary work
upon it. It is built in form of a fquare, with a fmall
court in the middle, in which the king’s lions are faicl
to have been kept j and hence it ftilj goes by the name
of the lions den. The palace contains many large and
elegant apartments ; the ground-dory is now converted
into barrack-rooms for the foldiers of the gain ion \ the
upper affords a houfe for the governor, with lodgings for
fome of the fubaltern officers.
Oppofite to the palace, upon the north, (lands an
elegant chapel, which was built by James \ I. for the
baptifm of his fon, Prince Henry, in 1594. In this
chapel is preferved the hulk of a large boat, which that
whimfical monarch caufed to be built and placed upon
carriages, in order to convey into the caftle the provifions
for that folemnity.
A ftrong battery, with a tier of guns pointing to the
bridge over the Forth, was erected during the regency
of Mary of Lorraine, mother to Queen Mary. It is
called the Trench battery, probably becaufe conftrudted
by engineers of that nation. The laft addition was made
to the fortifications in the reign of Queen Anne. For¬
merly they reached no farther than the old gate, upon
which the flag-ftaff now (lands : but in that reign they
were confiderably enlarged upon the fide towards the
town ; and barracks, which are bomb-proof, with feve¬
ral other conveniences for a fiege, were eredted.
Upon the fouth fide of the caftle lies a park inclofed
with a (tone-wall, called the king's park, and near to
the foot of the rock on which the caftle (lands, lay the
royal gardens ; veftiges of the walks and parterres, vith
a few flumps of fruit-trees, are ftill vifible •, but by long
negledt, and the natural wetnefs of the foil, the place is
4 U 2 now
St’rling-,
Sr.iriing-
fliire.
S T I [ 7
now little better than a marfli. In tbe gardens is a
mount of earth in form of a table, with benches of earth
around it, where, according to tradition, the court fome-
tiines held fetes-champetres. In the caftle-hill is an
hollov/, comprehending about an acre of ground, and
having all the appearance ot an artificial work, which
was ufed for joufls, tournaments, and other feats of chi¬
valry.
Northward of the caftle lies the Govan, or perhaps
more properly the Gozv/ing hill (a) ; in the middle of
which is a fmail mount called llur/g Haaky, upon which
Duke Murdoch and his two fons were executed for trea-
fonable practices in the reign of James I.
The profpedl: from the cable is moft delightful, as
well as extenfive, being greatly beautified, efpecially upon
the eaft, by the windings of the Forih ; w-hich are fo
numerous, that though the dillance by land from Stir¬
ling to Alloa is, in a ftraight line, not quite fix miles, it
is fald to be 24 by w:ater. As this river generally runs
upon plain ground, it roll? its ftream in fo flow and filent
a manner, that what Silius Italicus faith of the Ticinus
is applicable to it, if, inftead of lucenti in that poet, we
ihouid lead lutofo ; for the clay^banks, together with the
tide, which flows above Stirling, render the Forth per¬
petually muddy :
Vix credos labi, ripls tam mitis cpacis
Somniferam ducit lulolo gurgite lympham.
J he lordfliip and caftle of Stirling were a part of tbe
tifual dowry ot the queens of Scotland, at leaft after the
family of Stuart came to the throne, in which they were
inverted at their marriage.
Robert lord Erlkine was appointed governor of the
eaftle by King David II. and the office continued in
that family till 1715.
This fortrefs hath been the fcene of many tranfac-
tions. Being by its fituation confidered as a key to
the northern parts of the kingdom, the pofftflion of it
hath been always efteemed of great importance to thofe
who fought to be mailers of Scotland. It was undoubt¬
edly a place of ftrength when the ait of w-ar by ord¬
nance was in its infancy -, but though it refifted the ut-
moft efforts of the rebels in 1746, it could not now hold
out three days if befieged by an army of a few thoufand
men conduced by an engineer of knowledge and in¬
tegrity.
STIRLINGSHIRE, a county of Scotland, of which
Stirling is the capital. It extends 20 miles in length
and 1 2 in breadth ; being bounded or, the weft by part
of Lennox and Clydefdale ; on the eaft, by Clackman-
nanfhire, the river Forth, and part of Lothian ; on the
foutb-eaft, by Lothian \ and on the north by Monleith.
The face of the country is open and agreeable, diverfi-
fied by hill and dale, well watered with ftreams and
rivers ; the principal of which is tbe Forth, riling in
the neighbourhood of a high mountain called Ben-Le-
tnond, and, running eaftward, forms the frith of Edin¬
burgh. I he fouthern part is hilly, affording plenty of
game, and pafturage for fheep, horfes, and black cattle.
I he eaftern part is fertile, producing plentiful harvefts
of corn, and great abundance of coal. Lead-ore is found
08 ] S T I
in different parts of the county 5 and the rivers abound Stirling,
with pike, trout, and falmon. fliire,
1 he population of this county at two different periods,, StimiP-
and according to the different jparifties, will be feen in '
the following table ;
Parijhes.
Airth
Alva
Baldernock
Balfron
j; Bothkennar
Buchanan
Campfie
Denny
Drymen
10 Falkirk
Fin try
Gargunnock,
Killearn
Kilfyth
15 Kippen
Larbert and Dunipace
Muiravonfide
Polmont
St Ninians
20 Slamannan
Stirling
Strathblane
Population
in 17 55*
2316
436
621
755
529
1699
I399
1392
2789
3932
891
956
959
I395
1799
1864
1539
1094
6491
I2Cp
3951
191
Population in
179°—179S.
2350
61 2
620
J38X
6co
1111
25I7
1400
1607
8020
543
830
973
2450
'111
4000
1065
1400
7°79
1010
4698
620
38,813 46663
38-813
Increafe, 7850* * ^
STIRRUP, in the manege, a reft or fupport for the Scotluni.
hor'eman’s foot, for enabling him to mount, and for
keeping him firm in his feat.
Stirrups were unknown to the ancients. The want
of them in gelting upon horfeback was fupplied by agi¬
lity or art. Some horfes were taught to Hoop to take
their riders up ; but the riders often leapt up by the help
of their fpears, or were affifted by their flaves, or made
ufe of ladders for the purpofe. Gracchus filled the
highways with ftones, which were intended to anfwer
the fame end. 7 he fame was alfo required of the fur-
veyors of the roads in Greece as part of their duty.
Menage obferves, that St Jerome is the firft author
who mentions them. But the paffage alluded to is not to
be found in his epiftles; and if it were there, it would
prove nothing, becaufe St Jerome lived at a time when
ftirrups are fuppofed to have been invented, and after
tbe ufe of faddles. Montfaucon denies the authenticity
of this paffage ; and, in order to account for the igno- Berengedt
ranee o! the ancients with regard to an inftrument {oHi/tory and
ufeful and fo eafy of invention, he obferves, that while
cloths and houfings only were laid upon the horfes backs, A7* vulT
on which the riders were to fit, ftirrups could not have p, 65,'° ^
been ufed, becaufe they could not have been faften-
ed with the fame fecurity as upon a faddle. But it is
more
(a) So called from the wailings and lamentations (in Scotch, gowlings) that were made for Duke Murdoch,
S T O
[ fog ]
S T 0
Stlrrap more probable, that in this inftance, as m many others,
\\ the progrefs of human genius and invention is uncer-
Stockholm. tain anj flovVj depending frequently upon accidental
caufes.
STIRRUP of a Ship, a piece of timber put upon a
Ibip’s keel, when i'ome of her keel happens to be beaten
off,' and they cannot come conveniently to put or fit in
a new piece \ then they patch in a piece of timber, and
bind it on with an iron, which goes under the drip’s
keel, and comes up on each fide of the drip, where it
is nailed drongly with fpikes j and this they call a itir-
rup.
STOBiEUS, John, a laborious Greek writer, who
lived at the end of the fourth century, compofed many
works, of which there are only his Colleftions remain¬
ing, and even thefe are not as he compofed them j many
-things being inferted by later authors. This work con¬
tains many important fentiments colle£led from the an¬
cient writers, poets, and philofophers. ^
STOCK, in gardening, &c. the ftem or trunk of_a
tree. What dock is molt proper for each kind of fruit,
ought as well to be confidered and known, as what foil
is moft fuitable to trees ; for on thefe two things the fu¬
ture vigour of trees, and the goodnefs of fruit, equally
depend. The bed way for thofe who intend to plant,
is to raife their own docks, by which they will be better
a fibred of what they do j but if they fhould buy their
trees of nurferymen, they fhould diligently inquire upon
what docks they were propagated. See Grafting.
Stock., in trade. See Capital Sock.
STOCK-Broher. See Broker and Stocks.
STOCK-Dove. See CoLUMBA, Ornithology Index.
STOCK-Jobbing, the art or mydery of trafficking in
the public docks or funds. See Fund and Stock-JOB¬
BING.
Stock Gillyflower. Sec Cheiranthus, Botany
Index.
STOCKHOLM, the capital of Sweden, is fituated
in the province of Upland, in E. Long. 19- 3^’ arH^
Lat. 59. 20. Its foundation is by the bed Swediffi wri¬
ters generally attributed to Birger Jarl, regent of the
kingdom about the middle of the 13th century during
the minority of his fon Waldemar, who had been railed
to the throne by the dates of the kingdom ; but it was
not before the 18 th century that the royal refidence Was
transferred from Upfala to this city.
'Phis capital, which is very long and irregular, occu¬
pies, befide two peninfulas, feven fmall rocky ifiands,
fcattered in the Mseler, in the dreams which iiTue from
that lake, and in a bay of the gulf of Bothnia. A va¬
riety of contraded and enchanting views are formed by
numberlefs rocks of granite riling boldly from the fur-
face of the water, partly bare and craggy^ partly dotted
with houfes, or feathered with wood. The harbour is
an inlet of the Baltic : the water is clear as crydal, and
of fuch depth that drips of the larged burthen can ap¬
proach the quay, which is of confiderable breadth, and
Core's TVa-lined with fpacious buildings and ware houfes. At the
vot. ii.extrern^y 0f the harbour feveral ftreets rife one. above
another in the form of an amphitheatre j and the palace,
a magnificent building, crowns the fummit. Towards
the lea, about two or three miles from the town, the
• harbour is contra&ed into a narrow drait, and, winding
among high rocks, difappears from the fight j and the
profpecl is terminated by didant hills, overfpread with
fored. It is fat beyond the power of words, or of the Stockholm.
pencil, to delineate thefe Angular views. The central ”^'v
illand, from which the city derives its name, and the
Ritter holm, are the handfomed parts of the town. Ex¬
cepting in the fuburbs, where the houfes are of wood
painted red, the generality of the buildings are of done,
or brick duccoed white. The royal palace, which dands
in the centre of Stockholm, and upon the highed fpot
of ground, was begun by Charles XL : it is a large
quadrangular done edifice, and the dyle of architecture
is both elegant and magnificent.
It is the habitation not only of the royal family, but
alfo of the greater part of the officers belonging to the
houfehold. It likewife comprehends the national or fu-
preme court of judice, the colleges of war, chancery,
treafury, and commerce j a chapel, armoury, library,
and office for the public records j but the greater num¬
ber of inferior officers and fervants belonging to the
court, are, with the foot-guards, quartered on the burgh¬
ers. The cadle, and all the dately edifices in the king¬
dom, are covered with copper. 1 he palace of the no¬
bility, in which this order fits during the feffion of the
diet, is an elegant building adorned on the outfide with
marble datues and columns, and on the infide with paint¬
ing and fculpture. Xhis and three other palaces dand
on the banks of the lake, and are built on the fame mo¬
del, fo as to compofe an unifoim piece of architecture.
The bank, built at the expence of the city, is a noble
edifice, and joins with many furaptuaus houfes belong¬
ing to the nobility in exhibiting a fplendid appearance.
The houfes of the burghers are generally built of brick
in the city ; but in the fuburbs they are commonly made
up of timber, and therefore very fubjeCl to conflagrations.
Thefe houfes are often framed in Finland, according to
the plan and dimenfions preferibed : whence they are
tranfported in pieces to Stockholm by water, and there
fet up by the carpenters. Thefe wooden habitations, if
kept in proper repair, will lad 30 or go years, and are
deemed warmer, neater, and more healthy, than thofe
of brick or done. To prevent the danger of confl igra-
tions, the city is divided into 12 wards. In each of
thefe there is a mader and four affidants, who forthwith
repair to the place where the fire breaks out; and all
porters and labourers are obliged to range themfelves
under the mafter of the ward to which they belong. A
fire-watch patroles the dreets by night, to give warning,
or affiftance as it may be wanted; and a centinel is
maintained in the deeple of every church, to toll the
bell on the fird appearance of any fuch accident. The
police of Stockholm is entirely fubje&ed to the regula¬
tions of the grand governor, affided by a deputy and bai¬
liff of the cadle. This city is the emporium of Sweden,
to which all the commodities of the kingdom are brought
for exportation, and where almod all the imports from „
abroad are depofited. The port or haven formed by the
lake Maeler is large enough to contain 1000 fail of (Lip¬
ping ; and furniffied with a key or wharf about an Eng-
lifli°mile in length, to which the veffels may lie with
their broadfides. The greated inconveniences attending
this fituation are, the didance from the fea, which is not
within lefs than 10 miles of the town; the want of tides;
and the winding of the river, which is remarkably crook¬
ed. It opens into the Baltic ; and the entrance, which
is dangerous and rocky, the Swedes have fecured with
two fmall forts : within, it is perfectly fafe and commo-
dipus, ri.
Stockholm
Stockinp-.
* See An
Account of
the Rife
and Pro-
grefs of
the Beech
Oil Inven¬
tion, &c.
■Svo. 1715.
S T Q [ 7
, dious. l1ne northern faburbs are remarkable for the
) ^mg’s gardens, and for the great number of arlifans
who have chofen their habitations in this quarter. In
the fouthern fuburbs the Mufcovite commodities are fold ,
and here is a magnificent exchange where the merchants
daily afi'emble. Population 80,000.
b I OCRING, that part of the clothing of the lee
and foot which khmediately covers and fereens them
from the rigour of the cold. Anciently, the only dock¬
ings in ufe were made of doth, or of milled duffs fewed
together 5 but lince the invention of knitting and wea¬
ving dockings of fdk, wool, cotton, thread, &c. the ufe
of cloth dockings is quite difeontinued. Dr Howel,
in his Hi dory of the World (vol. ii. p. 222.) relates,*
that Queen Elizabeth, in ijOi, was prefented with a
pair ot black knit fiik dockings by her filk-woman, and
thenceforth die never wore cloth ones any more. The
fame author adds, that King flenry VIII. ordinarily
wore cloth hole, except there came from Spain, by great
chance^ a pair of filk dockings. His fon, King Ed-
ward VI. was prefented with a pair of long Spanifh filk
dockings by Sir Ihomas Grefham, and the prelent was
then muen taken notice of. Hence it diould feem, that
the invention of filk knit dockings originally came from
Spain. Others relate, that one William llider, an ap¬
prentice on London bridge, feeing at the houfe of an
Italian merchant a pair of knit worded dockings from
Mantua, took the hint, and made a pair exactly like
them, which he prefented to William earl of Pembroke,
and that they were the fird of that kind worn in Eng¬
land, anno 1564.
The modern dockings, whether woven or knit, are
formed of an infinite number of little knots, called flitch-
cs, loops, or mefhes, intermingled in one another.
Knit dockings are wrought with needles made of po-
liihed iron or brafs wire, which interweave the threads
and form the medies the docking confids of. At what
time the ait of knitting was invented it is perhaps im-
poflible to determine, though it has ufualiy been attri-
buted to the Scots, as it is faid that the fird works of this
kind came from Scotland. It is added, that it was on
this account that the company of docking-knitters, eda-
blifhed at. Paris 1527, took for their patron St Fiacre,
who is faid to have been the fon of a king of Scotland.
But jt is mod probable that the method of knitting
dockings by wires or needles was fird brought from
Spain, v
Woven dockings are generally very fine 5 they are
manufactured on a frame or machine made of polifhed
iron, the druefure of which it is needlefs to deferibe, as
it may be feen in almod every confiderable town in
Great Britain. The invention of this machine is, by
Mr Anderfon, attributed to Williaw Lee, M. A. of
St John’s College, Cambridge, at a period fo early as
1589. Others have given the credit of this invention
to a.dudent of Oxford at a much later period, who, it
is faid by Aaron Hill *, was driven to it by dire neccdi-
ty. This young man, falling in love with an innkeep¬
er’s daughter, married her though die had not a penny,
and he by his marriage loft a fellowdiip. They foon
fell into extreme poverty ; and their marriage produ¬
cing the confequences naturally to be expected from it,
the amorous pair became miferable, not fo much on ac¬
count of their fufferings, as from the melancholy dread
of what would become of their yet unborn infant.
10 1 s T o
Ti'-eir oniy Rleans of fuppert were the knitting of flock- Stodonr,
ings, at wnich the woman was very expert : “ But fit- Stocks.-
ting conftantiy together rrom morning to night, and the
fcholar often fixing his   ^ ,r'n • '•
eyes, with ftedfaft obferva-
tion, on the motion of his wife’s fingers in the dexterous
management 01 hex needles, he took it into his imagina¬
tion, that it was not impofiible to contrive a little loom
IV,1*0'1 ^le u'ork- with much more expedition,
ihis thought he communicated to his wife, and joining
11s head to aer hands, the endeavour fucceeded to their
wiiu. Ihus the ingenious ftocking-Ioom, which is fo
common now, was firft invented ; by which he did,not
only make himfelf and his family happy, but has left his
nation indebted to him for a benefit which enables us to
export filk ftockings in great quantities, and to a vaft
advantage, to tho:e very countries from whence beiore
we ufed to bring them at confiderable lofs in the balance
of our traffic.” ,
STOCKS, or Public Funds in England. By the
word flock was originally meant a particular fum of
money contributed to the eftablilhing a fund to enable
a company to carry on a certain trade, by means of
which the perfon became a partner in that trade, and
received a (hate of the profit made thereby, in propor¬
tion to the money employed. But this term has been
extended farther, though improperly, to fignifv any
fum of money which has been lent to the government,
on condition of receiving a certain intereft till the money
is repaid, and which makes, a part of the national debt.
As the fecurity both of the government and of die*
public companies is efteemed preferable to that of any
private perfon, as the flocks are negociable and may be
fokl at any time, and as the interelt is always punflually
paid when due ; fo they are thereby enabled to borrow
money on a lower int.ereft than what could be obtained
irom lending it to private perfons, where there muft be
always fome danger of lofing both principal and inte¬
reft.
Tint as every capital ftock or fund of a company is
raded for a particular purpofe, and limited by parlia¬
ment to a certain turn, it necefiarily follows, that when
that fund is completed, no flock can be bought of the
company ; though (hares already purchafed may be
transferred from one perfon to another. This being the
cafe, there is frequently a great difproportion between
the original value of the (hares and what is given for
them when transferred : for if there are more buyers
than fellers, a perfon who is indifferent about fellinc-
will not. part with his (hare without a confiderable pn>
fit to himfelf; and on the contrary, if many are dif-
pofed to fell, and few inclined to buy, the value ot
fuch (hares will naturally fall in proportion to the
impatience of thofe who want to turn their ftock into
(pecie.
A ftock may. likewife be affefled by the court of
chancery : for if that court fhould order the money,
which is under their direflion, to be laid out in any par¬
ticular (lock, that (lock, by having more purchafers,
will be raifed to a higher price than any other of the*
like value.
By what has been faid, the reader will perceive how
much tue credit and intereft of the nation depends on
the fuppert of tne public funds. While the annuities
and intereft for money .advanced is there regularly paid,
anti Lae principal inlured by both prince and people (a
fecurity
Stocks
H
Stomachic.
S T O [71
fecurity not to be had in other nations), foreigners will
lend us their property, and all Europe be interelled in
our welfare ; the paper of the companies will be con¬
verted into money and merchandife, and Great Britain
can never want cafh to carry her fchemes into execution.
8ee the article Fund.
Stocks, a frame erefled on the fhore of a river or
harbour, whereon to build fhipping. It generally con-
fifts of a number of wooden blocks, ranged parallel to
each other, at convenient diftances, and with a gradual
declivity towards the water.
STOCKS, a wooden machine to put the legs of offen¬
ders in, for fecuring diforderly perfons, and by way of
punilhment in divers cafes, ordained by ftatute, &c.
STOCKTON upon Tees, a handfome town in the
county ol Durham, about 16 miles fouth of the city of
Durham. It is now a port of confiderable trade 5 though,
at the reftoration, it was a defpicable village, the belt
houfe in which could hardly boaft of any thing better
than clay-walls and a thatched roof. About 40 years
ago it fent out in one year 75 veffels for the port of
London ; and the trade is much increafed fince.
STOEBE, Bastard ^Ethiopian, a genus of plants
belonging to the clafs fyngendia 3 and in the natural
fyftem ranging under the 49th order compofitce. See
Botany Index.
STOKES! A, a genus of plants belonginglo the fyn-
geneffa clafs, and order of polygamia aequalis. The
corollets in the ray are difpofed in the fhape of a funnel,
and are long and irregular. The down is four-brillled,
and the receptacle is naked. One fpecies only is known,
which is a herbaceous plant, and a native of South Ca¬
rolina.
STOICS, the name given to a fed of Grecian phi-
lofopbers, from 2r««, “ the porch in Athens,” which
the founder of the fed chofe for his fchool. For the
peculiar tenets of this fed, fee Metaphysics, Chap. iv.
Part 3. Moral Philosophy, n° 8. and Zeno.
STOLBERG, a fmall town of Germany, in the
circle of Upper Saxony, and territory of Thuringia, of
which it is the capital place. It is fituated between two
mountains, 50 miles north-weft of Leipftc. E. Long.
11. 8. N. Lat. 51. 42.
STOLE, a facerdotal ornament worn by the Romidr
pariftr priefls above their furplice, as a mark of fuperio’
rity in their refpedive churches 3 and by other priefts
over the alb, at celebrating of mafs, in which cafe it
goes acrofs the ftomach 3 and by deacons, over the
left (boulder, fcarf-wife : when the pried: reads the
gofpel for any one, he lays the bottom of his dole on
his head, 'l ire dole is a broad fwath, or dip of duff,
hanging from the neck to the feet, with three croffes
thereon.
Groom of the STOLE, the elded gentleman of his Ma-
jefty’s bedchamber, whofe office it is to prefent and put
on his Majcfty’s find garment, or firirt, every morning,
and to order the things in the chamber.
STOMACH, in Anatomy. See Anatomy, n° 91.
S TOMACH 1C medicines are fuchas ftrengthen the
domach and promote digeftion, Sec.
Stomachic corroboratives are fuch as drengtben the
tone of the domach and intedines 3 among which are
carminatives, as the roots of galangals, red gentian, ze-
doary, pimpinella, calamus aromaticus, and arum. Of
barks and rinds, thofe of canella alba, faffafras, citrons,
I ] S T O
Seville and China oranges, &c. Of fpices, pepper, Stomoxys«
ginger, cloves, cinnamon, cardamoms, and mace. Stone.
STOMOXYS, a genus of infedts belonging to the ' 'r“““
order of diptera. See Entomology, p. 214.
STONE, Edmund, a diftinguilhed felf-taught ma¬
thematician, was born in Scotland ; but neither the place
nor the time of his birth is wrell known 3 nor have we
any memoirs of his life, except a letter from the Cheva-
valier de Ramfay, author of the Travels of Cyrus, in a
letter to Father Caftel, a Jefuit at Paris, and publithed
in the Memoirs de Trevoux, p. 100, as follows : “ True
genius overcomes all the difadvantages of birth, fortune,
and education 3 ol which Mr Stone is a rare example.
Born a fon of a gardener of the duke of Argyle, he ar¬
rived at eight years of age before he learnt to read.—-
By chance a fervant having taught young Stone the
letters of the alphabet, there needed nothing more to
difcover and expand his genius. Fie applied himfelf
to ftudy, and he arrived at the knowledge of the mod
fublime geometry and analyfis, without a mafter, with¬
out a conductor, without any other guide but pure ge*
niuSi
“ At 18 years of age he had made thefe confidera-
ble advances without being known, and without knorv-
ing himfelf the prodigies of his acquifitions. The duke
of Argyle, who joined to his military talents a general
knowledge of every Icience that adorns the mind of a
man of his rank, walking one day in his garden, faw
lying on the grafs a Latin copy of Sir Ifaac Newton’s
celebrated Princlpia. He called fome one to him to
take and carry it back to his library. Our young gar¬
dener told him that the book belonged to him. ‘ To
you r” replied the duke. ‘ Do you underhand geo¬
metry, Latin, Newton V I know a little of them, re¬
plied the young man with an air of dmplicity arifing
from a profound ignorance of his own knowledge and
talents. The duke was furprifed 3 and having a tafte
for the fciences, he entered into a converfation with the
young mathematician : he aiked him feveral queftions,
and was adonidied at the force, the accuracy, and the
candour of his anfwers. ‘ But how (laid the duke)
came you by the knowledge of all thefe things ?’ Stone
replied, ‘ A fervant taught roe, ten years finoe, to read :
Does one need to know any thing more than the 24 let¬
ters in order to learn every thing elfe that one widies C
The duke’s curiofity redoubled—he fat down upon a
bank, and requefted a detail of all his proceedings in be¬
coming fo learned.
“ t fird learned to read, faid Stone : the mafons wTere
then at work upon your houfe : I went near them one
day, and I faw that the architeft ufed a rule, compaffes,
and that he made calculations. I inquired what might
be the meaning and ufe of thefe things 3 and I was in¬
formed that there was a fcience called Arithmetic : I
purebafed a book of arithmetic, and I learned it.—I was
told there was another fcience called Geometry : I
bought the books, and I learnt geometry. By reading
I found that there wrere good books in thefe two fciences
in Latin : I bought a di&ionary, and I learned Latin.
I underftood alfo that there were good books of the fame
kind in French : I bought a difliunary, and I learned
French. And this, my lord, is what I have done : it
{hems to me that we may learn every thing when we
know the 24 letters of the alphabet.”
“ This account charmed the Duke. He drew this
wonderful
S T o [7
wonderful genius out of his obfcurity j and he provided
him with an employment which left him plenty of time
to apply himfelf to the fciences. He difcovered in him
alfo the fame genius for rnufic, for painting, for archi-
tedlure, for all the fciences which depend on calculations
and proportions.”
“ I have feen Mr Stone. He is a man of great
fimplicity. He is at prefent fenfible of his own know¬
ledge •, but he is not puffed up with it. He is pcffef-
fed wdtk a pure and dilinterelted love for the mathe¬
matics, though he is not felicitous to pafs for a ma¬
thematician ; vanity having no part in the great labour
he fuftains to excell in that fcience. He defpifes for¬
tune alfo } and he has folicited me twenty times to re-
queft the duke to give him lefs employment, which may
not be worth the half of that he now has, in order to
be more retired, and lefs taken oft from his favourite
ftudies. He difeovers fometimes, by methods of bis
own, truths which others have difcovered before him.
He is charmed to find on thefe occafions that he is not
a firff inventor, and that others have made a greater pro-
grefs than he thought. Far from being a plagiary, he
attributes ingenious folutions, which he gives to certain
problems, to the hints he has found in others, although
the connexion is but very dillant,” &c.
Mr Stone was author and tranflator of feveral ufeful
works} viz. 1. A New IV^thematical Dictionary, in
x vol. 8vo, firff printed in 1726. 2. Fluxions, in 1
vol. 8vo, 1730. The DireCt Method is a tranflation
from the French, of Hofpital’s Analyfe des Infiniments
Peiits ; and the Inverfe Method was fupplied by Stone
hknfelf. 3. The Elements of Euclid, in 2 vols. 8vo,
1731. A neat and ufe'ul edition of thofe Elements,
with an account of ti e life and wnfitings of Euclid, and
a defence of his Elements againft modern objeCtors. Be-
fide other fmaller works. Stone was a fellow of the
It'yal Society, and had inferted in the Philofophical
TranfaCtions (vol. xli. p. 218), an “ Account of two
fpecies of lines of the 3d order,, not mentioned by Sir
Ifaac Newton or Mr Stirling.”
Stone, Jerome, the fon of a reputable feaman, was
Born in the parifh of Scoonie, in the county of Fife,
North Britain. His father died abroad w'hen he was
but three years of age, and his mother, with her young
family, was left in very narrow circumftances. Jerome,
like the reft of the children, having got the ordinary
fchool education, reading Enghfh, writing, and arith¬
metic, betook himfelf to the bufinefs of a travelling
chapman. But the dealing in buckles, garters, and
fuch fmall articles, not fuiting his fuperior genius, he
foon converted his little ftock into bonks, and for fome
years wTent through the country, and attended the fairs
as an itinerant bookfeller. There is great reafon to be¬
lieve that he engaged in this new fpecies of traffic,
more with a view to the improvement of his mind than
for any pecuniary emolument. Formed by nature for
literature, he poffeffed a peculiar talent for acquiring
languages with amazing facility. Whether from a de¬
fire to underftand the Scriptures in their original lan¬
guages, or from being informed that thefe languages are
the parents of many others, he began his philological
purfuits with the ftudy of the Hebrew and Greek
tongues ; and, by a wonderful effort of genius and ap¬
plication, made himfelf fo far maffer of thefe, without
any kind of afliftance, as to be able to interpret the
2 ] s T 0
Hebrew Bible and Greek Teftament into Engliflr aj
aperturam libn. At tuis time he did not know one w ord
of Latin. Seniible that he could make no great pro-
greis in learning, without the knowledge of at ieail the
grammar of that language, he made application to the
pariih i’choolmafter for his affittance. Some time after¬
wards, he was encouraged to profecute his ftudies at the
univerfity of St Andrews. An unexampled proficiency
in every branch of literature recommended him to the
eileem of the profefiors j and an uncommon fund of
wit and pleafantry rendered him, at the lame time, the
favourite of all his fellow ftudents, fome of whom (peak
of him to this day with an enthuliaftic degree of admi¬
ration and refpeft. About this period lome very hu¬
morous poetical pieces of his compofition were publifhed
in the Scots Magazine. Before he had finilhed his third
feffion, or term, at St Andrew’s, on an application to
the college by the mailer of the Ichool of Dunkeld foe
an ulher, Mr Stone was recommended as the beft qua¬
lified for that office j and about twro or three years after,
the maffer being removed to Perth, Mr Stone, by the
favour of his Grace the Duke of Atholl, who had con¬
ceived a high opinion of his abilities, was appointed his
fucceffor.
When he firft w^ent to Dunkeld, he entertained but
an unfavourable opinion of the Gaelic language, which
he confidered as nothing better than a barbarous inarti¬
culate gibberilh } but being bent on inveftigating the
origin and deicent of the ancient Scots, he fuffered net
his prejudices to make him negledf the ftudy of their
primitive tongue. Having, with his ufual nfikiuity and
fuccefs, maftered the grammatical difficulties which he
encountered, he fet himfelf to difeover fomething of the
true genius and charafler of the language. He xolleft-
ed a number of ancient poems, the produ&ion of Lifts
or Scottilh bards, which, he faid, were daring, innocent,
paffionate, and bold. Some of thefe poems were tranf-
lated into Englilh verfc, which feveral perfons now- alive
have feen in manufeript, before Mr Macpherfon publilh-
ed any of his tranflations from Offian.
Fie died while he was writing and preparing for the
prefs a treatife, intitkd, “ An Inquiry into the Origi¬
nal of the Nation and Language of the ancient Scots,
with Conje£lures about the Primitive State of the Cel¬
tic and other European Nations j” an idea which could
not have been conceived by an ordinary genius. In this
treatife he proves that the Scots drew their original, as
well as their language, from the ancient Gauls. Had
Mr Stone lived to finifti this work, which dilcovtrs great
ingenuity, immenfe reading, and indefatigable induffry,
it wrnuld have thrown light upon the dark and early pe¬
riods of the Scoltifti hifiory, as he opens a new and plain
path for leading us through the unexplored labyrinths
of antiquity. But a fever put an end to his life, his la¬
bours, and his ufefulnefs, in the year 1757, being then
only in the 30th year of his age. He left, in manu¬
feript, a much etteemed and well-known allegory, inti-
tled “ The Immortality of Authors,” which has been
publiftied and often reprinted fince his death, and will
be a lafting monument of a lively fancy, found judge¬
ment, and corre£I tafte. It was no fmall ornament of
this extraordinary ebarafter, that he paid a pious regard
to his aged mother, wffio furvived him two years, and re¬
ceived an annual penfion from the Duchefs of Atholl as
a teftimony of refpe& to the memory of her fon.
STONEHIVE.
S T O [ 71
Stenellive, STONEHIVE, or STONEHAVEN, a fmall town in
Stones, the county of Kincardine, in Scotland, 15 miles fouth
from Aberdeen. It was built in the time of Charles II.
and Hands at the foot of fome high cliffs, in a fmall bay,
with a rocky bottom, opening a little in one part, fo
that fmall veffels may find admittance, but only at high
Water. A pier runs out from the harbour on the north
fide to fecure them after their entrance. The town con¬
tains about 800 inhabitants. The manufactures are fail-
cloths and ofnaburghs, knit worfted and thread ftock-
ings.
STONES, in Natural Hi/lonj, have been defined bo¬
dies which are infipid, not duftile, nor inflammable, nor
foluble in water. For a view of the claffification of
Hones and of their diflribution, fee MINERALOGY and
Geology.
Here we (hall make a few obfervations on fome fpe-
culative difcuffions relative to their natural hiflory.
As philofophers have perplexed themfelves much
about the origin and formation of the earth (a fubjeCt
certainly far beyond the ken of the human intellect, at
Iteafl if we believe that it w-as made by the Almighty
power of God), fo they have alfo propofed theories to
explain the origin of Hones. When philofophers limit
their inquiries within the boundaries of fcience, where
they are led by the fober and fafe conduCt of obferva-
tion and experiment, their conclufions may be folid and
may be ufeful -, but when, throwing experiment and ob-
fervation afide, they rear a theory upon an airy nothing,
or upon a fingle detached faCt, their theories will vanifh
before the touch of true philofophy as a romantic palace
before the rod of the enchanter. Sometimes from whim,
er caprice, or vanity, they attempt to confound every
thing : they wiflr to prove that the foul is mere matter,
that plants are animals, and that foflils are plants, and
thus would banifh two fubfiances, fpirit and dead mat¬
ter, entirely from the world ; as if the Author of Na¬
ture were aCtuated by fordid views of parfimony in the
works of creation, though we evidently fee that a gener¬
ous profufion is one of the characterifiic marks of thefe
works. We leave the talk of confounding the different
• claffes of being to thofe philofophers whofe minds are too
contraCled to comprehend a great variety of being at
one view, or who prefer novelty to every thing elfe.
We content ourfelves with the old opinion, that the foul
is a fpiritual fubflance 5 that plants are plants, and that
Hones are Hones.
We have been led into thefe remarks by finding that
fome philofophers fay that Hones are vegetables; that
they grow and increafe in fize like a plant. This theory,
we believe, was firfl offered to the world by M. Tourne-
fort, in the year 1702, after returning from his travels
in the eaff. It was founded on a curious faCt. In fur-
yeying the labyrinth of Crete, he obferved that the
names which vifitors had engraved upon the rock were
not formed of hollow but of prominent letters like baffo
VoL. XIX. Part II.
3 1 S T O
relievos. He fuppofes that thefe letters wrere at firff
hollowed out by knives j that the hollows have fince
been filled up by the growth of the Hone ; and hence
he concludes that Hones vegetate. We wifli we were
fully affured of the faCt that the letters were at firfl hol¬
lowed, before we attempt to account for their promin¬
ency. But even allowing the fuppofition to be true
that they were at firff hollow, we reply it is only a fingle
faCl, and that it is altogether unphilofophical to deduce
a general fyffem from a fingle fad.
In the fecond place, this protuberancy of the charac¬
ters is very improperly called vegetation, for it is not
produced by a procefs in any refpe£t like the vegetation
of a plant. Vegetation fuppofes veffels containing fluids
and growth by expanfion \ but who ever heard of veffels
in a Hone, of fluids moving in them, or of the different
parts expanding and fwelling like the branch or trunk
of a tree ? Even the faft which Tournefort mentions
proves nothing. He does not pretend to fay, that the
rock itfelf is i.icreafing, but only that a few fmall hol¬
lows are filled with new flony matter, which rifes a lit¬
tle above the furrounding furface of the rock. This
matter evidently has been once liquid, and at length has
congealed in the channel into which it had run. But is
not this eafily explained by a common procefs, the for¬
mation of flalaftites ? When water charged with cal¬
careous matter is expofed to the aftion of air, the water
evaporates, and leaves the calcareous earth behind, which
hardens and becomes like a Hone.
Having thus examined the principal fa£l upon which
M. Tournefort founds his theory, it is 'unneceffary to
follow him minutely through the reff of his fubjeft.—
He compares the accretion of matter in the labyrinth
to the confolidation of a bone when broken, by a callus
formed of the extravafated nutritious juice. This ob-
fervation is thought to be confirmed, by finding that
the projefting matter of the letters is whitifh and the
rock itfelf greyiih. But it is eafy to find comparifons.
The difficulty, as Pope fays, is to apply them. The re-
femblance between the filling up of the hollow of a
Hone, and the confolidation of a broken bone by a cal¬
lus, wre confefs ourfelves not philofophers enough to fee.
Were we writing poetry in bad tafle, perhaps it might
appear. The circumflance, that the prominent matter
of the letters is whitifh, while the rock is greyifh, we
flatter ourfelves ffrengthens our fuppofition that it con-
fiffs of a depofition of calcareous matter. Upon the
whole, we conclude, we hope logically, that no fuch
theory as this, that Hones are vegetables, can be drawn
from the fuppofed fa£t refpe&ing the labyrinth. We
have to regret, that the account which we have feen of
the fubjeft is fo imperfeft, that w'e have not fufficient
materials for a proper invefligation. Tournefort has
not even told us of what kind of Hone or earth the ac¬
cretion confiffs ; yet this fingle information would pro¬
bably have decided the queflion (a).
4 X STONES
Stones.
(a) To give a more diflinft notion of Tournefort’s theory, we {hall fubjoin his conclufions : From thefe ob¬
fervations (he fays) it follows, that there are Hones wffiich grow in the quarries, and of confequence that are
fed 5 that the fame juice which nouriffies them ferves to rejoin their parts when broken ; juH as in the bones of
animals, and the branches of trees, when kept up by bandages j and, in a word, that they vegetate. 'Fhere is,
then (he fays), no room to doubt but that they are organized} or that they draw their nutritious juice from
the
i: 7*4 ]
STONES and EARTHS, Analysis of.
Preliminary A T the clofe of cur article Mineralogy, we refer-
tPrecedes. rej to piace for an account of the method of
"" examining the chemical conftitution of earths and ftones.
In the article Ores, we have given a pretty full detail
of the methods of analyfing that clafs of minerals. In
this place we propofe briefly to point out the mofl: im¬
proved procefles for the analyfis of the other three claf-
fes of mineral bodies, viz. earths and ftones, falts, and
combuftibles'j to which we fhall add fome account of the
method of examining foils.
But before proceeding to the immediate objeft of this
treatife, it may be ufeful to make fome obfervations on
fome preliminary procelfes connected with the fubje£t
under confideration.
In the firft place, it is neceflary that the mineral to be
examined be reduced to a fine powder. To effedl this
with very hard ftones, they are made red hot, and in
this ftate thrown into cold water. By the fudden change
of temperature in the different parts of the ftone, it cracks,
and falls to pieces. If ths pieces be not fufficiently fmall,
the fame procefs is to be repeated. The fragments are
then to be reduced to fmaller pieces in a polithed fteel
mortar, and the cavity of this mortar ought to be cylin¬
drical. A peftle of the fame metal ftrould be made to fit
it exactly, that* no part of the ftone may efcape during
the operation of pounding. The ftone being in this way
reduced to powder, a determinate quantity is taken, 100
or 200 grains, for example, and this is to be reduced to
as fine a powder as poflible ; or, as it is called, to an
impalpable powder. This operation is moft fuccefsfully
performed in an agate mortar, with a peftle of the fame
mineral} a mortar of about four inches in diameter, and
rather more than one inch deep, is found to anfwer the
purpofe very well. It is found moft convenient to ope¬
rate on fmall quantities only at a time ; not more than
five or fix grains. When the powder feels foft, adheres,
and appears under the peftle in the form of a cake, it is
then as fine as poffible. It is now to be accurately weigh¬
ed, and it is ufually found to have acquired fome addi¬
tional weight, arifing from part of the mortar being worn
off during the pounding. This additional weight muft be
attended to, and after the analyfis is completed, a part
of the fubftance of the mortar muft be fubtrafted. In
the cafe ol an agate or flint mortar being ufed, the por¬
tion rubbed off, which increafes the weight, may be re¬
garded as pure filiceous earth.
The chemical veffels neceffary for the analyfis of mi¬
nerals are crucibles for expofing the fubftances to heat, Preliminary
glaffes and (hallow difhes for folutions and evaporations. Proceffes.
The crucibles fhould be of platina or pure filver, and of ' »
fuch a capacity as to hold from feven to eight cubic
inches of water. The veffels in which the folutions,
evaporations, and other proceffes are performed, (hould
be of glafs or porcelain j the glafs veffels, as being more
brittle, and therefore more apt to break, are found to be
lefs economical than thofe nf porcelain. Some chemifts
employ porcelain veffels which are in the form of fec-
tions of fpheres, and are glazed both in the infide and
outfide, excepting part of the bottom, which comes into
immediate contact with the fire. Wedgewood’s glazed
veffels for evaporations, are found to anfwer very well j
the glaze is thin, and the veffels are not very apt ta
crack ; but it is fuppofed by fome chemifts, that it is oc-
cafionally afted on by ftrong acids. It is fcarcely ne¬
ceflary to add, that an accurate balance is a neceffary
inftrument in the hands of the analyft.
I. Of the'Awlyfis of EARTHS and STONES.
The ingredients which have been difeovered by means
of analyfis, in the compofition of fimple ftones are, fi-
lica, alumina, lime, magnefia, zirconia, and glucina,
with fome of the metallic oxides, as thofe of iron, cop¬
per, manganefe, chromium, and nickel j but it never
happens that the whole of thefe fubftarices are found in
combination j and indeed it is a rare circumftance to
meet with more than four or five in the fame ftone. With
a view of difeovering the different fubftances which en¬
ter into the compofition of ftones, the following method
is recommended.
Take 200 grains of the ftone to be examined, or, if it
be inconvenient to procure this quantity, 100 grains
will be fufficient. Let it be reduced to a fine powder,
mixed with three times its weight of pure potafti, and a
fmail portion of water, and then fubje&ed to heat in a
crucible of filver. The heat muft be applied (lowly at
firft, and the matter is to be conftantly ftirred, that no
part of it may be thrown out of the crucible by the
fwelling of the potafti. The water being evaporated,
the mixture is to be kept at a red heat for half an hour j
and being removed from the furnace, fome notion may
be formed of the nature of the ingredients, by examin¬
ing the contents •, for, if the mixture be in a liquid ftate,
the ftone is chiefly compofed of filiceous earth j if it be
of the confiftence of pafte, and have an opaque appear¬
ance,
the earth. This juice muft be firft filtrated and prepared in their furface, which may be here efteemed as a
kind of bark and hence it muft be conveyed to all the other parts. It is highly probable the juice which fill¬
ed the cavities of the letters was brought thither from the bottom of the roots; nor is there any more difficulty
in conceiving this than in comprehending how the fap (hould pafs from the roots of our largeft oaks to the
very extremities of their higheft branches. Some ftones, then (he concludes), muft be allowed to vegetate and
grow like plants: but this is not all •, (he adds), that probably they are generated in the fame manner ; at leaft,
that there are abundance of ftones whofe generation is inconceivable, without (uppofing that they come from a
kind of feeds, wherein the organical parts of the ftones are wrapped up as thefe of the largeft plants are in their
feeds.
ANALYSIS OF STONES, &c.
F.elimlnary ance, tlie otlier earths predominate j but if it remain in
froceffes. a powdery form, the aluminous earth is in greateft pro-
portion. The oxides of different metals are indicated by
the colour of the mafs ; when it is of a dark or brown-
ifh red, the metallic oxide is that of iron j a grafs green
colour denotes manganefe $ and yellowilh green the
oxide of chromium.
But there are fome ftones on which potalh has a very
feeble aftion, and in this cafe borax has been fubilituted
for the alkali. This is the method which wTas followed
by Mr Chenevix in analyfing aluminous Hones. A hun¬
dred grains of fapphire in powder were mixed with 250
grains of calcined borax, and fubje£ted to a ftrong heat
in a crucible of platina for two hours. When the mafs
was cold, it exhibited the appearance of a greenifh blue
glafs, which adhered ftrongly to the crucible ^ but the
whole being boiled for fome hours in muriatic acid, it
was completely diffolved $ the earthy matter was then
precipitated by means of fub-carbonate of ammonia, and
the precipitate, after being well walhed, w'as again dif¬
folved in muriatic acid } and in this way the borax wras
feparated. The remaining part of the analyfis was nearly
fimilar to that direaed for other ftones, excepting only
that the alumina wTas feparated from the potalh by means
of muriate of ammonia.
But to return to the examination and farther treatment
of the mafs in the filver crucible, which after being remo¬
ved from the furnace, and wiped on the outfide, is to be
placed in a porcelain capfule : it is then filled with wa¬
ter, and this water is renewed occafionally, till the
whole matter is feparated from the crucible. By this
means a part of the compound of the alkali with the fi-
liceous and aluminous earths, is diiTolved, and with a
fufficient quantity of water, the whole may be diflolved.
Muriatic acid is now to be added till the wrhole of the
mafs is brought to a ftate of folution. This, however,
will not be the cale, if the ftone be compofed chiefly of
fillca. On the firft addition of the acid, a flakey preci¬
pitate is produced, becaufe the acid unites with the al¬
kali, which held the mafs in folution. An effervefcence
afterwards takes place, which arifes from the decompo-
fition of a portion of carbonate of potafti, formed during
the fufion ; and the flakey precipitate is again diffolved,
as well as the matter which remained in the form of
powder at the bottom of the veffel. If the powder, be
•fxlica and alumina, there is no effervefcence ; . but if it
. contain lime, an effervefcence is produced, dhe folu¬
tion in the m'jriatic acid being formed, if it fhall ap¬
pear colourlefs, it may be inferred that it contains no
metallic oxide, or at leaft a very fmall portion. An
orange red colour (hews that it contains iron, a purp-
lifh red indicates manganefe, and a golden yellow, chro¬
mium.
The folution is now to be introduced into an evapo¬
rating di(h of porcelain, and being covered with paper,
is to be placed on a fand bath, and evaporated to dry-
nefs. Towards the end of the evaporation, as the li¬
quid affumes the form of a jelly, it muft be conftantly
ftirred with a rod of filver or porcelain, to permit the
acid and water to pafs off, and to allow the whole mafs
to be equally dried •, for it is in this way that th©»fiiica
and alumina are feparated from each other. I he mat¬
ter being reduced to a dry powder, add to it a large
quantity of pure water, expofe it to a moderate heat,
and pour it on a filter. This folution may be denomi*
715
nated A. Wafti repeatedly the powder which remainsPrfeliminarr
upon the filter, till the water with which it is wafhed,Froc^ eS',
no longer precipitates filver from its folutions. I he
powder remaining is filiceous earth, which is firft to be
dried between folds of blotting paper, and then made red
hot in a crucible of platina or filver j and when it is cold
it is to be accurately weighed. If it be pure filiceous earth,
it is in the form of a white .powder, is white co¬
lour, does not adhere to the fingers, and is inioluble.in
acids. If it be at all coloured, it (hews that it contains
iome metallic oxide, and is a proof that the evaporation
has been carried on with too great a heat. Io lepaiatc-
the oxide, boil the filica with an acid, and then wafti
and dry it as before. This acid lolution is to be added
to the folution A, and the whole is to be evaporated to
about the quantity of an Englifh pint} then add to it a
folution of carbonate of potafti, till the precipitatiorr
ceafes j and it may be neceffary to boil, it a lew- mo¬
ments, to allow the whole of the precipitate to fall to
the bottom. The whole of the precipitate being colka-
ed at the bottom, the fupernatant liquid is decanted off,
and the water being put in its place, the precipitate and ^
water are thrown on a filter ■, and when the ivater has
run off, the filter with the precipitate upon it is placed
on the folds of blotting paper. After the precipitate has
acquired fome degree of confiftence, colleft it carefully
with an ivory knife, mix it with a folution t>f pure pot¬
afti, and boil it in a capfule of porcelain. The potafli
diffolves the alumina or glucina, and the. other fub-
ftances remain in the form 01 a powder. Ibis pevvdet
may be called B.
Add to the folution of potalh as much acid as.will
faturate the potafh, and alfo rediffolve any precipitate
which at firft appeared *, and then add carbonate of am¬
monia till the tafte of it be perceptible in the liquid.
The whole of the alumina is now precipitated m the
form of white flakes, while the glucina remains diffol-
ved, if a fufficient quantity of carbonate of ammonia
had been employed. Filter the liquid } and the alumina
remaining on the filter being wafhed and dried., and. af¬
ter being made red hot, and allowed to cool,, is weigh¬
ed. To prove its being alumina, diffolve it in fulphu-
ric acid, and a fufficient quantity of fulphate 01 acetate
of potalh being added, the whole of it will be conveited
into alum cryftals, if the earth employed be aluminous
£art^* . . - „ ,
To feparate the glucina, the liquid which paffed
through the filter is to be boiled for fome time, and if
the folution contain any of this earth it will be precipi¬
tated in the form of a light powrder, which may be dried
in the ufual manner, and wreighed. It is a fine, loft,
light, taftelefs poivder, when in a ftate of puiity j and
the application of heat does not make it concrete, as
happens to alumina. _ _
We now return to the refiduum in which may be
expefled lime, magnefia, and fome of.- the metallic ox¬
ides. But if it be fufpe&ed that this refiduum contains
any yttria, it is to be treated with carbonate of ammo¬
nia, which diffolves the yttria, and leaves the other bo¬
dies untouched. I he yttria being feparated, the refi¬
duum B is to be diffolved in weak fulphuric acid, and
the folution evaporated to drynefs. Add a fmall quan¬
tity of water, which will diffolve the fulphate of mag¬
nefia, as well as the metallic fulphates ; but the. fulphate
of lime remains undiffolved, or if any part of it fhould
4X2 dmolvej
7i <5 ANALYSIS 0:
Frc-Ummary diffolve, it be thrown down by adding a fmall por-
t - ^ tion of weak alcohol. After being made red hot in a
crucible, it is to be weighed, and the lime will amount to
°f the weight. The folution containing the remain¬
ing fulphates being diluted with a large portion of wa¬
ter, a fmall excefs of acid is to be added, and then a
faturated carbonate of potal'h. The magnefia and oxide
of manganefe remain diffolved, and the oxides of chro¬
mium, iron, and nickel, are precipitated. This preci¬
pitate may be denominated C.
Add to the folution a folutian of hydrofulphuret of
potafh, and the manganefe in the Hate of a hydroful¬
phuret wall be precipitated. Calcine the precipitate in
contact with air, and weigh it. The addition of pure
potaih to the folution will precipitate the magnefia,
which being walked, and fubjedled to a red heat, is alfo
to be weighed.
The refiduum C is to be repeatedly boiled with nitric
acid, and then mixed with pure potaih j and, being
heated, the liquid is to be decanted off. The precipi¬
tate thus obtained, confifting of the oxides of iron
and nickel, is to be walked .with pure water, and this
Water is to be added to the folution of the nitric acid
and potafh. The chromium, if any be prefent, is con¬
tained in that folution, and is in the form of an acid.
Add to the folution muriatic add in excefs, and let the
evaporation be continued till the liquor become of a
green colour j then add a pure alkali, by which the
chromium is precipitated in the Hate of oxide, which is
to be dried in the ufual way, and weighed.
The precipitate containing the oxides of iron and nic¬
kel is to be diffolved in muriatic acid ; ammonia is to
be added in excefs, when the oxide of iron precipitates 5
and being colleded, walhed and dried, is to be weigh¬
ed. By evaporating the folution, the oxide of nickel
will be alfo precipitated, or the wdiole may be precipi¬
tated by the addition of hydrofulpburet of ammonia.
This being treated in the fame manner as the other fub-
ftances, is alfo to be weighed.
The weight of the whole fubftances thus obtained be¬
ing added together, and being compared with the
weight of the matter originally operated upon, if the
two be equal, or if the difference do not exceed three or
four parts in 100, it may be inferred that the analyfis is
nearly correff •, but a confiderable lofs of weight indi¬
cates fome error, and requires the analyfis to be careful¬
ly repeated. If the fame lofs of weight appear, it may
be concluded that the ftone contained fome fubllance
which is foluble in water, or has been driven off by the
heat. To afceitain the lafi: point, a portion of the Hone
is to be broken into fmall pieces, and expofed to a ftrong
heat, in a porcelain retort. If it contain water, or any
volatile lubftance, it will come over into the receiver,
and by this means the nature and weight of the ingre¬
dients feparated may be afeertained. If nothing come
over into the receiver, or if what is obtained be not
equal to the deficient weight, it may be inferred that the
ftone contains fome matter which is foluble in water.
A fixed alkali has been not unfrequently found in
fimple ftonesj and to afeertain whether the mineral fub-
jedfed to analyfis contains any alkaline matter, different
methods have been purfued. Thefe methods we fliall
now deferibe. The ftone being reduced to an impalpa¬
ble powder, is cautioufly heated repeatedly with fulphu-
*ic acid, and the mafs is to be digefted in water $ and
P STONES, &c.
this folution being properly concentrated, is fet afide Preliminary
for fome days. The appearance of cryftals of alum is a Piocefles.
certain indication that the mineral contained potaih jv—
and the quantity of potaih may be eftimated at ToVo °f
the weight of thofe cryftals 5 but if no cryftals be ob¬
tained, the folution is to be evaporated to drynefs, and
the refiduum expofed to a moderate red heat. Digeft:
it afterwards in water, and add carbonate of ammonia,
and filter ; evaporate again to drynefs, expole the refi-
due to a heat of 700°, and rediffolve it. The folution
being properly concentrated, wdll give cryftals of ful-
phate of foda or of potaih, as the one or the other al¬
kali is prefent. Potaih may be difeovered by adding to
the folution of the fait, a folution of nitro-muriate of
platina fomewhat concentrated. A yellow precipitate,
which is muriate of platina and potaih, is thus ob¬
tained.
Klaproth’s method for difeovering fixed alkalies in
minerals is the following. He takes four parts of ni¬
trate of barytes to one of the mineral to be examined,'
and fufes them together in a porcelain crucible. A
fpongy mafs of a light-blue colour was thus obtained,
and with the addition of diluted muriatic acid, was com¬
pletely diffolved. The folution, which was of a yellow
colour, was then mixed with a fufficient quantity of ful-
phuric acid, by which the barytes is precipitated, and
the muriatic acid expelled. The liquid is next evapo¬
rated to drynefs, and the mafs being digefted in water,
is filtered, and the fulpha:e of barytes and filica remain
on the filter. The clear folution is faturated with car¬
bonate of ammonia, and filtered a fecond time j and all
the earthy and metallic bodies being feparated, the ful¬
phates of fixed alkali and ammonia only remain in the
folution, which being evaporated to drynefs, the dry fa- \
line mafs is introduced into a porcelain crucible, and
fubje&ed to fuch a degree of heat as is fufficient to drive
off the fulphate of ammonia. The refiduum is then dit-
folved in water, and cryftallized ; and thus a pure, fix¬
ed alkaline fulphate is obtained, which is again diflbl-
ved in water, and decompofed, by adding acetate of
barytes. The folution is then filtered, and the liquid is
evaporated to drynefs. The faline mafs obtained is the
acetate of a fixed alkali, which being expofed to heat in
a crucible, became of a reddiffi colour. The carbona¬
ceous refiduum is then to be diffolved in water, filtered,
and cryftallized, and the fait thus procured is a carbo¬
nate of a fixed alkali, the nature of which may be ea-
fily recognifed by the means ftated above.
Mr Davy’s method of dete&ing a fixed alkali in mi¬
nerals, is different *. One hundred grains of the ftone #
in very fine powder are to be fufed for half an hour at a Jour.
ftrong red heat, in a crucible of platina or filver, with xiii. 8<5.
200 grains of boracic acid. An ounce and half of ni¬
tric acid diluted with feven or eight times its quantity
of water, is then digefted upon the fufed mafs, till the
decompofition of the whole is completed. Evaporate
the fluid to about tw® ounces, or one ounce and a half j
by this means the filiceous earth is feparated, which be¬
ing collefted on a filter, is to be wafhed with diftilled
water, till the boracic acid and the whole of the faline
matter are feparated. The fluid is then mixed with wa¬
ter that has paffed through the filter, and evaporated to
the quantity of half a pint, after which it is faturated
with carbonate of ammonia, and boiled with an excefs
of this fait, till the whole of the fubftances capable of
being
ANALYSIS OF
Zircon being precipitated, have been thrown down. The fo-
Genus. Jution being filtered, the earths and metallic oxides re-
main on the filter. Add nitric acid to the liquid till it
acquire a ftrong four tafle, and evaporate till the bora-
cic acid appear free.
The fluid is then to be filtered, and evaporated to
drynefs, and the dry mafs being expofed to a heat of
about 450° Fahrenheit, the nitrate of ammonia is de-
compofed, and the nitrate of potalh or foda remains be¬
hind.
To deteft fluoric acid, which has been fometimes met
with as a component part of ftones, Klaproth heats the
mineral with fulphuric acid in a glafs retort, the corro-
fion of which, and the depofition of filica in the water
of the receiver, are certain tefl's of fluoric acid.
After the general obfervations which have now been
offered, we proceed to give examples of the analyfis of
minerals belonging to the different genera of earths and
ftones; and we {hall follow the fame order in which
thofe genera are defcribed in the article Minera¬
logy.
1. Zircon Genus.
The mineral affording the earth which charaflerifes
this genus, was analyfed by Klaproth in the following
* Efays, manner *. We feleft that fpecies which is called hya-
i, IS15. cinth.
A. 100 grains of hyacinth being levigated in the
flint-mortar, received an increafe of weight of half a
grain.
B. This pulverized hyacinth, digefted with two
ounces of nitro-muriatic acid, yielded, upon faturating
the folution with pctafli, a light-brown precipitate, of
three grains and a half, when dried. Ammonia, add¬
ed to it, diffblved nothing; and it remained colourlefs.
After the precipitate had been again feparated from the
volatile alkali, muriatic acid was added, which diffolved
its ferruginous contents, leaving a white earth behind,
which, when ignited, weighed i-J grain. The portion
of iron, precipitated by cauftic ammonia from the muri¬
atic folution, weighed half a grain, when ignited, and
became black and refplendent. It wras fufed with a
neutral phofphate, upon charcoal, to find whether it
contained manganefe 5 no trace was perceptible.
C. The above li- grains of earth B wTere now added
again to the hyacinth, after .treatment with acids. The
ftone was then fubje&ed to red heat, with fix times its
quantity of cauftic alkali, in the manner explained in
the eflay on the jargon of Ceylon ; the ignited mafs was
again liquefied with w^ater ; and the earth remaining af¬
ter this procefs weighed 123 grains, when collected,
edulcorated, and dried.
D. The alkaline lixivium w7as then faturated with
muriatic acid, and evaporated. At firft it continued
clear j but towards the end filiceous earth feparated,
the quantity of which, after ignition, amounted to fix
grains.
E. To the 123 grains, previoufly well waffled with
water, a fufficient quantity of muriatic acid was added ;
which, with the affiftance of heat, diffblved nearly the
whole, a trifling refidue excepted. This muriatic folu¬
tion, evaporated in a moderate heat to a fixth or eighth
part, loft its fluidity, and formed a limpid gelatinous
coagulum. It was then covered with water, and ex¬
pofed, with repeated agitation, to a digefting heat.
STONES, &c.
By this management, the filiceous earth feparated in
flimy, intumefced grains, and weighed, after ignition, ^
234- grains. _ .
F. The folution, thus freed from its filica, wras now
faturated with a boiling ley of mild alkali; and the pre¬
cipitate was walked and dried in the air. This laft
weighed 114 grains, proving, upon every trial, to be
jargonic earth. A fourth part of it, heated to rednefs,
weighed 16J grains; which make the wdiole amount to
66 grains.
G. The above fix grains D, with the 23 J grains E,
in the whole 294 grains of filiceous earth, were ignited
with a quadruple weight of vegetable alkali. When
this mafs had been again foftened with water, it left a
refidue, which was extracted by muriatic acid. From this
muriatic folution, alfo, when faturated with potalh, jar¬
gonic earth fell down, weighing four grains after igni¬
tion. Hence, fubtrafting thefe, the quantity of lilice-
ous earth is reduced to 254 grains.
One hundred parts of hyacinth, therefore, have
given
Jargonia
Silica
Subtra£l
Oxide of iron
F
G
G
A
B
66 7
4 5
Lofs
7®
25
0.50
95-50
4-50
100
2. Of the Siliceous Genus.
A great proportion of the ftones belonging to this ge¬
nus are tianfparent, and have a vitreous appearance.
They are fo hard as to fcratch glafs, and, excepting the
fluoric acid, they are not a£ted upon by acids. By fu»
lion with alkalies they form glafs *, they alfo enter into
fufxon with boracic acid, and the acid of phofphorus.
Stones compofed chiefly of pure filica, are tranfparent
and colourlefs. When a mineral is prefented for exa¬
mination, even if it poflefs molt of the properties which
charaflerize ftones belonging to this genus, fome pre¬
liminary proceffes may be purfued to afcertain farther its
nature and component parts.
A. It is fometimes difficult to reduce filiceous ftones
to a fine powder. To facilitate this operation, a
a portion of the ftone may be heated to rednefs,
and in this ftate fuddenly plunged into cold water. If
by the firft heating it is .not fufficiently brittle, the ope¬
ration may be repeated until the mineral can be reduced
to a fine powder, as already direfted.
B. One part of the ftone in fine powder is now to be
mixed with four or five parts of potalh, diffblved in the
fame quantity of water. The mixture is introduced in¬
to a filver crucible, and evaporated to drynefs, IHrring
it conftantly with a filver rod, according to the direc¬
tions given above. The mafs being evaporated to dry¬
nefs, the heat is to be gradually increafed, till the cru¬
cible appears of a dull red heat, or till the mafs enter
into quiet fulion. In this ftate it is kept for an hour.
C. Remove the crucible from the fire before it i§,
completely cold j foften the mafs with water, by adding
frelh.
717
Siliceous
Genus.
7i§
ANALYSIS OF STONES, &<;.
Siliceous freili portions from time to time, till the whole is de-
! ,fnus' tached from the crucible, and then add 12 times its bulk
of water to effedl a folution. If the ftone confided
chiefly of* filiceous earth, the greater part of the mafs,
will be diflblved.
D. Add muriatic acid till no farther precipitate is ef-
fefted, and without feparating the precipitate, evaporate
the wThole to drynefs.
E. Pour fix times its bulk of muiiatic acid, previoufly
diluted with four parts of wrater, on the dry mafs ; boil
the mixture for half an hour; let the infoluble part fub-
fide, and then colleft it on a filter, and after being
dried, fubjeft it in a crucible to a red heat. This pow¬
der is the filiceous earth contained in the mineral.
But dones included under this genus contain very
different proportions, not only of filiceous earth, but alfo
of the other earths j and lome of them even contain a
far greater proportion of other earths than that which
characterizes the genus under which they are arranged.
and a half, when edulcorated and ignited. Diluted ful-
phuric acid completely diffolved it to a limpid liquor,
and when properly treated, the folution yielded only
alum. '
F. To obtain the earth, which poffibiy might have
remained latent in the feveral wadrings, the whole were
evaporated to drynefs. After having re-diffolved the
faline mafs in water, the remaining portion of earth was
colledled, it amounted only to half a grain, and was fill--
ceous earth.
There were therefore obtained,
Silica
Alumina
(A)
(F)
(E)
54
54i
54-50
24.50
Lofs
79
21
Jinalyjis of Leucite.
Siliceou*
Genus.
The analyfis of this mineral is particularly intereding,
not only as Klaproth fird detefted in it potafh, which
w>as luppofed to belong exclufively to the vegetable
kingdom, and hence called vegetable alkali, but alfo as
it places the fkill and addrefs of that eminent chemid in
its examination in a very confpicuous light. The pro-
* Effays, cefs was conduced in the following manner*.
*■ 34s- Ignited alone upon charcoal, the leucite is complete¬
ly infufible. It undergoes no manner of alteration, and
its fplinters lofe nothing of their ludre.
A fmall fragment, put into fufed borax, is for a long
time moved about in it before it diffolves, which it does
by degrees ; and the glafs globule obtained is clear and
light-brown.
By fufion with a neutral phofphate, the folution is
ftill flower, and a cclourlefs rifty glafs pearl is pro¬
duced.
One hundred grains of coarfely pouhded leucite ex-
pofed for an hour to a drong red heat, in a fmall por¬
celain pot, lod of rveight only one-eighth of a grain, and
even the violent heat of the porcelain furnace produced
in the leucite only an inconfiderable change.
A. One hundred grains of leucite, reduced to an im¬
palpable powder, being feveral times digeded in muri¬
atic acid, diffolved a confiderable part. A filiceous re-
fidue of 54 grains remained after ignition.
B. The filiceous earth ignited with twice its Weight
of caudic alkali, foftened again with rvater, covered
with muriatic acid, added to excefs of faturation, and,
after fufficient digedion with this lad, being collected
on the filter, and heated to rednefs, was found to' have
lod little of its weight.
C Prudiate of potafli added to the muriatic folution
produced a precipitate which indicated one-eighth of a
grain of oxide offiron.
D. 'Ihe folution by caudic ammonia being decom-
pofed, and the precipitate being feparated, the remain¬
ing liquor was tried with carbonate of foda, but no far¬
ther change was effe&ed.
E. I he precipitate produced by means of pure am¬
monia D wras fird dried. It was next purified by di-
geding it with didilled vinegar, and afterwards neutra¬
lizing this acid by ammonia. It weighed 24 grains
4
100
The remarkable lofs of more than one-fifth of the
whole weight of the mineral under examination, excited
fufpicion that lome error had crept into the analjfis,
and led to a repetition of the experiments, by varying
the proceffes as follows.
A. One hundred grains of leucite in fine powder
were ignited for half an hour, with double their weight
of caullic potalh. To the mafs foftened with water mu¬
riatic acid was added, juft to the point of faturation*
and the mixture being filtered, the remaining undiffolved
refiduum was wafhed and dried.
B. The mineral thus prepared for decofnpofition, was
then treated with muriatic acid, and kept for fome time
at a boiling heat. By this proeefs a quantity of filica
feparatedj which after being heated to rednels weighed
54 grains and a half.
C. Oxalate of pptadi being added to the muriatic fin*
lution, concentrated by evaporation, produced no turbi¬
dity. The alumina was feparated by the lame means as
in the former experiments, and its weight amounted to
nearly the fame. By other trials it did not appear to
have any mixture of other earths, and no other earth
could be obtained by evaporating tire waters with which
the powders had been walhed.
Thus, after varying the experiments, the fame refults
were obtained, and the fame lofs ftill appeared. In the
farther profecution of this invedigation, the following
experiments were had recourle to.
A. Two hundred grains of leucite in fine powder
W'ere repeatedly digefted with muriatic acid, and the fili¬
ceous earth colledled on the filter, waflied, and Weighed
after being red hot, amounted to icp grains.
B. The muriatic folution was of a yellowilh colour,
and being reduced by evaporation in a fand heat to the
confidence of honey, the furface appeared covered with
a faline cruft ; and when completely cooled, the mafs
appeared like a thick clear oil, of a golden yellow co¬
lour, and full of crydals, fome of which were of a cubi¬
cal, and fome of a tabular form. The yellow fluid was
gently poured off, and the fait rinfed with fmall por¬
tions of alcohol. The folution diluted with alcohol w-as
again evaporated, and the fmall portion of fait thus ob¬
tained
Siliceous tained was again waflied with alcohol, and added to the
Genus. whole of the fait being dried, weighed 70
w"‘“v grains. This was difiblved in water, and fome drops of
a folution of ammonia being added, threw down lome
particles of alumina. The folution being cryflallized in
a warm place, yielded only cubical cryftals, fome of
which were elongated to four-fided columns.
C. That part of the muriatic folution which Ihot
into cryftals being diluted with -water, and decompofed
in a boiling heat, by carbonate of foda, yielded a preci¬
pitate, which after waftiing, drying, and ignition, a-
mounted to 47^ grains of aluminous earth. Three
times its weight of concentrated fulphuric acid was add¬
ed, and the mixture was evaporated nearly to drynefs.
The mafs was again diffolved in water, and combined
with a folution of acetate of potafti, which being cryftal-
lized, produced only alum.
D. The filiceous earth A was mixed ^vith double its
weight of potalh, and fubjefted to a ftrong red heat for
an hour. The mafs was reduced to powder, and diluted
with water. Muriatic acid was added-in excefs, and
digefted with it. The filtered muriatic folution being
faturated with foda yielded i^- grain of aluminous earth,
after which there remained of filica 1074- grains.
The 200 grains of leucite have thus afforded of
ANALYvSIS OF STONES, &c. 719
of alkali •, and in this way the deficiency in the exami- Siliceous
nation of the leucite is accounted for.
The refult of the analyfis is as follows.
Genus.
Silica D
Alumina C
  D
grs.
107.5°
47-75
I-55
*56.75
Here there was ftill a deficiency of 43.25 grains, to
account for which the 70 grains of fait B muft be exa¬
mined. This examination was conduced in the follow¬
ing manner.
1. The tafte and figure of the cryftals were found to
be the fame with thofe of muriate of potalh.
2. The folution produced no change in vegetable
blues, or in reddened litmus paper.
3. When heated to rednefs, the fait made a crackling
noife, and remained fixed in the fire.
4. Neither carbonate of foda nor cauftic ammonia
produced any turbidity in the folution.
5. Two parts of ftrong fulphuric acid were added to
three of the fait, and the muriatic acid being driven off by
heat, the mafs was again diffolved in water, which af¬
forded cryftals of fulphate of potalh.
6. The remaining portion of fait wras diffolved in a
fmall quantity of water, and to this was added a con¬
centrated folution of cryftallized acid of tartar. The
acidulous tartrate of potalh (cream of tartar) was thus
immediately produced and precipitated in the form of
fand. This was walhed, dried, burnt in a lilver cru¬
cible, and the coal obtained repeatedly walhed with
water. The folution being evaporated to drynefs, after
being examined by the proper tefts, appeared to be a car¬
bonate of potafti, which being faturated with nitric acid,
afforded nitrate of potalh.
Thus it appears that the bafe of the 70 grahis of fait
conlifted entirely of pure potafh, which -was neutralized
by part of the muriatic acid employed in decompofing
the mineral and according to the proportion of bafe in
muriate of potalh, the 70 grains A contain 42.7 grains
Silica
Alumina
Potafti
gr$.
53-75
24.62
2I-35
129.72
AnahjJls of Pitchjlone.
The pitchftone which is the fubjeft of the following
analyfis, alfo condufted by Klaproth, is the tranfparent
yellowilh or olive green variety of that mineral from
Meiffen. It affords an example of foda, the other fixed
alkali, forming a component part of ftones.
A. 100 grains in coarfe fragments were introduced
into a covered crucible, and were fubjefted to a red heat
for half an hour. When taken from the fire they ap¬
peared of a white gray mixed with a yellowilh colour,
and having a rough feel, with fomething of the appear¬
ance of glazing. They loft 8^- grains of weight.
B. In the heat of a porcelain furnace, the pitchftone
was fufed both in the clay and charcoal crucible, and
was converted into a clear glafs, full of fmall froth holes.
C. 100 grains of pitchftone in fine powder wrere
treated with a folution of 200 grains of cauftic foda,
and being put into a filver crucible, were kept for half
an hour in a pretty ftrong r<jd heat. The mafs was then
foftened with w’ater 5 muriatic acid was added in ex¬
cefs 5 the folution was evaporated in a fand heat, nearly
to drynefs ; water wras again poured upon it, after which
it was filtered, and 73 grains of filiceous earth were ob¬
tained.
D. Cauftic foda was mixed in excefs with the mu¬
riatic folution, and the whole was digefted in a boiling
heat, by which the precipitate formed at the beginning
of the procefs was again diffolved ; a brown refiduum
ftill remained, which being feparated, the alkaline folu¬
tion was neutralized, and precipitated with carbonate
of foda. The precipitate, which was alumina, after be¬
ing wathed, dried, and heated to rednefs, amounted to
14^ grains. The whole of it yielded cryftals of alum,-
with fulphuric acid and potafti.
E. The r^fiduum which remained undiffolved by the'
cauftic foda D, was firft diffolved in muriatic, and then
united with fulphuric acid. Sulphate of lime was ob¬
tained, which was colledled, and wafhed with dilut¬
ed alcohol. By reducing the filtered fluid by evapora¬
tion to a fmaller quantity, and combining it with ful¬
phuric acid, another poition of fulphate of lime, which,
added to the firft, amounted to three grains, indicating
18 grains of pure lime.
F. The fluid was now freed from the calcareous
enrth ; the iron which it contained was precipitated by
carbonate of ammonia, which amounted to one grain.
The remaining fluid was evaporated to drynefs, and
water being added to the faline refiduum, fine minute
flocks of oxide of manganefe feparated, but in no greater
quantity than one-tenth of a grain.
G. 100 grains of pitchftone in powder were mixed
with 300 grains of cryftallized nitrate of barytes, and
heated to rednefs in a porcelain veffel, till the fait was
entirely
7 20
Argillace¬
ous Geuus.
* EJays,
«• ^P5*
ANALYSIS OF STONES, &c.
entirely decompofed. The cold mafs was foftened with
wrater, neutralized with muriatic acid, and combined in
fuch proportion with fulphuric acid, that the latter, af¬
ter the evaporation of the mixture, and feparation of the
muriatic acid by heat, was ftill in excefs. The mafs
was wallied with hot water ; the refiduum feparated by
filtration ; and the clear fluid was mixed with carbonate
of ammonia in excefs. The precipitate thus obtained
wras collefted on a filter, and the remaining fluid was
evaporated to drynefs, and the portion of fulphate of
ammonia fubjefted to a moderate heat in a porcelain
veflel, was driven off. A fixed fait remained, which ap¬
peared to be fulphate of foda. This was rediffolved,
and decompofed by acetate of barytes ; the filtered fo-
lution was evaporated to drynefs; the dry fait was heat¬
ed to rednefs in a crucible of platina. The faline re-
fiduum being redifiblved, filtered, and again evaporated
to drynefs, yielded three grains of dry carbonate of foda,
indicating grain of pure foda. This being neutra¬
lized with nitric acid, gave crydals of nitrate of foda.
The i oo grains of the mineral thus examined confill
of
Silica C
Alumina D
Lime E
Oxide of iron D
   manganefe D
Soda G
Water A
grs.
73-
H-5
i.
i.
.10
i-75
8.50
99-85
3. Argillaceous Genus.
As many of the ftones included under this genus are
compofed of fimilar fubftances wdth thofe arranged in
the former genus, it is obvious that the examination
is to be conduced in the fame way. We fhall there¬
fore give one example of the analyfis of a Hone belong¬
ing to this genus, and the example is that of bafalt by
Klaproth *.
Analyjis of Bafalt.
A. Small fragments of this Hone were fubje£ted to a
Urong red heat for 30 minutes ; the lofs of weight was
two per cent, and the mafs became of a lighter colour,
and more readily yielded to the peftle.
B. Bafalt expofed to the heat of a porcelain furnace
in a common clay crucible, fufed into a compaft black
brown glafs, which in thin fplinters was tranfparent.
It alfo entered into thin fufion in a crucible of femi-in-
durated fteatites; part of it ran into the clefts produced
in the fteatites, and the reft was found cryftallized in
brown ftiining lamellae, which on the furface were ftriat-
ed, and cellularly concreted. In a charcoal crucible it
was converted into a dull gray and finely porous mafs,
in which were inferted numerous grains of iron.
C. To afcertain whether this ftone contained foda,
loo grains of bafalt in fine powder were mixed with
400 grains of nitrate of barytes, and were at firft ex¬
pofed in a large porcelain veflel to a moderate heat, and
afterwards to a heat gradually raifed to ignition. The
mixture fwelled up, and when the heat was increafed,
white fumes arofe on uncovering the veflel, which led
to a fuppofition that the foda was beginning to volati- Argil!
lize. The fire was then removed. 0LK>
D. The porous mafs, after cooling and being re- r
duced to powder, was drenched with w ater, and treated
with muriatic acid. The whole entered into folution,
and produced a clear yellow fluid. The folution was
evaporated, and fulphuric acid was added gradually,
till it w-as in excefs. The fulphate of barytes was pre¬
cipitated.
E. The faline mafs by filtration w-as reduced to dry¬
nefs, and w-ater wras added, the fediment feparated, and
appeared to confift of the fulphate of barytes, and the
filiceous earth of the ftone. The clear fluid wTas fatu-
rated with ammonia, and the precipitate which was ob¬
tained being filtered off, the neutralized liquor was eva¬
porated to drynefs, and then expofed in a porcelain vef-
fel to a moderately intenfe heat, till the whole fulphate
of ammonia was driven off. The fixed portion remain¬
ing diffolved in water, and cryftallized, appeared to be
pure fulphate of foda. This was diffolved, decompofed
by acetate of barytes; the precipitate, which was ful¬
phate of barytes, w-as feparated by the filter, and the
clear fluid being evaporated to drynefs, the dry acetate
of foda w-as heated to rednefs in a crucible of platina j
and in this way 44 grains of dry carbonate of foda was
obtained, w-hich is equal to 2.6 grains of pure foda.
F. To feparate the other ingredients, 100 grains of
powdered bafalt were ignited for two hours with 400
grains of carbonate of foda, in a crucible of porcelain j
but with a degree of heat w-hich did not produce fufion.
It united into a yellowifh, fomewhat hard mafs, which
being reduced to pow-der, and foftened with water, w-as
neutralized with muriatic acid. It w’as then a little fu-
perfaturated wdth nitric acid, and evaporated to drynefs.
The colour of the dry mafs was faffron yellow. It was
diffufed in water, (lightly acidulated with muriaric acid,
and after being digefted for a ftiort time it w-as filtered.
The filiceous earth collefted on the filter was expofed
to h red heat, and being weighed, amounted to 44-I
grains.
G. The muriatic folution being fuff.ciently diluted
with water, w-as precipitated at the temperature of boil¬
ing w-ater, by means of carbonate of foda. The preci¬
pitate being feparated, was digefted w-ith a folution of
cauflic foda, and a dark brow-n refiduum w-as feparated
by filtration. Muriatic acid w-as added in a fmall ex¬
cefs to the alkaline fluid, and this w-as precipitated with
carbonate of ammonia. The precipitate obtained, after
being w-a(hed and ignited, amounted to i6|: grains. It
yielded alum, when treated with fulphuric acid and po-
ta(h, and w-as therefore aluminous earth.
H. The browm refiduum G w-as diffolved in muriatic
acid with particular attention to the precife point of fa-
turation. Succinate of ammonia w-as added to the folu¬
tion, to precipitate the iron j and the fuccinate of iron
obtained, when perfeflly wafhed and ftrongly heated in
a covered crucible, afforded 20 grains of oxide of iron,
w-hich were attra£led by the magnet.
I. The iion being feparated, the fluid was treated at
the temperature of boiling with carbonate of foda j a
w-hite precipitate w-as obtained, which was diffolved in
nitric acid ; and ffrlphuric acid being combined with
the folution, threw- down fulphate of lime. This w-as
feparated, and the remaining liquor being evaporated
nearly
3
ANALYSIS OF
Argillace- nearly to drynefs, was again diluted with a mixture of
ous Genus. water anci alcohol. Another portion of fulphate of
jjme feu down, which being feparated, was added to
the former. The whole of the fulphate of lime was
decompofed by boiling it with carbonate of foda in fo-
lution, and the carbonate of lime thus obtained, after
being walhed and dried, weighed 17 grains, indicating
nine grains and a half of pure lime.
K. Upon the fluid left from the laft procefs, cauftic
foda was affufed j a flimy precipitate was formed, which
rapidly diflblved in fulphuric acid, and communicated a
brown colour to the folution. It was evaporated in a
fand bath 5 loofe brown flakes fell down at the com¬
mencement of the procefs, and thefe being feparated by
the filter, appeared to be oxide of manganefe } the quan¬
tity eftimated did not exceed one-eighth of a grain.
L. The remaining portion of the fluid was evaporated
to drynefs, and the refiduum was expofed in a fmall cru¬
cible to a ftrong red heat. It was again diflblved in
water, and yielded a fmall portion of alumina coloured
with iron, and contaminated with manganefe. After
ignition it did not weigh more than half a grain ; but
the clear folution was entirely cryftallized, and afforded
fulphate of magnefia. Carbonate of foda was added to
the magnefian fait in folution, by which the earthy bafe
was precipitated in the ftate of carbonate. It weighed
fix grains, which is equal to 2^ grains of pure mag¬
nefia.
The following is the refult of the preceding ana-
lyfis.
Silica F
Alumina G
 I
Genu*
Oxide of iron H
Lime I
Magnefia L
Oxide of manganefe K
Soda E
Water A
44-5 grs*
16.25
•5
20.
9-5
2.25
.12
2.60
2.
97.72
4. Magnesian Genus.
Befides feveral of the earths dete£led in minerals be¬
longing to the former genera, the ftones arranged under
this genus are diftinguifhed by being combined with
magnefia. We fhall only give one example of the ana-
lyfis of a magnefian ftone.
STONES, See. 721
C. Prufliate of potafh was added to the filtered folution, Magnefia*
and produced a blue precipitate, which being collected,
walhed, dried, and ignited with a little wax, wras found,
after cooling, to wreigh feven grains. The wrhole of it
was attra&ed by the magnet. The portion of iron be¬
longing to the prufliate of potalh being fubtrafted, left
3! grains of oxide of iron as a conftituent of the mineral
under examination.
D. Carbonate of potalh being added to the folution
freed from the iron, precipitated its earthy ingredient.
This, after walliing, and gentle ignition, weighed 192
grains. Thefe were covered with a proportionate quan¬
tity of concentrated diftilled vinegar, and being digefted
in a low heat, were thrown upon the filter. The earth
remaining on the paper, which, after being dried and
heated red hot, weighed 93 grains, was mixed with
three times its weight of ftrong fulphuric acid, and the
mixture being evaporated in a fand heat nearly to dry¬
nefs, the dry mafs was diflblved in water and filtered j
26 grains of filiceous earth were thus obtained.
E. In the fulphuric folution D, there ftill remained
67 grains of earth, which being precipitated by an al¬
kali, appeared to confift entirely of aluminous earth.
F. Ninety-nine grains of the firft, 192 grains of the
earthy precipitate D, were taken up by the acetic acid,
which being precipitated by carbonate of potalh, and the
earth obtained being tried by fulphuric acid, was found
to be pure magnefia.
This analyfis (hows that the 480 grains of fteatites
thus examined, afforded
Silica B
 D
Magnefia F
Alumina E
Oxide of iron C
Water A
Lofs
204
26
99
67
3-
75-
75
or 100 parts of the mineral contain
Silica
Magnefia
Alumina
Oxide of iron
Water
474-75
5-25
480.00
20.5
14.
1.
I5-5
Analysis of Steatites.
This mineral, which was found in Cornwall, was
analyzed by Klaproth in the following manner.
A. One ounce of the ftone in fmall pieces was fub-
jefted to a ftrong red heat, by placing the glafs retort
which contained it in an open fire. A fmall portion of
water diftilled over, w-hich w-as pure and taftelefs. The
mineral loft 75 grains of its weight, and became darker
in the colour, and confiderably harder.
B. - After being reduced to powder, it w-as carefully
mixed, and heated red hot, with two ounces of carbonate
of potafh in a porcelain pot. The concreted mafs was
levigated with water, and digefted with muriatic acid in
excefs. A white loofe flimy earth was precipitated,
which after being wathed, dried, and fub]e6ted to a red
heat, weighed 204 grains. It was pure filica.
Vol. XIX. Part II.
99.0
5. Calcareous Genus.
The analyfis of ftones belonging to this genus muft
be varied according to the nature of the combination in¬
to which the lime has entered. With regard to the
procefles to be followed in the examination of calcareous
ftones, they are fufceptible of a natural divifion into fuch
as are foluble in muriatic or nitric acid with effervef-
cence, and fuch as are fcarcely foluble in thofe acids,
and do not effervefee. To the firft belong all the ftones
called limeftones, or carbonates of lime ; and to the fe-
cond belongs fulphate of lime, or gypfum.
Analysis of Carbonate of Lime.
Carbonate of lime, whether in the form of lime fpar,
or in a lefs pure ftate, in the form of limeftone, is foluble
4 Y with
722 ANALYSIS OF STONES, &c.
Calcareous with eftervefcence In nitric or muriatic acid. When ex-
t Gcmis pofed to heat, it yields carbonic acid gas, and is convert-
^ " ed into quicklime ; and when fufed with an alkali, does
not form a uniform mafs. But we {hall give a (hort
view of the proceffes to be followed in a more particular
examination.
A. Let a determinate quantity of the ftone be redu¬
ced to a fine powder. Digeft it repeatedly with muriatic
acid till no further aftion is produced upon it. Dilute
the folution, throw it upon a filter, and, after drying,
weigh the infoluble refiduum.
B. Let the remaining folution be diluted with 24
times its bulk of water •, add fulphuric acid diluted 5 a
precipitate takes place if the hone contained any barytes,
the amount of which, after being collected and dried,
may be afcertained by weighing.
C. Add to the filtered folution, after the barytes has
been feparated, a folution of carbonate of foda, as long
as any precipitate is formed. Colledt this precipitate,
and let it be fo much dried that it may be eafily remov¬
ed from the filter.
D. Affufe the precipitate with fulphuric acid till all
effervefcence ceafes.
E. Introduce the whole into a mixture of three parts of
diftilled water, and one of alcohol, in the proportion of
eight parts of the mixture to the quantity of the fub-
ftance previoufly diffolved in nitric acid. Let the whole
be digefted for fome hours in the cold, filter the fluid,
and dry the infoluble refiduum and weigh it.
F. The remaining folution is next to be decompofed
by a folution of carbonate of potafh, and the precipitate
being colle&ed, is to be walked, dried, and weighed.
By this examination, if the flone is to be ranked with
carbonate of lime, the weight of the infoluble part E,
after fubtra&ing from it one-third, mull exceed the
weight of the infoluble parts A and B.
^ Analysis of Sulphate of Lime.
As this is infoluble in nitric or muriatic acids, its
analyfis mufi: be conducted in a different manner.
A. Let one part of the mineral, reduced to fine pow¬
der, be boiled with four times its weight of carbonate of
potafh, in a fufficient quantity of water for two or three
hours; as the fluid evaporates, water is to be added.
B. Introduce the infoluble mafs obtained by the laft
procefs into a flafk containing diluted nitric acid, and
the whole being diffolved, let it be evaporated to dry-
nefs, and weighed.
C. Add to the dried mafs more than its owm weight
©f ftrong fulphuric acid ; apply heat, and let it be gra¬
dually increafed till fumes ceafe to rife, and let- it be
again weighed.
D. Let the infoluble part be digefted in twice Its
weight of cold water *, filter the fluid, colleft the info-
lubie refiduum, and dry it in a dull red heat. To af-
certain the qi antity of lime, fubtraff from the weight
of the infoluble mafs left (in C) 59 parts ; what remains
is equal to the quantity of lime.
E. The quantity oi» lime alfo may be afcertained, by
fubje&ing for fome hours to a red heat, the infoluble
mafs B } for by this procefs it will be converted into
quicklime.
Analysis of Fluate of Lime.
In the examination of this mineral, a quantity of it
may be reduced to powder, and moiftened with fulphu¬
ric acid, in a leaden or pewter veffel. The mixture be- Calcareous
ing heated, fumes arife, to which a plate of glals being Genus,
expofed, is foon corroded. In this way the fluoric acid v 1
may be deteSed, and the quantity of bafe may be afcer¬
tained by decompofing the mineral by means ot lulphuric
acid, and afterwards analyfing the fulphate of lime, as
already direfted.
Analysis of Phofphate of Lime.
The analyfis of this mineral may be conduced in the
following manner.
A. Let a determinate portion be digefted in five
times its quantity of muriatic acid, and let the operation
be repeated till the acid has no farther action upon the
refiduum ; decant the fluid, and then let it be diluted
with water and filtered.
B. Add to the muriatic folution, liquid ammonia j
collect the precipitate which is formed, and after being
waflied and dried, expole it to heat.
C. Add nitric acid to the precipitate till the whole is '
diffolved. Precipitate again by means of fulphuric acid j
let the-whole then be filtered, and let the infoluble refi¬
duum be walked with as little water as pofiible.
D. Evaporate the filtered fluid to the conliftence of
fyrup } the fluid thus obtained is phofphoric acid, if the
Itone examined have been phofphate of lime. The teft
of phofphoric acid is, that it precipitates lime water,
and alfo forms precipitates with the lolutions of fulphate
of iron, and nitrate of mercury ; but it does not precipi¬
tate the muriate or nitrate of barytes.
6. Barytic Genus.
Analysis of Carbonate of Barytes.
A. Take a determinate quantity of the mineral, and
diffolve it in diluted nitric acid 5 take a portion of the
folution, and add to it a folution of fulphate of foda. If
a precipitate take place, by adding a fmall quantity of
the fait to the folution of the earth, diluted with 24
times its bulk of water, it may be inferred that the bafe
of the mineral is barytes.
B. Let the nitric folution be evaporated to drynefs,
and expofed in a filver crucible to a white heat 5 the
earth obtained is barytes, which is foluble in 20 times
its weight of water ; and after evaporation, cryftallizes
into long four-fide^ prifms.
Analysis of Sulphate of Barytes.
This mineral was analyzed by Klaproth in the follow*
ing manner.
A. 200 grains were mixed with 500 grains of carbo¬
nate of potafh, and were expofed for two hours to a red
heat; the mafs was reduced to powder, boiled with wa¬
ter, and the undhTolved earth was collefted on the fil¬
ter.
B. To feparate the filiceous earth, the fluid was neu-
tralifed by muriatic acid, and evaporated to drynefs.
The faline mafs was rediffolved in water, and the filica
remaining after being ignited, weighed 18 grains.
C. The barytic earth, freed from the fulphuric acid
B, was covered with water ; muriatic acid was added ;
the whole was diffolved by digeftion, except two grains
of filica. The filtered folution was cryftallized, and af¬
forded muriate of barytes.
D. The cryftals were rediffolved in water, and ful¬
phuric acid was added to the folution, while any preci¬
pitate appeared, and the regenerated fulphate of barytes
being
ANALYSIS OF
Barytic
Genuf.
being wafhe^ an4 dried, weighed 185 grains, but after
ignition, only x 80 grains.
' One hundred parts of this mineral are therefore com-
pofed of
Sulphate of barytes D 90
Silica B 9
 C 1
• EJfays, i.
375*
7. Strontian Genus.
100
Analysis of Carbonate of Strontites.
This mineral was analyzed by Klaproth, in the fob
lowing manner. _ . _
A. 100 parts were diflfolved in muriatic actd, diluted
with half its quantity of water. Thirty parts of.carbo-
nic acid were driven off during the folution, which be¬
ing evaporated, afforded cryftals in the fhape of needles j
and thefe cryftals being diffolved.in alcohol, communi¬
cated to it the property of burning with a carmine red
flame. This is the teft of ftrontitic earth.
B. To afcertain whether the mineral examined con¬
tained any barytes, three drops of a folution of one grain
of fulphate of potafh In fix ounces of water were added
to the muriatic folution j no appearance of precipitate
was obferved till next day, and therefore it contained no
barytes, as in that cafe an immediate precipitate would
have taken place.
C. Carbonate of potafh was then added to the muria¬
tic folution •, a decompofition took place ^ and the car¬
bonate of ftrontites was precipitated. 1 his being fub-
je&ed to a flrong heat, the carbonic acid was driven off,
and the whole of the remaining earth being diffolved in
water, cryftallized. After being dried, it weighed 69.5.
One hundred parts of this mineral therefore contain
Pure earth
Carbonic acid
Water
| Ibid. i.
231.
69.5
30*
•5
100.0 f
II. Salts.
? Ibid. i.
270.
STONES, &c.
produced a precipitate of 4! grains of muriate of {liver,
fo that the quantity of common fait can only be eftima- '
ted at two grains. The pure nitre is thus reduced to
4254- grains. Klaproth fufpe&s that the neutral muriate
mixed with the native nitre, is rather a muriate of pot¬
afh, than muriate of foda.
C. The ftony matters remaining amounted to 50a
grains; muriatic acid was poured upon them, and pro¬
duced great effervefcence with pieces of limellone. One
hundred and eighty-fix grains of white gypfum remain¬
ed *, and the fulphuric acid being feparated from it, by
boiling with carbonate of potafh, the carbonate^ of linie
remaining behind diffolved without refiduum in nitric
acid. . .
D. The limeftone taken up by the muriatic acid,
weighed 304 grains. Being farther examined, it ap¬
peared to be calcareous earth, flightly contaminated
with iron.
One hundred parts, therefore, of this fait contain
Saks.
—y—*
The analyfis of minerals arranged under this clafs, is
in general lefs difficult, in confequence of their eafy fo-
lubility, than thofe already examined. We fliall there¬
fore give only one example.
Analysis of Native Saltpetre.
This native fait was examined by Klaproth X, accord¬
ing to the following method.
A. 1000 grains of the native fait, with limeftone
and gypfum to which it adhered, were covered with boil¬
ing water. The colourlefs folution was gently evaporat¬
edduring the cryftallization, tender needle-ftiaped cry¬
ftals of felenite appeared, and the whole of the folution
cryftallized to a perfett prifmatic nitre. The felenite
weighed 40 grains, and the fait amounted to 446
grains.
B. To afcertain whether any common fait could be
detetted in the mineral, the cryftals were rediffolved in
water, and acetate of barytes was dropt into the folution.
A precipitate was obtained, amounting to 26 grains of
fulphate of barytes, fhewing that i8i grains of felenite
were dill combined with the neutral fait. A folution
of nitrate of fdver was added to the nitric folution, which
Pure prifmatic nitre B
Muriate of a neutral fait B
Sulphate of lime ABC
Carbonate of lime D
Lofs
III. Combustibles.
42-55
.20
25-45
3°-4
I-4
100.00
Analytis of Coal.
The conftituent parts of coal are carbone and bitumen,
with fome earthy matters, and fometimes a fmall quan¬
tity of metallic matter. The proportion of earthy mat¬
ters contained in coal may be afcertained by weighing a
determinate quantity, and burning it. The nature of
the earths contained in the refiduum may be difcovered
by the proceffes already given.
To afcertain the proportion of charcoal and bitumen
contained in coal, we fhall defcribe the method followed
by Mr Kirwan.
It has been found that a certain proportion of carbone
or pure charcoal, detonated with nitre in the ftate of ig¬
nition, decompofes a given proportion of that fait j and
it appears from the experiments of Lavoifier, that 13.21
parts of charcoal decompofe 100 parts of nitre, while the
detonation is performed in clofe veffels -, but in an open
crucible, a fmaller^ proportion of charcoal is required, in
confequence of part of the qitre being decompofed by
the aftion of the air of the atmofphere. According to
Kirwan, about 10 parts of charcoal are fufficient to de¬
compofe 96 parts of nitre. Mr Kirwan alfo, found that
vegetable pitch and maltha did not produce any detona¬
tion with nitre, but merely burnt on its furface} and
that the fame quantity of charcoal was required for the
decompofition of the nitre, as if no bituminous lubftance
had been employed. Since, therefore, bitumen produces
no effett in decompofing nitre, Kirwan thought that the
proportion of charcoal, in any coal, might be afcertain¬
ed by detonation with nitre. In this way the proportion
of carbonaceous and earthy matter in any coal being dif¬
covered, the proportion of bitumen which it contains
may be eftimated by calculation.
In the experiments on the analyfis of coal, Mr Kirwan
employed a large crucible placed in a wind furnace, and
expofed to an equable heat. The coal was reduced to
^ 4 Y 2
724 ANALYSIS OF
fmfl^ pieces of the llze of a phi head, and was projected
« - f ' ■ln portions of one or two grains at a time, into the nitre,
the moment it became red hot. This was continued till
the detonation ceafed.
By this procefs it appeared that 50 grains of Kilken¬
ny coal were neceilary to decompofe 480 grains of
nitre. According to the fame proportion, 96 grains of
nitre would have required for its decompofition 10
grains of coal, which is exaftly equal to the quantity of
charcoal that would have been required to produce the
fetrue effect 5 and thus it appeared that Kilkenny coal is
almoll: entirely compofed of carbonaceous matter.
Xn the examination of cannel coal, IVXr Kirwan burnt
2.40 grains, till the whole ot the carbonaceous matter was
consumed; a refiduum of feven grains and a half of red-
dilh brown afhes, which appeared to be chiefly alumin¬
ous earth, was left, or about 3.12 per cent. Sixty-fix
grains and a half of this coal were found neceffary to de¬
compofe 480 grains of nitre. Fifty grains of charcoal
would have produced the fame effeft, and hence 664
grains of coal contain 50 of charcoal, and 2.08 parts of
allies, which being fubtrafled from 66-J grains, leaves
14.42 for the quantity of bitumen contained in the coal.
Hence the conftituent parts of this coal are,
Charcoal
Bitumen
Alhes
75-2
21.68
3*1
99.98
For a more particular analyfis of combuftible minerals,
fee Mr Hatchett’s experiments, detailed in the Philofo-
phical Tranfadtions for 1804.
IV. Analysis of Sons.
The examination of foils is by no means the leaft im¬
portant, becaufe on a knowledge of the nature and pro¬
portions of the ingredients which enter into the compo-
fition of foils, depends the opinion to be formed of their
fertility. Soils confifl. of different combinations of the
earths, mixed with a certain proportion of animal and
# . vegetable matter. The inveftigation of the nature of
Treltife an f°ils 1138 been Particularly profecuted by Mr Kirwan *
Manures. anc^ Davy. . From the obfervations of the latter, the
1 following account of the analyfis of foils is extradled.
Inftraments 1. The really important inftruments required for the
Kfis of ana* analyfis of f°1Is are few> and but little expenfive. They
ibils. are’ a balance capable of containing a quarter of a pound
of common foil, and capable of turning when loaded
with a grain ; and a feries of weights from a quarter of a
pound troy to a grain; a wire fieve, fufficiently coarfe to
admit a pepper-corn through its apertures; an Argand
lamp and Hand ; fome glafs bottles ; Heflian crucibles ;
porcelain or queen’s ware evaporating bafons 5 a Wedge-
wood peftle and mortar } fome filters made of half a fheet
of blotting paper, folded fo as to contain a pint of liquid,
and greafed at the edges $ a bone knife, and an appara¬
tus for colle&ing and meafuring aeriform fluids.
The chemical fubftances or reagents required for fepa-
rating the conftituent parts of the foil, are muriatic acid
(fpirit of fait), fulphuric acid, and pure volatile alkali
diffolved in water, folution of prufliate of potalh, foap
lye, folution of carbonate of ammonia, of muriate of
ammonia, folution of neutral carbonate of potalh, and
' nitrate of ammonia.
STONES, &c.
2. In cafes when the general nature of the foil of a Soils.
field is to be afcertained, fpecimens of it Ihould be taken ' 
from different places, two or three inches below the fur- 2
face, and examined as to the fimilarity of their proper- coSedW
ties. It fometimes happens, that upon plains the whole foils for ana-
ot the upper ftratum of the land is of the fame kind, andtyfi5*
in this cale one analyfis will be fufficient $ but in valleys,
and near the beds of rivers, there are very great different
ces, and it now and then occurs that one part of a field
is calcareous, and another part filiceous 5 and in this
cafe, and in analogous cafes, the portions different from
each other Ihould be feparately fubmitted to experi-
ment.
Soilsj when colle61eclj i£ they esnnot be immedistely
examined, Ihould be preferved in phials quite filled with
them, and clofed with ground glafs Hoppers.
I he quantity of toil moft convenient for a perfect ana¬
lyfis is from two to four hundred grains. It ftiould be
collefted in dry weather, and expofed to the atmofphere
till it becomes dry to the touch.
The fpecific gravity of a foil, or the relation of its
weight to that of water, may be afcertained by introdu¬
cing into a phial, which will contain a known quantity
of water, equal volumes of water tmd of foil \ and this
may be eafily done by pouring in water till it is half
full, and then adding the foil till the fluid rifes to the
mouth $ the difference between the weight of the foil
and that of the water will give the refult. Thus, if the
bottle contain 400 grains of water, and gains 200 grains
when half filled with water and half with foil, the fpe¬
cific gravity of the foil will be two, that is, it will be
twice as heavy as water j and if it gained 165 grains, its
fpecific gravity would be 1825, water being 1000.
It is of importance that the fpecific gravity of a foil
ffiould be known, as it affords an indication of the quan¬
tity of animal and vegetable matter it contains ; thefe
fubftances being always moft abundant in the lighter
foils.
The other phyfical properties of foils fhould likewife
be examined before the analyfis is made, as they denote,
to a certain extent, their compofition, and ferve as guides
in dire&ing the experiments. Thus, filiceous foils are
generally rough to the touch, and fcratch glafs when
rubbed upon it 5 aluminous foils adhere ftrongly to the
tongue, and emit a ftrong earthy fmell when breathed
on; and calcareous foils are foft, and much lefs adhefive
than aluminous foils.
3. Soils, though as dry as they can be made by con-Mode of
tinued expofure to air, in all cafes ftill contain a con-afemaining
fiderable quantity of water, which adheres with great 8uan-
obftinacy to the earths and animal and vegetable matter,tIty ^ffwf“
and can only be driven off from them by a confiderable ^by
degree of heat. The firft procefs of analyfis is, to free
the given weight of the foil from as much of this water
as poflible, without, in other refpe&s, affedling its com¬
pofition ; and this may be done by heating it for ten or
twelve minutes over an Argand’s lamp, in a bafon of
porcelain, to a temperature equal to 300 Fahrenheit j
and in cafe a thermometer is not ufed, the proper de¬
gree may be eafily afcertained, by keeping a piece of
wood in contadt with the bottom of the difti: as long as
the colour of the wood remains unaltered, the heat is not
too high ; but when the wood begins to be charred,
the procefs muff be flopped. A fmall quantity of water
will perhaps remain in the foil even after this operation,
but
SdU*.
4 .
Separation
of ftones,
&C.
5 .
Separation
of the fand
and clay,
or loam,
from each
other.
6
Examina¬
tion of the
fand.
ANALYSIS OF
but it always affords ufeful comparative refuits; and if _a
higher temperature were employed, the vegetable or ani¬
mal matter would undergo decompofition, and in confe-
quence the experiment be wholly unfatisfaflory.
The lofs of weight in the procefs (hould be carefully
noted ; and when in 400 grains of foil it reaches as high
as 50, the foil may be confidered as in the greateft de¬
gree abforbent, and retentive of water, and will generally
be found to contain a large proportion of aluminous earth.
When the lofs is only from 20 to 10, the land may be
confidered as only (lightly abforbent and retentive, and
the (iliceous earth as mod abundant.
4. None of the loofe ftones, gravel, or large vegeta¬
ble fibres fhould be divided from the pure foil till after
the water is drawn off; for thefe bodies are thernfelves
often highly abforbent and retentive, and in confequence
influence the fertility of the land. The next procefs,
however, after that of heating, {hould be their fepara-
tion, which may be eafily accomplithed by the fieve, af¬
ter the foil has been gently bruifed in a mortar. The
weights of the vegetable fibres or wood, and of the gra¬
vel and ftones, (hould be feparately noted down, and the
nature of the laft afcertained : if calcareous, they will
effervefce with acids •, if filiceous, they will be fuffici-
ently hard to fcratch glafs ; and if of the common alumi¬
nous clafs of ftones, they will be foft? eafily fcratched
with a knife, and incapable of effervefcing with acids.
5. The greater number of foils, befides gravel and
ftones, contain larger or fmaller proportions of fand of
different degrees of finenefs ; and it is a neceffary opera¬
tion, the next in the procefs of analyfis, to detach them
from the parts in a ftate of more minute divifion, fuch as
clay, loam, marie, and vegetable and animal matter.
This may. be effe&ed in a way fufficiently accurate, by
agitation of the foil in water. In this cafe, the coarfe
fand will generally feparate in a minute, and the finer in
two or three minutes •, whilft the. minutely divided
animal or vegetable matter will remain in a ftate of me¬
chanical fufpenfion for a much longer time j fo that, by
pouring the water from the bottom of the veffel, after
one, two, or three minutes, the fand will be principally
feparated from the other fubftances, which, with the wa¬
ter containing them, muff be poured into a filter, and,
after the water has paffed through, colletted, dried, and
weighed. The fand muft likewife be weighed, and their
refpeftive quantities noted down. The water of lixivia-
tion muft be preferved, as it will be found to contain the
faline matter, and the foluble animal or vegetable mat¬
ters, if any exift in the foil.
6. By the procefs of wafhing and filtration, the foil
is feparated into two portions, the moft important of
which is generally the finely divided matter. A minute
analyfis of the fand is feldom or never neceffary, and its
nature may be dete&ed in the fame manner as that of
the ftones or gravel. It is always either filiceous fand,
or calcareous fand, or a mixture of both. If it confift
wholly of carbonate of lime, it will be rapidly foluble
in muriatic acid, with effervefcence ; but if it confift
partly of this fubftance, and partly of filiceous matter,
the refpe&ive quantities may be afcertained by weigh¬
ing the refiduum after the a&ion of the acid, which
muft be applied till the mixture has acquired a four tafte,
and has ceafed to effervefce. This refiduum is the fili¬
ceous part 5 it muft be wafiied, dried, and heated
fiTongiy in a crucible: the difference between the
STONES, See.
weight of the whole, indicates th« proportion of calca¬
reous fand.
7. The finely divided matter of the foil is ufually ve-ExaJina_
ry compound in its nature 5 it fometimes contains all the tion 0f the
four primitive earths of foils, as well as animal and ve- finely di-
getable matter 5 and to afeertain the proportions of thefe vided
with tolerable accuracy, is the moft difficult part of the
fubjeft. _ > of detefl-
The first procefs to be performed, in this part of the ing mild
analyfis, is the expofure of the fine matter of the foil to lime and
the aclion of the muriatic acid. This fubftance (hould magnefia,
be poured upon the earthy matter in an evaporating
bafon, in a quantity equal to twice the weight of the
earthy matter j but diluted with double its volume of
water. The mixture (hould be often ftirred, and fuf-
fered to remain (or an hour or an hour and a half before
it is examined.
If any carbonate of lime or of magnefia exift in the
foil, they will have been diffolved in this time by the
acid, which fometimes takes up likewife a little oxide of
iron ; but very feldom any alumina.
The fluid (hould be paffed through a filter ; the folid'
matter colle&ed, waflied with rain water, dried at a
moderate heat, and weighed. Its lofs will denote the
quantity of folid matter taken up. The wafliings muft
be added to the folution j which, if not four to the tafte,
muft be made fo by the addition of frefli acid, when a
little folution of common pruffiate of potaffi muft be
mixed with the whole. If a blue precipitate occur, it
denotes the prefence of oxide of iron, and the folution of
the pruffiate muft be dropped in till no further effeft is
produced. To afeertain its quantity, it muft be collec¬
ted in the fame manner as other folid precipitates, and
heated : the refult is oxide of iron.
Into the fluid freed from oxide of iron, a folution of
neutralized carbonate of potaffi muft be poured till all
effervefcence ceafes in it, and till its tafte and fmell in¬
dicate a confiderable excefs of alkaline fait.
The precipitate that falls down is carbonate of lime
it muft be colle&ed on the filter, and dried at a heat be¬
low that of rednefs.
The remaining fluid muft be boiled for a quarter of
an hour,, when the magnefia, if any exift, will be pre¬
cipitated from it, combined with carbonic acid, and its
quantity is to be afcertained in the fame manner as that
of the carbonate of lime.
If any minute proportion of alumina ffiould, from pe¬
culiar circumftances, be diffolved by the acid, it will be
found in the precipitate with the carbonate of lime, and
it may be feparated from it by boiling for a few minutes
with foap lye, fufficient to cover the folid matter. This
fubftance diffolves alumina, without a&ing upon carbo¬
nate of lime.
Should the finely divided foil be fufficiently calcare¬
ous to effervefce very ftrongly with acids, a very fimple
method may be adopted for afeertaining the quantity of
carbonate of lime, and one fufficiently accurate in all
common cafes.
Carbonate of lime, in all its dates, contains a deter¬
minate proportion of carbonic acid, r. e. about 45 per
cent, j fo that when the quantity of this elaftic fluid, gi¬
ven out by any foil during the folution of its calcareous
matter in an acid, is known, either in weight or mea-
fure, the quantity of carbonate of lime may be eafily di(-
covered.
Whens
3
Mode of
afcertain-
ing the
quantity
mal and
vegetable
matter.
ANALYSIS OF
When the procefs by diminution of weight is employ-
ed, two parts of the acid and one part of the matter of
the (oil muft be weighed in two feparate bottles, and
very dowdy mixed together till the effervefcence ceafes;
the difference between their weight before and after the
experiment denotes the quantity of carbonic acid loft :
for every four grains and a half of which, ten grains of
carbonate of lime muft be eftimated.
1 he beft method of collefting the carbonic acid fo
as to difcover its volume, is by the pneumatic apoaratus,
the conftruchon and application of w hich are defcribed at
the end of this article. 'I he eftimation is, for every
ounce meafure of carbonic acid, two grains of carbonate
ot lime.
8. After the fine matter of the foil has been aded up¬
on by muriatic acid, the next procefs is to afcertain the
vj uaii li Ly quantity of finely divided infoluble animal and vegetable
of infoluble that it contains,
finely di- _ This may be done with fufficient precifion, by heatino-
mal and'" '-n0 igrniti°n in 3 cruclble over ^ common fire
till no blarknefs remains m the mafs. It fliould be of¬
ten ftirred with a metallic wire, fo as to expofe new fur-
faces continually to the air 5 the lofs of weight that it
undergoes denotes the quantity of the fubftance that it
contains deftnnftible by fire and air.
It is not poffible to afcertain whether this fubftance is
wholly animal or vegetable matter, or a mixture of both.
When the fmell emitted during the incineration is fimi-
lar to that of burnt feathers, it"is a certain indication of
iome animal matter j and a copious blue flame at the
time of ignition almoft always denotes a confiderable
proportion of vegetable matter. In cafes when the ex¬
periment is needed to be very quickly performed, the
deftruaion of the decompofable fubftances may be af-
fifted. by the agency of nitrate of ammonia, which, at
the time of ignition, may be thrown gradually upon the
heated mafs, in the quantity of twenty grains for every
hundred of refidual oil. It affords the principle necef-
fary to the combuftion of the animal and Vegetable mat¬
ter, which it caufes to be converted into el.-ftic fluids j
and iHs itfelf at the fame time decompofed and loft.
9. The fubftances remaining after the decompofition
„ of the vegetable and animal matter, are generally mi-
aluminous nute particles of earthy matter containing ufually alu-
am 11 ice- min^ and fijjca COITlbined oxjde of jron>
To feparate thefe from each other, the folid matter
fhould be boiled for twm or three hours with fulphuric
acid, diluted with four times its weight of w^ater ; the
quantity of the acid fhould be regulated by the quantity
of folid refiduum to be aaed on, allowing'for every hun¬
dred grains twro drachms or one hundred and twenty
grains of acid.
The fubftance remaining after the a£lion of the acid
may be confidered as fificeous; and it muft be feparated
and its weight afeertained, after wafhing and drying in
the ufual manner.
9
'Mode of
feparatin
aluminor
and filice
ous matter
and oxide
of iron.
I he alumina and the oxide of iron, if they exift, are
both diffolved by the fulphuric acid 5 they may be fe¬
parated by carbonate of ammonia, added to exc^fs; it
throws down the alumina, and leaves the oxide of iron
in folution ; and this fubftance may be feparated from
the liquid by boiling.
. Should any magnefia and lime have ercaprd folution
1 the muriatic acid, they will be found in the fulphu-
x acid 5 this, however, is fcarcely ever the cafe ; but
2
STONES, &c.
the procefs, for deleting them, and afeertaining their' Soils,
quantities, is the fame in both inftances. w- v—...j
2 he method of analyfis by fulphuric acid is fufficient-
ly preciie for all ufual experiments 5 but if very great
accuracy be an objedl, dry carbonate of potafti muft be
employed as the agent, and the refiduum of the incine¬
ration muft be heated red for half an hour, with four
times its weight of this fubftance, in a crucible of filver,
or of well baked porcelain. The mafs obtained muft be
diffolved iii muriatic acid, and the lolulion evaporated
till it is nearly folid ; diftilled water muft then be added,
by which the oxide of iron and all the earths, except fi-
lica, will be diffolved in combination as muriates. The
filex, after the ufual procefs of lixiviation, muft be heat¬
ed red ; the other fubftances may be feparated in the
fame manner as from the muriatic and fulphuric folu-
tions.
xo. If any faline matter, or foluble vegetable or ani-Mode of
mal matter, be fufpedled in the foil, it W’ill be found in dTcovenng
the water of lixiviation ufed for feparating the fand. fwlub!e ani-
This water muft be evaporated to drynefs in an ap- mal fV1,.
propriate diih, at a heat below its boiling point. matter, ~
If the folid matter obtained is of a browrn colour and and fafinc
inflammable, it may be confidered as partly vegetable mattcr‘
extraft.. If its fmell, when expofed to heat, be itrong
and foetid, it contains animal mucilaginous or gelatinous
fubftance ; if it be white and tranfparent, it may be con¬
fidered as principally faline matter. Nitrate of potafli
(nitre), or nitrate of lime, is indicated in this faline
matter, by its detonating with a burning coal. Sul¬
phate of magnefia may be detetted by its bitter tafte ;
and fulphate of potafti produces no alteration in folution
of carbonate of ammonia, but precipitates folution of
muriate of barytes.
. II* Should fulphate or phofphate of lime be ftifpefted Mode of
in the entire foil, the deteftion of them requires a par- detedling
ticular procefs upon it. A given weight of it, for in- fulpkate
fiance four hundred grains, muft be heated red for half?niT
an hour in a crucible, mixed with one third of powder- andVhd?
ed charcoal. 2 he mixture muft be boiled for a quarter phate of
of an hour, in a half-pint of water, and the fluid col-l,me *u
lefted through the filter, and expofed for feme days tofoiJs‘
the atmofphere in an open veffel. If any foluble quan¬
tity of fulphate of lime (gypfum) exifted in the foil, a
white precipitate will gradually form in the fluid, and
the weight of it will indicate the proportion.
Phofphate of lime, if any exift, may be feparated
from the foil after the procefs for gypfum.- Muriatic
acid muft be digefted upon the foil, in quantity more
than fufficient to faturate the foluble earths 5 the folu¬
tion muft be evaporated, and water poured upon the fo¬
lid matter. 2 his fluid will diffolve the compounds of
earths with the muriatic acid, and leave the phofphate of
lime untouched.
1 2. When the examination of a foil is completed, the Re('ults
products fliould be claffed, and their quantities added t0. Produ<as-
gether ; and if they nearly equal the original quantity
of foil, the analyfis may be confidered as accurate. It
muft however be noticed, that when phofphate or ful¬
phate of lime is difeovered by the independent procefs
11. a correction muft be made for the general procefs,
by fubtratfing a fum equal to their weight from the
quantity of carbonate of lime obtained by precipitation
fiom the muriatic acid.
In arranging the prcdu&s, the form ftiould be in the
order
ANALYSIS OF
Soils. order of the experiments by which they were obtain-
Y'—-'' ed.
Thus, 400 grains of a good filiceous fandy foil may
be fuppofed to contain
- Of water of abforption - - 18 grs,
Of loofe ftones and gravel, principally fili-
ceous,
Of undecompounded vegetable fibres
Of fine filiceous fand
Of minutely divided matter feparated by fil¬
tration, and confifiing of
Carbonate of lime
Carbonate of magnefia
Matter defiruiflible by heat, principally ve¬
getable,
Silica -
Alumina - - -
Oxide of iron - - -
Soluble matter, principally fulphate of pot-
a(h and vegetable extraft, - - 5
Gypfum ... - 3
Phofphate of lime - - 2
Amount of all the produ&s 395
Lofs - - - 5
42
10
200
4
10
40
32
4
n
Chemica
compoiition
of fertile
corn foils
in this cli¬
mate.
Com|x>fition
of foils pro¬
per for bul¬
bous roots
ai d for
trees.
In this infiance the lofs is fuppofed final 1 ; but in gene¬
ral, in acfiual experiments, it will be found much great¬
er, in confequence of the difficulty of collefting the
whole quantities of the different precipitates j and when
it is within thirty for four hundred grains, there is no
reafon to fufpeft any want of due precifion in the pro-
ceffes.
13. A very fertile corn foil from Ormiffon in Eaft Lo¬
thian afforded, in 100 parts, only 11 parts of mild
calcareous earth ; it contained 25 parts of filiceous fand:
the finely divided clay amounted to 45 parts. It loft
nine in decompofed animal and vegetabte matter, and
four in water, and afforded indications of a fmall quan¬
tity of phofphate of lime.
This foil was of a very fine texture, and contained
very few ftones or vegetable fibres. It is not unlikely
that its fertility was in fome meafure connefted with the
phofphate } for this fubftance is found in wheat, oats,
and barley, and may be a part of their food.
A foil from the low lands of Somerfetlhire, celebra¬
ted for producing excellent crops of wheat and beans
without manure, was found to confift of one-ninth of fand,.
chiefly filiceous, and eight-ninths of calcareous marl
tinged with iron, and containing about five parts in 100
of vegetable matter. No phofphate or fulphate of lime
could be dete&ed in it} fo that its fertility muft have de¬
pended principally upon its power of attrafting prin¬
ciples of vegetable nouriffiment from water and the at-
mofphere.
Mr Tillet, in fome experiments made on the compo-
fition of foils at Paris, found that a foil compofed of
three-eighths of clay, two-eighths of river fand, and
three-eighths of the parings of limeftone, was very pro¬
per for wheat.
14. In general, bulbous roots require a foil much
more fandy and lefs abfoibent than the graffes. A very
good- potato foil, from Varfel in Cornwall, afforded
feven-eighths of filiceous fand 5 and its abforbent power
STONES, &c.
was fo fmall, that 100 parts loft only two by drying at
400 Fahrenheit.
Plants and trees, the roots of which are fibrous and
hard, and capable of penetrating deep into the earth,
will vegetate to advantage in almoft all common foils
which are moderately dry, and which do not contain
a very great excefs of vegetable matter.
The foil taken from a field at Sheffield-place in Suffex,
remarkable for producing flouriihing oaks, was found to
confift of fix parts of land, and one part of clay and
finely divided matter. And 100 parts of the entire foil,,
fubmitted to analyfis, produced
Water - - 3 parts
Silica - - - 54
Alumina - - - 28
Carbonate of lime ” " 3
Oxide of iron * . - 5
Decompofing vegetable matter 4
, Lofs - - 3
1 c. From the great difference of the caufes that in- r T5
fluence the produdlivenefs of lands, it is obvious that, in ments niacje
the prefent ftate of fcience, no certain fyftem can be de-by chang-
vifed for their improvement, independent of experi- ingthe
ment: but there are few cafes in which the labour
analytical trials will not be amply repaid by the cer-earthy partg
tainty with which they denote the beft methods of ame-0f foils,
lioration *, and this will particularly happen when the
defedt of compofition is found in the proportions of the
primitive earths.
In fupplying animal or vegetable manure, a tempo¬
rary food only is provided for plants, which is in all
cafes exhaufted by means of a certain number of crops $
but when a foil is rendered of the beft poffible conftitu-
tion and texture, with regard to its earthy parts, its fer¬
tility may be confidered as permanently eftabliflred. It
becomes capable of attradiing a very large portion of
vegetable nouriffiment from the atmofphere, and of pro¬
ducing its crops with comparatively little labour and ex--
pence.
Defer ipt Ion of the Apparatus for the Analyfs of Soils.
A, Retort.
B, B, Funnels for the purpofe of filtrating..
D, Balance.
E, Argand’s lamp.
F, G, H, K, The different parts of the apparatus re¬
quired for meafuring the quantity of elaftic fluid given ■
out during the adlion of an acid on calcareous foils.
F, Reprefents the bottle for containing the foil.
K, The bottle containing the acid furnilhed with a
ftopcock.
G, The tube connedted with a flaccid bladder.
I; The graduated meafure.
H, The bottle for containing the bladder. When
this inftrument is ufed, a given quantity of foil is intro¬
duced into F ; K is filled with muriatic acid diluted
with an equal quantity of water ; and the ftopcock be¬
ing clofed is connected with the upper orifice of F,.
which is ground to receive it. The tube G is introdu--
ced into the lower orifice of F, and the bladder con-
nedled with it placed in its flaccid ftate into H, which
is filled with water. The graduated meafure is placed
under the tube of H. When the ftopcock cf K is turn¬
ed,.
Plate1
DIX.
ANALYSIS OF STONES, &c.
ed, the acid flows into F, and a£& upon the foil j the
elaftic fluid generated pafles through G into the blad¬
der, and difplaces a quantity of water in H equal to it
in bulk, and this w^ater flows through the tube into the
graduated meafure ; the wrater in which gives by its vo-
lume the indication of the proportion of carbonic acid
difengaged from the foil j for every ounce meafure of So!!j.
which two grains of carbonate of lime may be efti-'"■"V IM^
mated,
L, Reprefents the Hand for the lamp,
M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, Reprefent the bottles contain¬
ing the different reagents. * *
Mag. vol.
p. 2<5.
S T O
, Stones> . Artificial STONE. See Stucco.
ElajHc STONE. Some marbles pofiefs the property
of elafticity, and hence come under the denomination of
elaftic ftones. But the moft remarkable ftone of this
nature is the elaftic fandftone from Brazils, It is a mi¬
caceous fandftone in laminae not exceeding half an inch
in thicknefs. Some filiceous ftones alfo have the fame
property, or acquire it by being expofed to a certain de¬
gree of heat.
Philofopher's STONE. See PHILOSOPHER'S Stone.
Precious STONES. See Gem.
Rocking STONE, or Logan, a ftone of a prodigious
ftze, fo exaftly poifed, that it would rock or fh^ke with
the fmalleft force. Of thefe ftones the ancients give us
fome account. Pliny fays, that at Harpafa, a town of
Afia, there wras a rock of fuch a wonderful nature, that
if touched with the finger it would fhake, but could
not be moved from its place with the whole force of the
* Lib. ii. body *. Ptolemy Hepheftion mentions f a gygonian
c- 6?’... ftone near the ocean, which wras agitated when ftruck by
■i Lib. iii. of an afphodel, but could not be removed by a
great exertion of force. The word gygonius feems to
he Celtic , for gwingog fignifies motitans, the rocking-
ftone.
Many rocking ftones are to be found in different
parts of this ifland j fome natural, others artificial, or
placed in their pofition by human art. In the parilh of
St Leven, Cornwall, there is a promontory called Caf-
tle Treryn. On the weftern fide of the middle group,
near the top, lies a very large ftone, fo evenly poifed
that any hand may move it from one fide to another $
yet it is fo fixed on its bafe, that no lever nor any me¬
chanical force can remove it from its prefent fituation.
It is called the Logan-Jlone, and is at fuch a height from
the ground that no perfon can believe that it was raifed
to its prefent pofition by art. But there are other rock¬
ing ftones, which are fo ftiaped and fo fituated, that there
can be no doubt but they w'ere ere&ed by human
ftrength. Of this kind Borlafe thinks the great ^uoit
or Karn-lehau, in the parilh of Tywidnek, to be. It
is 39 feet in circumference, and four feet thick at a me¬
dium, and ftands on a fingle pedeftal. There is alfo a
remarkable ftone of the fame kind in the ifland of St
Agnes in Scilly. The under rock is io feet fix inches
high, 47 feet round the middle, and touches the ground
with no more than half its bafe. The upper rock refts
on one point only, and is fo nicely balanced, that two
or three men with a pole can move it. It is eight feet
fix inches high, and 47 in circumference. On the top
there is a bafon, hollowed out, three feet eleven inches in
.diameter at a medium, but wider at the brim, and three
•feet deep. From the globular ftrape of this upper ftone,
k is highly probable that it was rounded by human art,
S T O
and perhaps even placed on its pedeftal by human Stones,
ftrength. In Sithney pariflr, near Helfton, in Cornwall,u—y—
flood the famous logan, or rocking ftone, commonly
called Men Amber, q. d. Men an Bar, or the top-Jlone. ' 1V*
It was eleven feet by fix, and four high, and fo nicelyp-lS1,
poifed on another ftone that a little child could move it,
and all travellers who came this way defired to fee it.
But Shrubfall, Cromwell’s governor of Pendennis, with
much ado caufed it to be undermined, to the great grief
of the country. There are fome marks of the tool on
it, and, by its quadrangular ftiape, it was probably dedi¬
cated to Mercury.
That the rocking ftones are monuments ere&ed by
the Druids cannot be doubted $ but tradition has not
informed us for what purpofe they wrere intended. Mr.
Toland thinks that the Druids made the people believe
that they alone could move them, and that by a mira¬
cle $ and that by this pretended miracle they condemned
or acquitted the accufed, and brought criminals to con-
fefs what could not otherwife be extorted from them.
How far this conje&ure is right we lhall leave to thofe
who are deeply verfed in the knowledge of antiquities to
determine.
Sonorous STONE, a kind of ftone remarkable for emit¬
ting an agreeable found when ftruck, and much ufed
in China for making mufical inftruments which they call
king.
The various kinds of fonorous ftones known in China
differ confiderably from one another in beauty, and in
the ftrength and duration of their tone 5 and what is
very furprifing, is that this difference cannot be difeover-
ed either by the different degrees of their hardnefs,
weight, or finenefs of grain, or by any other qualities
which might be fuppofed to determine it. Some ftones
are found remarkably hard, which are very fonorous j and
others exceedingly foft, which have an excellent tone ;
fome extremely heavy emit a very fweet found $ and
there are others as light as pumice ftone which have alfo
an agreeable found.
The chemifts and naturalifts of Europe have never
yet attempted to difeover, w’hether fome of our ftones
may not have the fame properties as the fonorous ftones
of the extremities of Afia. It however appears, that the
Romans were formerly acquainted with a fonorous ftone
of the clafs of hiang-che. Pliny (fays the Abbe du Bos,
in his Refleftions on Poetry and Painting, when fpeak-
ing of curious ftones) obferves that the ftone called dial-
cophonas, or brazen found, is black ; and that, according
to the etymology of its name, it fends forth a found much
refembling that of brafs when it is ftruck. The paffage
of Pliny is as follows : Chaicephonas nigra ejl; fed elija
ceris tinnitum reddit.
Some fonorous ftones were at length fent into France,
and
S T O [ 720 ] S T O
Stone, and the late Duke de Chaulnes examined them with par-
Srone- ticular attention. The following are fome of his obferva-
l^nge. tjons . «'Xhe Aoiffdemy of Sciences, Mr Rome de Lille,
an(j feveral other learned mineralogifts, when alked if
they were acquainted with the black ftone of wThich the
Chinefe king was made, for anfwer cited the paffage of
Pliny mentioned by Boethius de Bott, Linnaeus, and in
the Di£Honary of Bomare, and added what Mr Ander-
fon fays in his Natural Hiftory of Iceland rcfpe&ing a
bluilh kind of ftone which is very fonorous. As the
black ftone of the Chinefe becomes of a bluilh colour
when filed, it is probably of the fame fpecies. None of
the reft wdio were confulted had ever feen it. The Chi¬
nefe ftone has a great refemblance at firft fight to black
marble, and like it is calcareous; but marble generally
is not fonorous. It alfo externally refembles touchftone,
which is a kind of bafaltes, and the bafaltes found near
volcanoes j but thefe two ftones are vitrifications.”.
The duke next endeavoured to procure fome infor¬
mation from the ftone-cutters. They all replied, that
blue-coloured marble was very fonorous, and that they
had feen large blocks of it wdiich emitted a very ftrong
found ; but the duke having ordered a king to be con-
ftru&ed of this kind of ftone, it was found that it did
not pofiefs that property. By trying the black marble
of Flanders, a piece was at length found which emitted
an agreeable found : it was cut into a king, which is al-
moft as fonorous as thofe of China. All thefe obferva-
tions give us reafon to believe that the ftones of which
the king are formed are nothing elfe but a black kind
of marble, the conftituent parts of which are the fame
as thofe of the marble of Europe, but that fome dif¬
ference in their organization renders them more or lefs
fonorous-
Swine-STONE (lapis fui/lus), or fetidJlone, fo called
from its exceflively fetid fmell, is a calcareous ftone im¬
pregnated with petroleum. See Mineralogy Index.
STONE-Marrow, a variety of clay fo called from its
having the appearance of marrow.
STONE-Ware, a fpecies of pottery fo called from its
hardnefs. See DELFT-lVare and Porcelain.
Stone in the Bladder. See Medicine, N" 400, and
Surgery Index.
Stone, in merchandize, denotes a certain weight for
weighing commodities. A ftone of beef at London is
the quantity of eight pounds : in Herefordlhire 12
pounds : in the North 16 pounds. A ftone of glafs is
•five pounds j of wax eight pounds. A ftone of w'ool
(according to the ftatute of 11 Hen. VII.) is to weigh
14 pounds; yet in fome places it is more, in others
lefs; as in Gloucefterlhire 15 pounds; in Hereforddiire
1 2 pounds. Among horfe-courfers a ftone is the weight
of 14 pounds.
The reafon of the name is evident. Weights at firft
were generally made of ftone. See Deut. xxv. 13.
where the word ann, tranflated weight, properly fignifies
a Jlone.
SroNE-Chatter. See Motacilla, Ornithology
Index.
STONEHENGE, a celebrated monument of anti¬
quity, Hands in the middle of a flat area near the fum-
mit of a hill fix miles diftant from Salift-ury. It is in-
clofed by a circular double bank and ditch near 30 feet
broad, after crofting which we afcend 30 yards before
-we reach the work. The whole fabric confifted of two
Vol. XIX. Part II.
circles and two ovals. The outer circle is about 108 Stone-
feet diameter, confifting when entire of 60 ftones, 30 ^eilge‘ ,
uprights and 30 imports, of which remain only 24 up- q9u^s
rights, 17 Handing and 7 down, 34 feet afunder, and 8 edition if
imports. Eleven uprights have their 5 imports on them Camden's
by the grand entrance. Thefe ftones are from 13 to 20 tirttamiia,
feet high. The leffer circle is fomewhat more than 8
feet from the infide of the outer one, and confifted of
40 leffer ftones (the higheft 6 feet), of which only 19
remain, and only 11 Handing : the walk between thefe
two circles is 300 feet in circumference. The Adytum
or Cell is an oval formed of 10 ftones (from 16 to 22
feet high), in pairs, with imports, which Dr Stukeley
calls trilithons, and above 30 feet high, riling in height
as they go round, and each pair feparate. and not con¬
nected as the outer pair; the higheft 8 feet. Within
thefe are 19 more fmaller fingle ftones, of which only 6
are Handing. At the upper end of the Adytum is the
altar, a large flab of blue coarfe marble, 20 inches thick,
16 feet long, and 4 broad ; prefled down by the weight
of the vaft ftones that have fallen upon It. The whole
number of ftones, uprights, imports, and altar, is exact¬
ly 140. The ftones are far from being artificial, but
were moft probably brought from thofe called the Greg
Weathers on Marlborough Downs, 15 or 16 miles off ;
and if tried with a tool they appear of the fame hard¬
nefs, grain, and colour, generally reddifh. The heads
of oxen, deer, and other hearts, have been found on dig¬
ging in and about Stonehenge ; and human bones in
the circumjacent barrow's. There are three entrances
from the plain to this ftru£ture, the moft confiderable
of wdnch is from the north-eaft, and at each of them
were raifed on the outfide of the trench two huge ftones
with twTo fmaller within parallel to them.
It has been long a difpute among the learned, by
what nation, and for what purpofe, thefe enormous
ftones wTere collected and arranged. The firft account
of this ftrufture we meet with is in Geoffroy of Mon¬
mouth, who, in the reign of King Stephen, wrote
the hiftory of the Britons in Latin. He tells us,
that it was erefled by the counfel of Merlin the Bri-
tifti enchanter, at the command of Aurelius Ambro-
fius the laft Britilh king, in memory of 460 Bri¬
tons who were murdered by Hengift the Saxon. The
next account is that of Polydore Virgil, who fays that
the Britons erefled this as a fepulchral monument of
Aurelius Ambrofius. Others fuppofe it to have been
a fepulchral monument of Boadicea the famous Britifti
queen. Inigo Jones is of opinion, that it was a Roman
temple ; from a ftone 16 feet long, and four broad, pla¬
ced in an exaft pofition to the eaftward altar-fafhion.
Mr Charlton attributed it to the Danes, who were turn
years mafters of Wiltfture. A tin tablet, on which were
fome unknown chara&ers, fuppofed to be Punic, was
digged up near it in the reign of Henry VIII. but is
loft ; probably that might have given fome information
refpe&ing its founders. Its common name, Stonehenge,
is Saxon, and fignifies a “ ftone gallows,” to which
thofe ftones, having tranfverfe imports, bear fome re¬
femblance. It is alfo called in Welch choir gour, or
“ the giants dance.”
Mr Grofe thinks that Dr Stukeley has completely
proved this ftru&ure to have been a Britifti temple in
which the Druids officiated. He fuppofes it to have
been the metropolitan temple of Great Britain, and
4 Z tranflates
Stone-
henge
Stoppers.
S T O [73°
words choir gour “ the great choir or
tranflales the
temple.” The learned Mr Bryant is of opinion that it
was ere&ed by a colony of Cuthites probably before
the time of the Druids ; becaufe it was ufual with them
to place one vaft done upon another for a religious me¬
morial ; and thefe they often placed fo equably, that even
a breath of wind would fometimes make them vibrate. Of
fuch ftor.es one remains at this day in the pile of Stone¬
henge. The ancients diftinguidied ftones ereifted with a
religious view, by the name of amber; by which was fig-
nified any thing folar and divine. The Grecians called
them TrtT^xi ccp&^oo-ixi, ftetra? ambrojice . Stonehenge, ac¬
cording to Mr Bryant, is compofed of thefe amber
ftones : hence the next town is denominated slmbrejbu-
ry; not from a Roman Ambrofius, for no fuch perfon
fever exifted, but from the ambrojice petrce, in whole vi¬
cinity it flood. Some of thefe wjere rocking flones }
and there was a wonderful monument of this fort near
Penzance in Cornwall, which ftill retains the name of
main-amber, or the facred ftones. Such a one is men¬
tioned by Apollonius Rhodius, fuppofed to have been
raifed in the time of the Argonaulae, in the ifland Te¬
rras, as the monument of the two-winged fons of Boreas,
(lain by Hercules j and there are others in China and
other countries.
SPOOK, a term ufed in many parts of the king¬
dom for a (hock of corn containing i 2 Iheaves.
STOOL, in Medicine, an evacuation or difcharge of
the faeces by the anus.
Stcol, in Mining, is ufed when the miners leave oft'
digging deeper, and work in the ends forward. The
end before them is called the/?oo/.
Stool, m Skip building, the name of the fupporters
of the poop and top lanterns.
STOOPING, in Falconry, is when a hawk, being
upon her wings at the height of her pitch, bends down
violently to take the fowl.
S I'OPPERS, in a (hip, certain ihort pieces of rope,
which are ufually knotted at one or both ends, accord¬
ing to the purpofe for which they are defigned. They
are either ufed to fufpend any heavy body, or to retain
a cable, fhroud, &c. in a fixed pofition. Thus, the
anchors, when firft hoifted up from the ground, are
Rung to the cat head by a ftopper attached to the lat¬
ter, which palling throngh the anchor-ring, is after¬
wards fattened to the timber-head *, and the fame rope
ferves to fatten it on the bow at fea ; or to fufpend it
by the ring which is to be funk from the (hip to the
bottom. The ftoppers of the cable have a large knot
and a laniard at one end, and are fattened to a ring-bolt
in the deck by the other. They are attached to the
cable by the laniard, which is fattened fecurely round
both by feveral turns patted behind the knot, or about
the neck of the ftopper •, by which means the cable is
reftrained from running out of the (hip when fire rides at
anchor.
The ftoppers of the (hroud have a knot and a la¬
niard at each end. They are only uftd when the
fhrouds are cut afunder in battle, or difabled by tempe-
ftuous w'eather; at which time they are lafhed, in the
fame manner as thofe of the cables, to the feparated
parts of the fhroud, which are thereby reunited, fo as
to be fit for immediate fervice. This, however, is only
a temporary expedient.
] s t o
STOPS. See Punctuation
136.
STORAX.
dex.
STORK. See Ardea, Ornithology Index.
STOVE for heating apartments, greenhoufes,
houfes, fruit-walls, &c.
When treating of the mechanical proporties of air,
We explained in fufficient detail the manner in which
the expanfion produced in a mafs of air by beat pro¬
duces that motion up our chimneys which is called the
draught of the chimney 5 and, in the article Smoke,
we confidered the circumftances which tend to check, to
promote, or to diredt this current, fo as to free us
bom the fmuke and vitiated air which neceffarily accom¬
panies the confumption of the fuel. In Pneumatics
we alfo attended to the manner in which our fires im¬
mediately operate in warming our apartments. At
prefent, when about to deferibe a method of warming
intrinfically different, wre mutt pay fume more attention
to the diftinguifhing circumftance. Without pretending
to explain the phyfical connexion of heat and light, it
may fuffice to obferve, that heat, as well as light, is com¬
municated to diftant bodies in an inlfant by radiation.
A perfon patting haftily by the door of a glafs-houfe
feels the glow of heat in the very moment he fees the
dazzling light of the furnace mouth, and it is interrupted
by merely fereening his face with his hand. In this
way is an apartment partly warmed by an open fire j
and we avoid the opprettive heat by fitting where the
fire is not feen, or by interpofing a fereen. We are
apt to connedl this fo ftrongly in the imagination with
the light emitted by the fire, that we attribute the heat
to the immediate adlion of the light. But this opinion
is fliovvn to be gratuitous by a curious experiment made
before the Royal Society by Dr Hooke, and afterwards,
with more care and accurate examination, by Mr Scheele.
They found, that by bringing a plate of the moft tranfpa-
rent glafs brilkly between the fire and one’s face, the heat
is immediately intercepted without any fenfible diminu¬
tion of the light. Scheele, by a very pretty inveftigation,
difeovered that the glafs made the reparation, and did
it both in refradtion and refledlion ; for he found, that
when the light of the fame fire was colledled into a fo¬
cus by means of a polilhed metal concave fpeculum, a
thermometer placed there was injlantly affedled. But
if we employ a glafs fpeculum foiled in the ufual man¬
ner with quickfilver, of the fame diameter and focal
diftance, and of equally brilliant refledlion, there is
hardly any fenfible heat produced in the focus, and
the thermometer mutt remain there for a very long while
before it is fenfibly affedled. When we repeated this
curious experiment, we found, that after the glafs
has remained a long while in this pofition, whether
tranfmitting or refledling the light, it lofes in a great
meafure its power of intercepting the heat. By varying
this obfervation in many of its circumftances, we think
ourfelves entitled to conclude, that the glafs abforbs the
heat which it intercepts, and is very quickly heated by
the abforption. While it rifes in its own temperature,
it intercepts the heat powerfully; but when it is, as it
were, faturated, attradling no more than what it imme¬
diately imparts to the air in corporeal contadl with it,
the heat paffes freely through along with the light. If
the
and Scripture, N° Stop?
See StyRax, Materia Medica ln-
hot-
Stove.
S T O [7
Stove, the glafs be held fo near the fire that tlae furrounding
—' air is very much heated, no fenfible interruption of heat
is perceived after the glafs is thus faturated. We found
the cheek more quickly fenfible than the thermo¬
meter of this inrtantaneous radiation of the heat which
accompanies the light, or is feparated from it in this
experiment. It is a very inllrudlive experiment in the
phyfiology of heat.
We cannot fay how far this radiation of heat may
extend, nor whether the accompanyment of light is ab-
folutely nccefiary. The mathematician proceeds on the
fuppofition that it extends as far as the radiation of
light, and that, being alfo rectilineal, the denfity of
the heat is proportional to that of the light. But
thefe notions are fomewhat gratuitous; and there are
appearances which render tnem doubtful. When with
a lens of an inch in diameter w-e form a focus on a piece
of black unpolifhed marble of an inch diameter, the ma¬
thematician mult allow that no more rays fall on the
marble than if the lens were away : therefore the
marble fhould be equally warmed in either cafe. But
it is by no means fo, as we have repeatedly found by
expofing it during equal times, and then dropping it
into water. The water which is heated by the marble
on which the focus has been formed will be found to
have acquired from it much more heat than from the
other. The tops of lofty mountains which are never
fhaded by clouds, but enjoy perpetual funfliine and fe-
renity, inftead of being warmer than the valleys below7,
are covered with never-melting fnow j and we have fome
grounds to fufpedf that the genial influence of the fun
requires the co-operation of the atmofphere, and to
doubt whether there is any warmth at the moon, on
which no atmofphere like ours can be obferved. Per¬
haps the heat which cheers us, and fertilizes our earth,
is chemically feparated from our atmofphere by its elec¬
tive attraction lor the light of the fun. Our fucceflors
in the lludy of meteorology need not fear that the fub-
jeCt of their refearch will be foon deprived of fcientific
allurements. We know but little of it after all the
progrefs we have made during this laft century, and it
llill prefents an a,mple field of difeuflion.
We faid that the accompaniment of light is not de-
monllrably neceffary. We are certain that heat may be
imparted without any fenfible light, in a manner wdiich
we can hardly fuppofe any thing but radiation. If a
piece of very hot iron be placed a little without the
principal focus of a metallic concave fpeculum, and a very
ienfible air-thermometer be placed in its conjugate focus,
it will inflantly Ihow an elevation of temperature, although
the iron is quite imperceptible to an eye which has even
been a long wdiile in the dark. No fuch rife of tempe¬
rature is obferved if the thermometer be placed a little to
one fide of the focus of the fpeculum j therefore the pheno¬
menon is precifely fimilar to the radiation of light. We
_ are obliged therefore to acknowledge that the heat is ra¬
diated in this experiment in the fame way that light is in
the common optical experiments.
Although this is the moft ufual way that we in this
country employ fuel for warming our apartments, it is
by no means the only way in which the heat diffufed
from this fuel may be imparted to diftant bodies. It is
not even the mofl: effectual method ; it is diffufed alfo
by immediate communication to bodies in contaCt. The
air in immediate contaCt with the burning fuel is heated,
;i ]• ST O
and imparts fome of its heat to the air lying beyond it, Stow,
and this is partly fhared with the air which is ilill farther
oflF; and this diff.fion, by communication in contaElu,
goes on till the remote air contiguous to the walls, the
floor, the ceiling, the furniture, the company, all get a
(hare of it in proportion to their attractions and their ca¬
pacities. And as the air is thus continually fupplied,
and continually gives out heat, the wTalls, &.c. become
gradually warmer, and the room becomes comfortable
and pleafant. But we apprehend that no great propor¬
tion of the heat aCtually acquired by the room is com¬
municated in this way. This diffufion by contaCt is
but flow7, efpecially in air which is very dry j lb flow
indeed, that the air in the immediate neighbourhood of
the fuel is hurried up the chimney before it has time to
impart any of the heat received in contaCt. We know
that the time employed in diffufing ilfelf in this way
through Itagnant air to any moderate diltance is very
confiderable, We imagine therefore that the heat com¬
municated to our rooms by an open fire is chiefly by ra¬
diation, but in a way fomething different from what w7e
mentioned before. We imagine, that as the piece of
glafs in Dr Hooke’s experiment abforbs the heat, fo the
wdiole mafs of air which fills the room intercepts the ra¬
diated heat in every part of the room where the fire is
feen, and is as it were laturated with it throughout, and
ready to impart it to every body immerfed in it. We
cannot otherwife account for the equability of the heat
in the different parts of the room. Mere radiation on
the folid bodies would warm them in the inverfe dupli¬
cate ratio of their diltances from the fire ; and diffufion
by contaCt, if compatible with the rapid current up the
chimney, would heat the room ffill more unequably.
RecolieCl how flowly, and w'ith what rapid diminution
of intenfity, the colour of blue vitriol is communicated
to wrater even to a very fmall diftance. But becaufe all
parts of the air of the room abforb radiated heat, what
is faturated at a higher temperature, being nearer to
the fire, rifes to the ceiling, fpreads outwards along the
ceiling, and has its place fupplied by the air, which is
thus puffied towards the fire from the places which are
not diredly illuminated.
Far different is the method of warming the room by
a ftove. Here the radiation, if any, is very feeble or
fcanty ; and if a paffage were allowed up the chimney
for the warmed air, it would be quickly carried off.
This is well known to the Englilh who refide in the
cold climates of St Peterfburgh, Archangel, &c. They
love the exhilerating flutter of an open fire, and often
have one in their parlour; but this, fo far from warming
the room during the extreme cold weather, obliges them
to heat their ftoves more frequently, and even abffrafts
the heat from a whole fuite of apartments. But all paf¬
fage this way is (hut up when we warm a room by
{loves. The air immediately contiguous to the ftove
is heated by contaCl, and this heat is gradually, though
llowly, diffufed through the whole room. The diffufion
would however be very flow indeed, were it not for the
great expanfibility of air by heat. But the air fur¬
rounding the ftove quickly expands and rifes to the ceil¬
ing, while the neighbouring air Hides in to fupply the
place, nay is even pufhed in by the air which goes out¬
wards aloft. Thus the whole air is foon mixed, and
the room acquires almoft an equal temperature through¬
out.
4 Z 2
The
Steve.
P'nte
DX.
■Fig. r.
s T O [ 732 ] S T O
The warming by ftoves muft therefore be managed
upon very different principles from thofe adopted in
the employment of open fires. The general principle
is, iff, To employ the fuel in the molt effefhial manner
for heating the external part of the ftove, which is im¬
mediately efficient in warming the contiguous air ; and,
2d, To keep in the room the air already w’armed, at
leaft as much as is confident with w'holefomenefs and
cleanlinefs.
The firft purpofe is accomplifiied by conducing the
ftue of the furnace round its external parts, or, in ihort,
by making every part of the flue external. Of all
forms, that of a long pipe, returned backwards and for-
wards, up and down (^provided only that the place of
its laff difcharge be confiderably higher than its entry
from the fire-place), would be the moft effectual. We
have feen a very fmall Hove conftru£!ed in this way, the
whole being inclofed in a handfome cafe of polifhed iron
plate, pierced and cut into elegant foliage like the cock
of a wTatch, fo that the odd looking pipes were complete¬
ly concealed. Though only three feet long, one foot
thick, and fix feet high, it wrarmed a very lofty room of
24 feet by 18, and confumed lefs than half the fuel of a
flove of the more ufual make, which did not fo fully
warm a fmaller chamber.
It would occupy a volume to defcribe the immenfe
variety of ffoves which ingenuity or architeftonic tafte
has conftrudled. We (hall content ourfelves with giving
a fpecimen of the two chief claffes into which they may
be diftinguifhed.
The air of a room may be equally warmed, either by
applying it to the furface of a fmall ftove made very hot,
or to the furface of a much larger ftove more moderate¬
ly heated. The firft kind is chiefly ufed in Holland,
Flanders, and the milder climates of Germany and Po¬
land. The laft are univerfally ufed in the frozen cli¬
mates of Ruflia and Sweden. The firft are generally
made of caft-iron, and the laft of brick-w'ork covered
with glazed tiles or ftucco.
Fig1 1. reprefents a fmall German ftove fully fuffi-
cient for warming a room of 24 feet by 18. The bafe
is about three feet broad and 14 inches deep, that is,
from back to front, and fix or feven feet high. The
decoration is in the falhion of that country j but the
operative ftrudlure of it will admit of any ftyle of orna¬
ment. A, is the fire-place, and the wood or charred
coal is laid on the bottom, which has no bars. Bars
would admit the air too freely among the fuel, and
would both confume it too faft and raife too great a heat.
That no heat may be ufelefsly expended, the foie of
the fire-place and the whole bottom of the ftove is rai¬
led an inch or two above the floor of the room, and the
air is therefore warmed by it in fucceflion, and rifes up¬
wards. For the fame reafon the back of the ftove is
not in contact with the wall of the room, or of the
niche in which it is placed. The fire-place is (hut up
by a door which fits clofely to its cafe, and has a fmall
wicket at the bottom, whofe aperture is regulated by
a Aiding plate, fo as to admit no more air than what
fuftices for flowly confuming the fuel. The flame and
heated air rife to the top of the fire-place three or four
inches above the arch or mantle-piece, and get out la¬
terally by tw’o narrow paffages B, B, immediately be¬
low the top-plate of the bafe. The current bends
downward on each fide, paffes at C. C, under the parti¬
tion plates wdiich divide the two fide chambers, and then Stove.
rifes upwards through the outer divifion of each, and ' v—
paffes through narrow flits D, D, in the top plate, and
from thence along the two hollow piers E, E. The
two lateral currents unite at the top of the arch, and go
through the Angle paffage F into the larger hollow be¬
hind the efcutcheon G. from this place it either goes
ftraight upwards into the vent in the wall by a pipe on
the top of the ftove, or it goes into the w'all behind by
a pipe inferted in the back of the ftove. The propriety
of this conftruftion is very obvious. The current of hot
air is applied to exterior parts of the ftove everywhere
except in the two fide chambers of the bafe, wThere the
partition-plates form one fide of the canal. Even this
might be avoided by making each of thefe fide-cham-
bers a detached hollow pillar. But this would greatly
increafe the trouble of conftruftion and joining toge¬
ther, and is by no means neceffary. The arch H has a
graceful appearance, and affords a very warm fituation
for any thing that requires it, fuch as a drink in a fick
perfon’s bed-chamber, &c. Perfons of a certain clafs
ufe this place for keeping a difh wrarm j nay, the low'er
part of the arch is frequently occupied by an inclofed
chamber, where the heat rifes high enough even for dref-
fing victuals, as will be eafily imagined when we reflect
that the foie of it is the roof of the fire-place.
The ftove now defcribed is fupplied with fuel and
with air by the front door opening into the room. That
there may be room for fuel, this middle part projetts
a few inches before the twro fide-chambers. Thefe laft,
with the w'hole upper part of the ftove, are not more
than ten inches deep. The paffages, therefore, from,
the fire-place are towards the back of it j fo that if we
have a mind to lee the fire (which is always cheerful),
the door may be throwm open, and there is no danger
of the fmoke coming out after the current has once
w'armed the upper part of the ftove. When the ftove is
of fuch dimenfions that the bafe is about twTo feet and a
half or three feet high, the fire-place may be furniftied
w-ith a fmall grate in the BritiCh ftyle. If the door is
fo hung that it can not only be thrown back, but lifted
off its hinges, we have a ftove grate of the completeft
kind, fully adequate, in our mild climate, to warm a
handfome apartment, even with an open fire ; and when
we hang on the door, and Unit up the fire-place, a ftove
of the dimenfions already given is almoft too much for a
large drawing room.
We have frequently remarked, that one fide of thefe
ftoves grows much warmer than the other, and that it
was difficult to prevent or remedy this j and we ima¬
gine that this is an unavoidable deleft in all ftoves with
a double flue. It is fcarcely poflible to make the fire
fo equable in the fire-place, that one fide lhall not be a
little wrarmer than the other, and a briflter current will
then be produced in it. This muft increafe the con-
fumption of the fuel on this fide, which will increafe
the current, will heat this fide ftill more, and thus go on
continually till the fuel on this fide is expended 3 after
which the other fide will obtain and increafe the fupe-
riority. The flue is made double, that the fire-place
may occupy the middle of the front; and it will be
difficult to gain this point of fymmetry with one flue.
The inconvenience may, however, be correfted by damp¬
ing valves placed in fome part of the upright funnels
E, "
In
S T O [ 733 1 S T O
In the colder winters on the continent, it is thought
neceffary to increafe the effect by making the fire-place
open to the back of the ftove. Its mouth or door com¬
municates with or is joined to an opening of the fame
dimenfions formed in the wall, and the door is on the
other fide in an antichamber or lobby. In Weftpha-
lia, and other places of Germany, the apartments are
difpofed round a fpacious lobby, into which all their fire¬
places open, and are there fupplied with fuel. By this
conftru&ion it is plain that the air of the room, already
warmed by the ftove, is not carried off, and the room
is more heated. But this method is very unfavourable
to cheerfulnefs and health. The fame air, confined, and
repeatedly breathed and compounded with all the vola¬
tile emanations of the room, quickly lofes that refreih-
ing quality that is fo defirable, and even fo neceffary for
health. It is never renewed except by very partial ad¬
mixtures when the room doors are thrown open, and be¬
comes difagreeable to any perfon coming in from the
open air; and in the houfes of the lefs opulent becomes
really oftenfive and naufeous.
Something of this is unavoidable in all rooms heated
by ftoves. Even in our apartments in this ifiand, per-
fons of delicate nerves are hurt by what they call the
clofe air of a room ; and it is long before the fmell of
dinner is quite removed from a dining-room, notwith-
ftanding the copious current up the chimney. This
muft be incomparably more fenfible in a room heated
by a ftove ; and this inconvenience is peculiarly fenfible
with refpe£l to the ftove wrhich we are confidering at
prefent, where we employ a fmall furface heated to a
great degree.
Such ftoves are feldom made of any thing elfe than
caft-iron. This (in thofe parts at leaft which are in im¬
mediate contact with the fuel) is in a ftate of continual
calcination, and even throwing off fcales. This indeed
is not feen, becaufe it is the bottom or foie of the fire¬
place which is fo heated : but the effeft on the air of the
room is the fame. The calcination of the iron is occa-
fioned by the combination of pure vital air with the
iron. This is abftra&ed from the general mafs of at-
mofpheric air in the room, of which it ufually confti-
tutes about two-fifths. By this abftraflion the re¬
mainder becomes lefs fit for fupporting animal life or
flame, and may even become highly deleterious. In
every degree the remainder becomes lefs refrefhing, and
grows dull and oppreftive. This is always accompanied
by a peculiar fmell, which, though not difgufting, is
unpleafant. It refembles the fmell of burnt feathers, or
more exactly the fmelfwe feel if we rub violently for
fome time the palms of our hands together when per-
feftly dry.
For fimilar reafons thefe iron ftoves occafion a fickly
fmell, by burning every particle of dull which falls on
the hot parts •, and if they be wiped with a woollen
cloth, or any cloth not perfeftly free from every kind
of greafy or oily matter, a fmell is produced for a day
or days afterwards •, fo that without the moft fcrupulous
attention we fuffer by our very cleanlinefs.
For fuch reafons we think that the ftoves of brick¬
work covered with ftucco or with glazed tiles are vaftly
preferable. Thefe are much ufed in the genteeler houfes
in Flanders and Holland, where they are made in the
moft elegant forms, and decorated with beautiful fculp-
ture or enamel; but it is plain that they cannot be fo
effeiftual, nor equally warm a room with the fame ex- Stove,
pence of fuel. Earthen ware, efpccially when covered '‘ V-
with porous ftucco, is far inferior to metal in its power
of conducing heat. If built of bricks, they muft be
vaftly more bulky when the fire-place and flues are of
the lame dimenfions. The moft perfedl way of con-
ftnnfting them would certainly be to make them of pot¬
tery, in parts exactly fitted to each other, and joined by
a proper cement. This mode of conftru&ing would ad¬
mit of every elegance of form or richnefs of ornament,
and would not be fo bulky as thofe which are built of
bricks. The great difficulty is to prevent their crack¬
ing by the heat. Different parts of the ftove being of
very different heats, they expand unequally, and therd
is no cement which can withfland this, efpecially when
we recolletft: that the fame heat which expands the
baked earth caufes the clay or cement, wdth which the
parts of the ftove are put together or covered, to con¬
tract. Accordingly thofe earthen ware ftoves feldorti
ftand a winter or two without cracking in fome place
or other, even when ftrengthened by iron hoops and
cramps judicioufiy difpofed rvithin them. Even hooping
them them externally, which would be very unfightly,
will not prevent this j for nothing can refift the expan-
fion and contraction by heat and cold. When a crack
happens in a ftove, it is not only unfightly, but highly
dangerous ; becaufe it may be fo fituated, that it will
difcharge into the room the air vitiated by the fire.
For thefe and other reafons, wTe can fcarcely hope to
make ftoves of brick-work or pottery which fhall bear
the neceffary heat without cracking j and their ufe muft:
therefore be confined to cafes wdiere very moderate heat
is fufficient. We need not defcribe their conftruCHon.
It is evident that it fhould be more fimple than that of
iron ftoves j and we imagine that in the very few cafes
in which they are likely to be employed in this country,
a Angle fire-place and an arch over it, divided, if we
pleafe, by a partition or two of thin tile to lengthen the
flue, will be quite enough. If the ftove is made in
whole or in part of potters ware, a bafe for the fire¬
place, with an urn, column, obelifk, or pyramid above
it, fbr increafing the furface, will alfo be fufficient.'
The failure commonly happens at the joinings, where
the different pieces of a different heat, and perhaps of
a different baking, are apt to expand unequally, and
by working on each other one of them muft give wTay,
Therefore, inftead of making the joints clofe and ufing
any cement, the upper piece fhould ftand in a groove
formed in the undermoft, having a little powdered chalk!
or clay fprinkled over it, which will effeftually prevent
the paffage of any air; and room being thus given fox -
the unequal expanfion, the joint remains entire. This
may be confidered as a general dire&ion for all furnace-
work, where it is in vain to attempt to hinder the mu¬
tual working of the parts.
We have feen ftoves in fmall apartments at St Peterf-
burg, which were made internally of potters ware, in a
great variety of forms, and then covered with a thick
coat of ftpcco, finiihed externally with the utmoft ele¬
gance of ornament, and we were informed that they were
very rarely fubjeft to crack. They-did not give much
heat, on account of the very low conducing power of
the porous ftucco; but we imagine that they would
be abundantly warm for a moderate room in this1
country.
When
s T O [ 73+ ] S T O
Stove. When fitted up in thefe fitimtxons, and with thefe
' v - precautions, the brick or pottery doves are incompara¬
bly more fweet and pleafant tha« the iron ones.
But in the intenfe colds of Ruffia and Sweden, or
even for very large rooms in this kingdom, Ifoves of
thefe fmall dimenfions are not fufficiently powerful, and
we mult follow the praftice of thofe countries where
they are made of great fize, and very moderately heat¬
ed. It is needlefs to defcribe their external form, which
may be varied at pleafure. Their internal ftrudfure is
the fame in all, and is dillindfly defcribed in Pneuma¬
tics, N° 364. We (hall only enlarge a little on the
peculiarities conne&ed with the general principle of
their conftrudlion.
The dove is intended as a fort of magazine, in which
a great quantity of heat may be quickly accumulated,
to be afterwards flowly communicated to the air of the
room. The dove is therefore built extremely madive •,
and it is found that they are more powerful when coated
with clay as wet as can be made to hang together. We
imagine the reafon of this to be, that very wet clay,
and more particularly ducco, mud be exceedingly po¬
rous when dry, and therefore a very doxv condudlor of
heat. Indead of dicking on the glazed tiles with no
more clay or ducco than is fufficient to attach them,
each tile has at its back a fort of box baked in one piece
about two or three inches deep. It is reprefented in
Fig. 2. fig- 2. This is filled with mortar, and then duck on
the brick-wmrk of the dove, which has a great number
of iron pins or hooks driven into the joints, which may
fink into this clay and keep it firmly attached when dry.
This coating, with the madlve brick-work, forms a
great mafs of matter to be heated by the fuel. The
lowed chamber, which is the fire-place, is fomew-hat
wider, and confiderably thicker than the dories above,
which are merely flues. When the fire-place is finifhed
and about to be arched over, a flat iron bar of fmall
thicknefs is laid along the top of the fide-wall on both
Tides, a fet of finifliing bricks being moulded on purpofe
with a notch to receive the iron bar. Crofs bars are
laid over thefe, one at each end and one or two be¬
tween, having a bit turned down at the ends, which
takes hold of the longitudinal bars, and keeps them
from being thrud outwards either by the preffure of the
arch or by the fwelling in confequence of the heat. In
Fig. 3. fig. 3. A is the crofs feftion of one of the long bars, and
EC is part of one of the crofs bars, and CD is the clench
which confines the bar A. This precaution is chiefly
neceffary, becaufe the contradlion of the dove upwards
obliges the walls of the other dories to bear a little on
the arch of the fire-place. The building above is kept
together in like manner by other courfes of iron bars at
every fecond return of the flue. The top of the dove
is finiflied by a pretty thick covering of brick-work.
The lad paflage for the air at H (fee Pneumatics,
fig. 62.) has a ring lining its upper extremity, and pro-
jedling an inch or two above it. The flat round it is
covered with fand. When wre would dop this paffage,
a covered drape like a bafon or cover for diflres at table
is whelmed over it. The rim of this, reding on the
fand, effedlually prevents all air from coming through
and getting up the vent. Accefs is had to this damper
by a door which can be diut tight enough to prevent
the heated air of the room from wading itftlf up the
vent. When the room is too warm, it may be very ra-
2
pidly cooled by opening this door. The warm air rod)- Stove,
es up with great rapidity, and is replaced by cool air '’'■’■“V'—
from without.
The management of the dove is as follows. About
eight o'clock in the morning the pietchnich, or fervant
who has the charge of the doves, takes off the cover,
fhuts the damper-door, and opens the fire-place door.
He then puts in a handful of wood (havings or draw',
and kindles it. This warms the dove and vent, and be¬
gins a current of air through it. He then Lvys a few
chips on the foie of the fire-place, immediately within
the door j and behind this he arranges the billets of
birchwood, with their ends inwards. Then he lays on
more wood in the front, till he thinks there is enough.
He fets fire to the chips, (huts the door, and opens the
fmall wfleket at its bottom. The air blows the flame
of the chips upon the billets behind them, and thus
kindles them. They confume (lowly, while the billets
in front remain untouched by the fire. The fervant,
having made his fird round of the rooms, returns to.
this dove, and opens the door above to admit air into
the vent. This is to fupply its draught, and thus to
check the draught in the body of the dove, which is
generally too drong at this time, and would confume
the fuel too fad. By this time the billets in the front
are burning, fird at the bottom, and the red in fuccef-
fion as they fink down on the embers and come oppofite
to the wicket. The room does not yet feel any effefl
from the fire, the heat of which has not yet reached its
external furface j but in about half an hour this grows
warm. The upper door is (hut again, that no heat may
now be waded. The pietchnick by and by fpreads the
embers and allies over the-whole bottom of the fire-placg
with a rake, by which the bottom is greatly heated, and
heats the air contiguous to it externally (for it dands 013
little pillars) very powerfully. He takes care to bring
up to the top of the aihes every bit of wood or coal thafc
is not yet confumed, that all may be completely expend¬
ed. He does this as brifkly as podlble, that the room
may not lofe much warmed air by keeping open the
fire-place door. At his lad vifit, when he obferves no
more glowing embers, he fhuts the fire-place door and
wicket, and puts the damper on the paffage above, and,
(huts its door.—All this is over in about an hour and a
half after kindling the fire. All current of air is now
at an end wfithin the dove, and it is now a great mafs
of brick-work, heated to a great degree within, but
only about blood-warm externally. The heat gradually
fpreads outwrards, and the external furface of the dove
acquires its greated heat about three o’clock in the
afternoon j after which it gradually cools till next morn,
ing.
This heat feldom is fo great that one cannot bear to
touch the dove with his cheek, and to keep it there. In
confequence of this it can burn none cf the dud which
unavoidably falls on the dove, and we are never trou¬
bled with the fickening fmells that are unavoidable when
we' employ the fmall cad-iron doves much heated. The
great expence of heat in a room arifes from the glafs
windows. The pane is fo thin that the external air
keeps it continually cold, and thus the windows are
continually robbing the air of the room of its heat. This
expence of heat is reduced to lefs than one-third by
double cafements. The inner cafement is about as
much colder than the room as the outer cafement is
warmer
S T O [7
Stove, warmer (Iran tlie air of the fields 5 and we have the fin-
—v  gular advantage of having no ice formed on the glaffes.
But to enfure this laid advantage, the feams of the inner
cafement mud be palled with paper, and thofe of the
outer cafement muft be left unpafted. If we do the
contrary, we fhall certainly have ice on the outer cafe¬
ment ; the reafon of which is eafily feen.
We have been thus particular in our defcription of
the management, becaufe the reafons of fome particulars
are not very obvious, and the pradfice would not readily
occur to ps in this country j fo that a perfon who, on
the faith of our recommendation, (hould prefer one of
thefe floves to the German dove, whofe management is
fimple and obvious, might be greatly difappointed.
But by following this method, we are confident that the
Ruffian dove will be found much fuperior both in warmth
and agreeable air. The fpreading out of the embers,
and waiting till all is reduced to athes before the doors
are fhut, is alfo abfolutely neceflary, and a negledd of it
would expbfe us to imminent danger of fuffocation by
fixed air ; and this is the only inconvenience of the Ruf¬
fian dove, from which the other dove is free. The fix¬
ed air has no fmell •, and the fird indication of its pre¬
fence is a flight giddinefs and laffitude, which difpofes us
to fit down and to fleep. This would be fatal j and we
mud immediately open the upper pafl'age and the fire¬
place door, fo as to produce a drong current to carry
the vitiated air of the room up the chimney. Throwing
up the fadies, or at lead opening all the doors, is proper
cn fuch an occafion.
If we burn pit-coal, either raw ©r charred, this pre¬
caution is dill more neceffary ; becaufe the cinder is not
fo eadly or fo foon completely confumed. This fuel will
require a little difference in the management from wood
fuel, but which is eafily feen by any perfon of reflexion.
The fafe way would be to rake out all half-burnt coal
before (hutting up the doors.
If we ufe raw pit-coal, great care is neceffary to
prevent the accumulation of foot in the upper part of
the dove. It is an inacceffible place for the chimney-
fweep ; and if we attempt to burn it out, we run a great
rifle of fplitting that part of the ftove which is the mod
(lightly condrudled. It is advifable therefore to burn
it away every day, by giving a brifk draught with an
open door for five minutes. With wood or coak there
is no danger.
It will not be improper in this place to give fome in-
ftrmdions for the condruftion of doves for warming feve-
ral floors in a great manufactory, fuch as a cotton-mill,
or a public library or mufeum.
In fuch dtuations we think cleanlinefs, wholefomenefs,
and fweetnefs of air, no lefs neceffary than in the draw¬
ing room of a man of opulence. We therefore recom¬
mend the brick-dove in preference to the iron one ; and
though it would not be the bed or mod economical
praftice to heat it but once a-day, and we {hould rather
prefer the German praCtice of condant feeding, we dill
think it highly proper to limit the heat to a very mode¬
rate degree, and employ a large furface.
If the difpodtion of the rooms allows us the conve-
niency of a thick party-wall, we would place the dove
in the middle of this wall, in an arch which pierces
through the wall. Immediately above this arch we
wcnld carry up a very wide chimney through the whole
height. This chimney mud have a paffage opening
si s T O
into each floor cn both fides, which may be very sccu- Stove,
rately (hut up by a door. The dove being fet up under
the arch, it mud have a pipe communicating with its
due, and rifing up through this chimney. Could an
earthen pipe be properly fupported, and fecured from
fplitting by hoops, we diould prefer it for the realbns
already given. But as this is perhaps expeCIing too
much, we mud admit the ufe of a cad iron pipe. This
is the real chimney or due of the dove, and mud be of
as great diameter as poffible, that it may ad, by an ex-
tenbve furface, all the way up.
The dove dands under the arch in the wall 5 but the
air that is warmed by its furface would efcape on both
ddes, and would be expended in that dngle floor. To
prevent this, the dove mud be inclofed in a cafe : this
may be of brick-work, at the didance of two or three
inches from the dove all round. It mud be well drut
in above, and at the foundation mud have a row of fmall
holes to admit the air all around it. This air will then
be warmed over the whole fpace between the dove and
the cafe, pafs up the chimney, and there receive addi¬
tional heat from the flue-pipe which is in the middle.
Great care mud be taken that the fire-place door have
no communication with the fpace between the dove and
its cafe, but be inclofed in a mouth-piece which comes
through the cafe, and opens into the feeding room.
Thus all the air which goes‘up to the rooms will be
pure and wholefome, provided we take care that every
thing be kept clean and fweet about the air-holes below.
Obferve that thofe air-holes which are near the furnace
door mud be inclofed in a wooden trunk which takes
in its air at fome didance from this door ; for dnee the
current between the dove and cafe may be almod as great
as the current within the dove (nay, when a puff of wind
beats down the chimney, it may even exceed it), there
is a rifk of fome vitiated air and fmoke being drawn into
the cafe.
If the dove cannot be placed in the arch of a party-
wall, it may be fet adjoining to a fide or outer wall,
and furnidied with a cafe, a large chimney, and a flue-
pipe, in the fame manner. But in this cafe a great
deal of heat is waded on this outer wall, and carried off
by the external air. In this dtuation we would recom¬
mend to line that part of the wall which is behind the
dove (at two or three inches didance), and the whole
of the chimney, with plader on laths. Thefe diould be
nailed on battens properly fadened on the wall, leaving
a fpace of an inch between the laths and the wall. The
plader diould be of the mod fpungy kind, having in it a
quantity of clay in powder indead of the full proportion
of fand. Horfe-dung, wafhed with water and drained
through coarfe flannel, leaves a great portion of unaffi-
milated vegetable fibre, which will mix very intimately
in the plader, and make it a fubdance very unfit for con¬
ducing heat. There is no danger of catching fire by this
lining. We have feen a mod tremendous fire rajje for
three hours, in contaft with a partition of lath and
plader (on the plader-dde however), without difcolour-
ing the thin laths on the other dde. We once faw a
cottage chimney on fire, and burn till the foot was con-
fumed. This chimney was nothing but a pipe of a foot
wide, made of laths, and pladered on the infide and
outfide ; and it paffed through a thatched roof. We
therefore recommend this in place of the brick-cafe for *
inclofing the dove. It would fave heat 3 and as it might
be
S T O [ 736 1 S T O
Stove, be made in pieces on detached frames, which could be
joined by iron ftraps and hinges, any part of the ilove
could be laid open for repaiis at pleafure.
We have no helitation in faying that a ftove conftruc-
ted in this manner would be greatly fuperior in power
to any we have feen, and would be free from many of
their difgufting defefts. We beg leave therefore to in¬
troduce here the defeription of one which was to have
been erefted in one of the churches of the city of Edin¬
burgh.
^lS- 4* Fig. 4. is a fketch of the plan of the church contained
in the parallelogram AFED. P marks the place of the
pulpit, and LMNO the front of the galleries. Thefe
are carried back to the fide-walls AB and DC. But at
the end oppofite to the pulpit they do not reach fo far,
but leave a fpace BFEC about 12 feet wide. Below
the back of the galleries, on each fide, there is a paf-
fage ABGH, KICD, feparated from the feated part
of the church by partitions which reach from the flo@r
to the galleries, fo that the fpace HGIK is completely
flmt in. The church is an ancient Gothic building, of
a light and airy ftrufture, having two rows of large win¬
dows above the arcades, and a fpacious window in the
eaft end above the pulpit. The congregation complain
of a cold air, which they feel pouring down upon their
heads. This is more particularly felt by thofe fitting in
the fronts of the galleries. We imagine that this arifes
jehiefly from the extenfive furface of the upper row of
windows, and of the cold ftone-walls above, ■which robs
the air of its heat as it glides up along the fides of the
church. It becomes heavier by collapfing, and in this
Hate defeends in the middle of the church.
The ftove S is placed againft the middle of the weft
wall at the diftance of a few inches, and is completely
inclofed in a cafe of lath and plafter. The vent, which
is to carry off the fmoke and burnt air, is conveyed up
or along the wTall, and through the roof or fide-wall,
but without any communication with the cafe. In like
manner the fire-place door is open to the paffage, with¬
out communicating with the cafe j and care is taken that
the holes which admit the air into the cafe are fo dif-
pofed that they fliall run no rifts, of drawing in any air
from the fire-place door.
From the top of this cafe proceed two trunks £), R,
each of which is two feet broad and fix inches deep,
coated within and without with the moft fpungy plafter
that can be compofed. For this purpofe we ftiould re¬
commend a compofition of powdered charcoal and as
much clay and quicklime as will give it a very flight co«
hefion. We know that a piece of this may be held in
the hand, without inconvenience, within an inch of where
it is of a glowing red heat.—Thefe trunks open into
another trunk XVTYZ, which ranges along the parti¬
tion immediately under the galleries, and may be form¬
ed externally into a corniche, a little maflive indeed, but
not unfightly in a building of this ftyle. This trunk is
coated in the fame manner. It has feveral openings
//, a, &c. which have Aiders that can be drawn afide by
means of handles acceflible from the outer paffage.—At
the extremities X and Z of this trunk are two perpen¬
dicular trunks which come up through the galleries, and
are continued to a confiderable height. At their junc¬
tion with the horizontal trunk are two doors large
enough to admit a lamp. Each perpendicular trunk has
a-lfd a valve by which it can be completely flopped.
I
The ftove is managed as follows: Early in the morn- Store,
ing the fuperintendant ftiuts all the Aiders, and fets a ^
lamp (burning) in each of the trunks X and Z, and
ftiuts the doors. He then puts on and kindles the fire
in the ftove, and manages it either in the Ruffian or
German method. Perhaps the latter is preferable, as
being liable to feweft accidents from miftake or negkdt.
The lamps fet in the lower ends of the upright trunks
prefently warm them, and produce a current of air up¬
wards. This muft be fupplied by the horizontal trunk,
which muft take it from the cafe round the ftove. Thus
a current is begun in the direftion we wifti. By and
by the air in the cafe acquires heat from the ftove, and
the current becomes extremely briftc. When the ma¬
nager perceives this, he removes the lamps, ftiuts the
valves, and opens the holes a, a, &c. beginning with
the moft remote, and proceeding Aowly towards the
ftove from each extremity of the horizontal branches.
The heated air now iffues by thefe holes, glides along
the ceiling below the galleries, and efcapes, by rifing
up along the fronts of the galleries, and will be fenfibly
felt by thofe fitting there, coming on their faces with a
gentle warmth. It will then rife (in great part) ftraight
up, while fome of it will glide backwards, to the com¬
fort of thofe who fit behind.
The propriety of Aiutting the valves of the _ upright
trunks is evident. If they wTere left open, no air would
come out by the holes <7, a, &c.; but, on the contrary,
the air would go in at thefe holes to fupply the current,
and the ftove be rendered ufelefs. The air delivered by
thefe holes will keep clofe to the ceiling, and will not,
as we imagine, incommode thofe who fit below the gal¬
leries. But if it Ihould be found to render thefe parts
too warm, holes may be pierced through the ceiling,
by which it will rife among the people above, and muft
be very comfortable. It wdll require the careful atten¬
tion of fome intelligent perfon to bring all this into a
proper train at firft, by finding the proper apertures of
the different holes, fo as to render the heat equable
through the whole fpace. But this being once afeertain-
ed the difficulty is over.
The air trunks muft be very capacious, but may be
contrafted towards the extremities as their lateral dif-
charges diminifh ; and the row of holes which admit
the air to the cafe round the ftove muft be fully able to
fupply them.
It muft be obferved, that in this conftru&ion the
afcenfional force is but fmall. It is only the height ot
a fliort column of wTarm air from the ground to the gal¬
leries. At firft indeed it is great, having the unlimited
height of the perpendicular trunks at X and Z j but
during the ufe of the ftove it is reduced to nine or ten
feet. It is neceffary, therefore, that the ftove be highly
heated, perhaps confiderably beyond the Ruffian prac¬
tice, but yet inferior to the heat of the German iron
ftoves. But ftill we ftrongly recommend the brick or
pottery ftoves, on account of the wholefome fweetnefs of
the air which they furnifti and w7e are certain that a
ftove of moderate dimenfions, eight feet long, for jn-
ftance, by eight feet high, will be fufficient for warming
a church holding 1200 or 1500 people. If the. ftove
could be placed lower, which in many fituations is very
pradlicable, its effefl would be proportionally greater,
becaufe all depends on the rapidity of the current.
When we are limited in height, we muft extend the
. ftove
STOVE.
I'I/m |>N
Stove.
S T O [ 737 1 S T o
ftove fo much the more in length, and make the air
trunks more capacious. Thefe and many other circum-
ftances of local modification muft be attended to by the
erector of the flove •, and without the judicious attention
of an intelligent artift, we may expect nothing but dif-
appointment. It is hardly poflible to give initrudtions
fuitcd to every fituation j but a careful attention to the
general principle which determines the afcenfional force
will free the artilt from any great nfk of failure.
We may fay the fame thing of doves for conferva-,
tones, hot-houfes, hot walls, &c. and can hardly add
any thing of confequence to what we have already faid
on thefe heads in the article Pneumatics.
We muft not, however, difmiis the fubject without
taking notice of the very fuectous projefts which have
been frequently offered for drying malt by itoves. Many
of thefe are to be feen in the publications of the Aca¬
demies of Stockholm, Upfd, Copenhagen ; and feme
have been eredted in this kingdom, but they have not
been found to anfwer.
We apprehend that they cannot anfwer. To dry
malt, and make it fit for the ales and beers for which
this iiland is fo famous, it is by no means enough that
we give it a proper and an equable fupply of heat.—
This alone would bake it and make it flinty, caufing
the moiffure to penetrate the mealy particles of the grain ;
and, by completely diffolving the foluble parts, would
render each, kernel an uniform mafs, which would dry
into a flinty grain, breaking like a piece of glafs.—A
grain of malt is not an inert pulp. It is a SEED, in an
a&ive ftate, growing, and of an organ;zed flrufture.
We w’ifir to flop it in this Hate, and kill it, not by
heating it, but by abftra&ing its moiflure. We thus
leave it in its granulated or organized form, fpungy, and
fit for imbibing water in the mafh tub, without running
into a pafte.
To accompiifh thefe purpofes, the conftru£tion of our
malt kilns feems very well adapted. The kiln is the
only flue of the furnace, and a copious current of air is
formed through among the grains, carrying off uath it
the water which is evaporating by the heat. But this
evaporation, being chiefly in confequence of the vapour
being immediately diffolved by the pafling air, will flop
as foon as the current of air flops. This current has to
make its way through moift grain, laid in a pretty thick
bed, and matted together. Some force, therefore, is
neceffary to drive it through. This is furniflied by the
draught of the kiln. Subftituting a ftove, immediate¬
ly applied to the malt, will not have this effect. The
only way in which we think this can be done different
from the prefent, is to have a horizontal flue, as has
been propofed in thefe projects, fpread out at a fmall
diftance below the grate on which the malt is laid, and
to cover the whole with a high dome, like a glafs-houfe
dome. This being filled with a tall column of hot air,
and having no paffage into it but through the malt,
would produce the current which we want. We are
convinced that this will make much lefs fuel ferve $ but
we are by no means certain that the fulphureous and
carbonic acid which accompanies the air in our common
kiln is not a neceffary or a ufeful ingredient in the pro-
cefs. It is well known that different coaks, cinders, or
charcoals, impart different qualities to the malts, and
are preferred each for its own purpofe.
A ftove conflrufted on fimilar principles, but compo-
Vol. XIX. Part II.
fed of very different materials, has been lately erefted
in feveial of the churches m Edinburgh. This ftove,
which is formed entirely of calt iron, may be confidered
as a double ftove, an outei cale, and a furnace or inner
ftove. The fuel is burnt in the inner ftove j and the
fmoke produced during the procefs of combuftion, is
carried off by a chimney, which paffes through the top
of the outer itove, and is conveyed to the ouifide of the
building. The outer cafe includes not only the furnace
or inner ftove, but alfo a confiderable fpace, occupied
by the air of the atmolpheve, which is freely admitted
through a number of openings placed around it ; and
when any current of air is produced, it paffes off from
the fpace between the outer cafe and inner ftove, and is
conveyed by tubes through the body of the apartment.
But we lhall firft deferibe the different parts of which
the ftove is compofed, after which we fhall be better
able to urtderftand its mode of operation.
Fig. 5. exhibits a perfpedtive view of this ftove. AB
is the body, which is about three feet high, and of a
circular form. BC is a fquare pedeftal on which the
ftove is placed, and which contains the afh pit DD.
The height of the pedeftal is about a foot, and it is
nearly infulated by refting on the fpherical fupports a <sr,
alfo of caft iron. EEE are openings in front of the
alh pit through which the air enters to fupport the com-
buftion. Thefe openings can be enlarged or diminifhed,
or opened and fhut at pleafure. FF is the door of the
furnace through which the fuel is introduced. This
door is attached to the inner furnace, and is double. It
is one foot broad, and 11 inches high. GG is the
chimney, which paifes from the furnace within, through
the outer cafe, and conveys the fmoke out of the build¬
ing. HH are openings in the outer cafe, and are eight
in number, through which the air enters, and being
heated, is greatly rarified, and p; ffes off through the
funnel or pipe HU. This pipe communicates only with
the outer ftove, and being thut at the end K, the air
rufhes out from the fmall tubes LL, inferted into the
fide of the pipe I1II, and thus mixes with the cold
air of the church. The diameter of the outer cafe at
the bottom is about two feet, and the diameter of the
furnace within is about 16 inches.
Fig. 6. is a fe&ion of the ftove. AB is the outer cafe,
from which paffes off the pipe or funnel CGC, by which
the heated air is conveyed through the church. DD i&
the furnace in the infide, in which the fuel is burnt,
and EEE is the chimney or funnel which conveys the
fmoke from the inner furnace out of the building. It
paffes through the outer ftove AB at F.
Fig. 7. is a plan of this ftove. AB is the pedeftal
on which it refts, and which contains the afh pit. CC
is the outer cafe, and DD is the furnace within, in
which are feen the tranfverfe bars which fupport the
fuel.
The length of the body of the church, in which two
•ftoves of the form and dimenfions now deferibed are
ere&ed, is about 60 feet, and the breadth is about 45
feet. The tubes IIII are conveyed along the lower
edge of the gallery, about half the length of the church.
The fires are lighted up about four or five o’clock on
the Sunday morning, during the earlier part of the cold
feafon ; but as the feafon advances, it is ufual to light
them up the night before. From this time till the con¬
gregation affemble for the afternoon fervice, the furnaces
5 A are
Stove.
S T O [ 738 ] S T O
Stove, are kept conftantly fapplied with fuel. Ey this manage-
xnent the air in the church is kept comfortably warm
during the coldeft feafon of the year.
Thefe ftoves, it appears to us, are fufceptible of feme
improvement, both in their conftruftion and in the
places in which they are ere&ed. With regard to the
firft circumftance, an external coating of plafter work,
or of the fame kind of materials as are ufed for coating
the infide of chemical furnaces, would be of fome ufe in
preventing an unneceffary watte of heat, as well as the
difagreeable fmell which is fornetimes complained of,
and which is fuppofed to arife from the combuftion of
light bodies floating in the air and drawn by the current
to the heated metal ; and with regard to the laft, viz.
the places in which they are ere&ed, it is perfedlly ob¬
vious that they ought to be as completely infulated as
poffible, and particularly ought not to communicate
with any body which is a good condudtor of heat. Some
of the ftoves erefted in the churches of Edinburgh,
which we have examined, are faulty in this refpeft.
One in particular is placed in clofe contaft with a gable
wall.
The quantity of coals confumed in two of thefe ftoves
in one of the churches of Edinburgh during the courfe
of a feafon, we have been informed, amounts to about
five carts of 12 cwt. each ; fo that at the Edinburgh
prices of coal, the expence for fuel for heating one of
the churches is about 50 (hillings. This being added
to the expences of attendance, includes the whole ex¬
penditure, befides fome occafional repairs which are re¬
quired in heating a church of the above dimenfions.
The following is the defcription of an improved (love
by Mr Field of Newman Street London, in which, it is
Hated by the author, the various advantages of heating,
boiling, (teaming, evaporating, drying, ventilating, &c.
are united ; fome of which we (hall detail in his own
words.
“ Fig. 8. reprefents a longitudinal fe£tion of the ftove,
(bowing the courfe of the air from its entrance into the
flues of the ftove at A, to its entrance into the upper
chamber of the ftove at B 5 and alfo the courfe of the
fmoke from the fire-place at C, till it efcapes from the
ftove at D. E, E, are tka doors or openings of the fire¬
place and a(h-hole.
“ Fig. 9. is a fimilar leftion at right angles with the
above, exhibiting the courfe of the air through the cham¬
bers of the ftove, from its entrance into the chamber N°
1. at E to its entrance beneath the fire-place at F. This
figure alfo (hows fe&ions of the flues, with the divifions
through which the air and fmoke pafsfeparately, thefmoke-
fiue in the centre, and the air-flues on each fide. G, G,
are doors and openings through which the articles to be
dried are introduced into the chambers.
“ When the fire is lighted, and the doors of the cham¬
bers, alb hole, and fire-place, clofed, the air by which the
fire is fupplied enters at A, fig 8. pafies through the air-
flues a, a, a, a, enters the upper chamber at B, traverfes
and defcends through the chambers N° 1, 2, 3, and ar¬
rives beneath the fire at F, fig. 9. Having fupplied the
fire with oxygen, it pafles through the flue with the fmoke,
and efcapes at D, heating in its protrafted courfe the cham¬
bers and air-flues.
“ As the cold air enters the (love at A, immediately
above a plate forming the top of the fire-place, and pur-
fues a fimilar route with the fire-flue, it enters the cham¬
bers very much heated and rarefied. Hence any moift Stow,
fubftance placed in the chambers evaporates in confe- Stour-
quence, not only of the heated flues circulating round , bridgTj
them, but of a dream ol warm rarefied air, which, while
it continually raifes evaporation, as continually bears a-
way the exhaled moifture in its paffage to the fire, thus
imitating the gradual and efficacious plan of nature in
drying by the fun and air. While thefe effects are tak¬
ing place within the ftove, part of the air which enters
at A, fig. 8. and 9. paffes through air-flues on the other
fide of the fire-flue, purfues a parallel courfe with the firft,
and gives out a current of warm air to the room at an
aperture LI. This effed may be obtained in a much
higher degree, if the doors of the chambers and affi-hole
are opened : ffiould the hand or face be then brought
near, they w'ould be fanned with a ftream of warm air,
efpecially from the upper chamber.
“ By means of this ftove 1 have evaporated milk to
drynefs, without burning or difcolouring it; and have
dried cherries, plums, and other fruits, fo as to imitate
thofe which are received from abroad. I have repeat¬
edly dried colours and the molt delicate fubftances with¬
out the flighted injury, even though the operation pro¬
ceeded quickly.
“ The height of the ftove is about five feet and a half ^
its diameter two feet and a half, and that of the flues four
inches. The external part is conftru&ed of brick, and
the internal parts of thin Ryegate or fire-ftone, except
the top of the fire-place, which is a plate of caft iron.
Were it to be wffiolly formed of iron, its efi’efts would
neceflarily be more powerful.
“ Fig. 10. reprefents an extenfion of the plan, in which
ftoves of this kind may be advantageoufly connefted with
one or more furnaces for chemical or other ufes. The
fire-place, brought out, either in front or on one fide, by
the prefent pofitions of its crown I, forms a reverbera¬
tory furnace, or will make a fand-bath by reverfing it.
“ The fpace occupied by the fire-place in fig. 8. may
in this be converted into apartments for evaporating fub¬
ftances, or occafionally for cooling them by an opening
at K to admit cold air, while the warm air of the ftove
is excluded by a regifter or door. The dotted lines (how
the manner in which a fecond furnace may be connefted
by an opening into the flue at L.
“ In addition to the ufes already pointed cut, this
ftove would probably be found extremely ferviceable in
drying japanned goods, and confirming the noxious fumes
and gas which arile from the oil cfhd varniflr ufed in this
bufinefs.
“ Since the ftove is not limited to any certain dimen¬
fions, it might be adapted to the drying of malt and
hops, perhaps of herbs, corn, and feeds generally. It
might alfo be accommodated to the purpofes of the fugar-
bakers, connected with the great fires they employ for
their boilers. It has been drown to be ufeful in the con-
fe&ioners art, and probably it may be equally fo in bak¬
ing bifcuits for the navy •, nor lefs fo in drying linen for
the laundrefs, dyer, calico-printer, and bleacher. I have
myfelf found it well accommodated for a chemical elabo-
ratory * Phil-
STOURBRIDGE, or Sturbich, the name of aV(Jh
field near Cambridge, noted for its famous fair kept an¬
nually on the 7111 of September, ai d which continues
for a fortnight. The commodities are, horfes, hops,
iron, wool, leather, cheefe, &c. This place is alfo
noted
S T O [73
noted for an excellent fpecies of clay capable of refill¬
ing an intenfe heat. It is ufed in making pots for
glafs-houfes, fire-bricks, &c.; and is fold at an high
price. . n
STOW, the name of a market-town m Glouceiter-
fl.ire in England, lituated in W. Long. X. 50. N. Lat.
51. 54, It is alfo the name of a fine leat of the mar¬
quis of Buckingham in Buckinghamfliire. Here are the
bell gardens in England, adorned with bulls, llatues,
obelilks, pavilions, and temples. It is two miles from
the town of Buckingham.
STOW, John, the induftrious hiflorian, fon of T homas
Stow merchant-taylor of St Michael’s, Cornhill, in
London, was born about the year I525' Of the early
part of his life we know very little, except that he wras
bred to his father’s bufinefs, which in the year 1 560 he
relinquilhed, devoting himfelf entirely to the Itudy of
our ancient hitlorians, chronicles, annals, charters, re-
gifters, and records. Of thefe he made a confideiable
colleftion, travelling for that purpole to different parts
of the kingdom, and tranfcribing fuch manufcripts as he
could not purchafe. But this profefTion of an antiquary
being attended with no prefent emolument, he was ob¬
liged for fubfiftence to return to his trade. It happen¬
ed, however, that his talents and necefiities were made
known to Dr Parker archbilhop of Canterbury 5 who
being himfelf an antiquary, encouraged and enabled Mr
Stow to profecute his darling ftudy. In thofe times of
perfecution, though Elizabeth was then upon the throne,
honell John Stow did not efcape danger. His collection
of Popifh records was deemed caufe of fufpicion. His
younger brother Thomas preferred no lefs than 140 ar¬
ticles agamft him before the ecclefiaftical commifiion j
but the proof being infufficient, he was acquitted. In
1565 he firlt publifhed his Summary of the Chronicles
of England. About the year 1584 he began his Sur¬
vey of London. In 1585 he was one co^"
leClors for a great mutter of Limetlreet ward : in the
fame year he petitioned the corporation of London to
betfow on him the benefit of two freemen, to enable
him to publifh his furvey ; and in 1589 he petitioned
again for a penfion. \Vhether he fucceeded, is not
known. He was principally concerned in the fecond
edition of Hclinfhed’s chronicle, publithed in 1587. He
alfo correfted, and twice augmented, Chaucer’s works,
publilhed in 1 i;6i and in 1597. His furvey oi London
was firft published in 1598. To thefe laborious works
he would have added his large Chronicle, or Hntory of
England ; but he lived only to publifh an abftraCt of it,
under the title of Flores Hiftoriarum. The folio volume,
which wras printed after his death, with the title of Stow s
Chronicle, was taken from his papers by. Edmund Howes.
Having thus fpent his life and fortune in thefe laborious
purfuits, he was at latt obliged to folicit the charitable
and wTell difpofed for relief. I* or this purpofe, King
James I. granted him, in 1603, a brief, which was re¬
newed in 1604, authorizing him to colleCt in churches
the benefaCtions of his fellow-citizens. He died in A-
pril 160^, aged 80 •, and wras buried in his parith church
of St Andrew’s, Underfhaft, where his widow ereCted a
decent monument to his memory. John Stow was a
mod indefatigable antiquarian, a faithful hittorian, and
an hone It man.
STOWMARKET, a town of Suffolk, in England,
9 ] STB.
fituated in E. Long. x. 6. N. Lat. 52. 16. It is a Stowage
large handfome place, fituated between the branches of Str”bo_
the rivers Gypping and Orwell, and is remarkable for
having the belt cherries in England.
STOWAGE, the general difpofition of the feveral
materials contained in a (hip’s hold, with regard to their
figure, magnitude, or folidity.
In the (towage of different articles, as ballad, calks,
cafes, bales, and boxes, there are feveral general rules
to be obferved, according to the circumdances or qua¬
lities of thofe materials. The calks which contain any
liquid are, according to the fea phrafe, to be hung-np
and hilge-free, i. e. clofely wedged up in an horizontal,
pofition, and reding on their quarters : io that the bil¬
ges where they are thicked being entirely tree all round,
cannot rub againd each other by the motion of the ve.-
fel. Dry goods, or fuch'as may be damaged by the
water, are to be carefully inclofed in calks, bales, cafes,
or wrappers j and wedged off from the bottom and fictes
of the (hip, as well as from the bow, mads, and pump-
well. Due attention mud likewife be had to their dif¬
pofition with regard to each other, and to tne trim and
centre of gravity of the Ihip } lo that the heavied may
always be neared the keel, and the lighted gradually
above them.
STRABISMUS, Iquinting. See Medicine Index.
STRABO, a celebrated Greek geographer, philofo-
pher, and hidorian, was born at Amalia, and was de-
feended from a family fettled at Gnoflus in Crete. He
was the difciple of Xenarchus, a Peripatetic philofopher,
and at length attached himfelf to the Stoics. He con-
trafted a drift friendlhip with Cornelius Gallus, gover¬
nor of Egypt, and travelled into feveral countries to 00-
ferve the'fituation of places, and the cudoms of nations.
He flouridied under Auguitus, and died under Tiberius
about the year 25, in a very advanced age.—He com-
pofed feveral works, all of which are lod except his Geo¬
graphy in 17 books; which are judly edeemed very pre¬
cious remains of antiquity. I he two fird books are em¬
ployed in diowing, that the Itudy of geograpny is not
only worthy of, but even neceffary to, a philofopher. j
the third deferibes Spain •, the fourth, Gaul and the Bri¬
tannic ifles; the fifth and fixth, Italy and the adjacent
illes 5 the feventh, which is imperfeft at the end, Ger¬
many, the countries of the Getse and Illyrii, laurica
Cherfonefus, and Epirus j the eighth, ninth, and tenth,
Greece with the neighbouring ides ; the four following,
Afia within Mount Taurus1* the fifteenth and fixteenth,
Alia without Taurus, India, Perfia, Syria, Arabia * and
the feventeenth, Egypt, ^Ethiopia, Carthage, and other
places of Africa. Strabo’s work was publilhed with a
Latin verfion by Xylander, and notes by Ifaac Cafaubon,
(or rather by Henry Scrirnzeer, from whom Cafaubon
chiefly dole them), at Paris, 1620., in folio. But the
bed edition is that of Amderdam in 1707* lwo vo“
lumes folio, by the learned Theodore Janfonius ab Al-
melooveen, with the entire notes of Xylander, Cafau¬
bon, Meurfius, Cluver, Holdenius, Salmafius, Bochart,
Ez. Spanheim, Cellarius, and others. To this edition
is fubjoined the Chrejlomathice, or epitome of Strabo *
which according to Mr Dodwell, who has written a
very elaborate and learned differtation about it, was
made by feme unknown perfon • between the years of
Chrid 676 and 996. it has been found of fome ufe,
c A 2 not
Strata,
Strahan.
S T R [ 740
not only in helping to corre& the original, but in fup-
_ in fome meafure the defea in the 1'eventh book.
Mr Dodwell’s dtfiertation is prefixed to this edition.
S i RADA, Famianus, a very ingenious and learned
Jefuit, was born at Rome in the latter end of the 16th
century, and taught rhetoric there, in a public manner,
for fifteen years. He rvrote feveral pieces upon the art
of oratory, and publilhed fome orations with a view of
illuftrating by example what he had inculcated by pre¬
cept. But his Prolvjiones Academicce and his Hi/loria
de Be/to Be/gico are the works which raifed his reputa¬
tion, and have preferved his memory. His hiflory of
the war of Flanders was publifiied at Rome; the firft
decao in 1640, the fecond in 1647 ; the whole extend-
ing ftonn the death of Charles V. which happened in
to year 1590. It is written in good Latin,
as all allow; but its merit in other refpedls has been
varioufly determined. His Prolujiones Academic# (Low
great ingenuity, and a maflerly {kill in claflical litera¬
ture $ that prolufion efpecially in w'hich he introduces
Lucan, Lucretius, Claudian, Ovid, Statius, and Virgil,
each of them verfifying according to his owm ftrain.
They have been often printed. We know not the year
of Strada’s birth or of his death.
S TRAHAN, William, an eminent printer, w'as
born at Edinburgh in the year 1715. His father, who
had a finally appointment in the cuftoms, gave his fon
the education which every one of decent rank then
received in a country where the avenues to learning
were eafy, and open to men of the molt moderate cir-
cumflances. After having pafled through the tuition
of a grammar fchool, he was put apprentice to a printer j
and when a very young man, removed to a wider fphere
in that line of bufinefs, and went to follow his trade in
London. Sober, diligent, and attentive, while his
emoluments were for fome time very fcanty, he contri¬
ved to live rather within than beyond his income; and
though he married early, and without fuch a provifion
as prudence might have looked for in the eftablifliment
of a family, he continued to thrive, and to better his
circumflances. This he would often mention as an en¬
couragement to early matrimony ; and ufed to lay, that
he never had a child born that Providence did not fend
fome increafe of income to provide for the increafe of his
houfehold. With fufficient vigour of mind, he had that
happy flow of animal fpirits that is not eafily difcouraged
by unpromifing appearances.
His abilities in his profeffion, accompanied with per-
feft integrity and unabating diligence, enabled him, af¬
ter the firft difficulties w-ere overcome, to advance with
rapid fuccefs. And he was one of the moft flourilhing
men of the trade, when, in the year 1770, he purcha¬
sed a fhare of the patent for king’s printer of Mr Eyre,
with whom he maintained the moft cordial intimacy "du¬
ring the reft of his life, Befide the emoluments arifing
from this appointment, as well as from a very extenfive
private bufinefs, he now drew largely from a field which
required fome degree of fpeculative fagacity to cultivate
on account of the great literary property which he ac¬
quired by purchafing the copy-rights of the moft cele¬
brated authors of the time. In this his liberality kept
pace with his prudence, and in fome cafes went perhaps
rather bevond it. Never had fuch rewards been given
to the labours of literary men as now were received from
S T R
him and his alTociates in thofe purchafes of copy-rights Strahan.
from authors. .
Having now attained the firft great objedt of buli-
nefs, wealth, Mr Stiahan looked wiih a ve.y allowable
ambition on the ftations ot political rank and eminence,
Politics had long occupied his adtive mind, which he
had for many yeais puriued as his iavourite amufement,
by correfponding on that fubjeft with fome of the fiiit
charsders of the age. Mr Strahan’s queries to Dr
Franklin in the year 1769, refpeaing the difcontents
of the Americans, pubhftied in the London Chronicle
of 28th July 1778, ftiow the juft conception he enter¬
tained of the important confequences of that difpute
and his anxiety as a good fubjedl to inveftigate, at that
early period, the proper means by which their grie¬
vances might be removed, and a permanent harmony
reltored between the two countries, In the year 1775
he was eleaed a member of parliament for the borough
of Malmlbury in Wiltlhire, with a very illuftrious col¬
league, the Hon. C. J. Fox } and in the fucceeding
parliament, _ for Wootton Baflet, in the fame county^
In this ftation, applying himfelf with that induftry
which was natural to him, he was a ufeful member,
and attended the houfe with a fcrupulous punauality.
His talents for bufinefs acquired the conlideration to
which they were intitled, and were not unnoticed by
the minifter.
In his political conneaion he was conftant to the
friends to whom he had firft been attached. He was
a fteady fupporter of that party who were turned out
©f adminiltration in fpring 1784, and loft his feat in
the houfe of commons by the diffolution of parliament
with wdiich that change was followed : a fituation
which he did not ftiew any defire to refume on the
return of the new parliament; arifing from a feeling
of fome decline in his health, which had rather fuffered
from the long fittings and late hours with which the
political warfare in the preceding had been attended.
Without any fixed difeafe, his ftrength vifibly declined ;
and though his fpirits furvived his ftrength, yet the vi¬
gour and activity of his mind w'ere confiderably impa-
red. Both continued gradually to decline till his death,
which happened on the 9th of July 1785 in the 71ft year
of his age.
Endued with much natural fagacity, and an attentive
obfervation of life, he owed his rife to that ftation of
opulence and refpett which he attained, rather to his
own talents and exertion, than to any accidental occur¬
rence of favourable or fortunate circumftances. His
mind was not uninformed by letters $ and from a habit
of attention to ftyle, he acquired a confiderable portion
of critical acutenefs in the difcernment of its beauties
and defeats ? In one branch of writing he particularly
excelled—:he epiftolary ; in which he not only (bowed
the precifion and clearnefs of bufinefs, but pofleffed a
neatnefs as well as a fluency of expreflion which few let¬
ter-writers have been known to furpafs. Letter-writing
was one of his favourite amufements *, and among his
correfpondents were men of fuch eminence and talents
as well repaid his endeavours to entertain them. Among
thefe, as before mentioned, was the juftly celebrated
Dr Franklin, originally a printer like Mr Strahan,
whofe friend(hip and correfpondence, notwithflanding
the difference of their fentiments in political matters,
he,
S T R r 74^ ] s T R
Strahan he continued to enjoy till his death. One of the latelt
.! letters which he received from his illuftrious and vene-
St'a’^!• rable friend contained a humorous allegory of the (tale
of politics in Britain, drawn from the profefiion of print¬
ing ; of which, though the doctor had quitted the exer-
cife, he had not forgotten the terms.
The judicious diipofition which Mr Strahan made of
his property, affords an evident proof of his good fenfe
and propriety. After providing munificently for his
widow and children, his principal itudy feerns to have
been to mitigate the afifftion of thofe (and many there
were) who would more immediately have felt his lofs,
by bequeathing them liberal annuities for their lives •,
and (recollecting that all of a profeffion are not equally
provident) he left 1000I. to the Company of Stationers,
the intereft to be divided among infirm old printers.
As the virtuous connections of the life and the heart
are always pleafing to trace,—of Mr Strahan it may
briefly be faid, that his capacity, diligence, and probi¬
ty, raifed him to the head of his profeflion. The good
humour and obliging difpofition which he owed to na¬
ture, he cultivated with care, and confirmed by habit.
His fympathelic heart beat time to the joy and forrow
of his friends. His advice was always ready to direCl
youth, and his purfe open to relieve indigence. .Living
in times not the pureft in the Englilh annals, he efcaped
unfullied through the artifices of trade and the corrup¬
tion of politics. In him a ftrong natural Cigacity, im¬
proved by an extenfive knowledge of the world, ferved
only to render refpeftable his unaffeCled fimplicity of
manners, and to make his Chrirtian philanthropy more
difcerning and ufeful. The uninterrupted health and
happinefs which accompanied him for half a century in
the capital, proves honefty to be the befl policy, tempe¬
rance the greateft luxury, and the effential duties of life
its moft agreeable amufement. In his elevated fortune,
none of his former acquaintance ever accufed him of ne-
gleCh He attained profperity without envy, enjoyed
wealth without pride, and difpenfed bounty without
oftentation.
STRAIKS, in the military art, are flrong plates of
iron, fix in number, fixed with large nails called Jlraik-
nai/ty on the circumference of a cannon-wheel, over the
joints of the fellows •, both to (Lengthen the wheel,
and to fave the fellows from wearing on hard ways or
ftreets.
STRAIN, a pain occafioned by the violent extenfion
of fome membranous or tendinous part.
STRAIN, Strcfi, in Mechanics, are terms indifcrimi-
nately ufed to exprefs the force which is excited in any
part of a machine or ftru&ure of any kind tending to
break it in that part. Thus every part of a rope is
equally {trained by the weight which it fufpends. Every
part of a pillar is equally drained by the load which it
fupports. A mill axle is equally twifted and {trained in
every part which lies between the part of the wheel ac¬
tuated by the moving power and the part which is re¬
fitted by the work to be performed. Every part of a
lever or joift is differently {trained by a force a6ting on a
diftant part.
It is evident that sve cannot make the ftruftnre fit
for its purpofe, unlefs the (Length at every part be at
leaft equal to the ftrefs laid on, or the (train excited in
that part. It is no lefs plain, that if we are ignorant
of the principles which determine this (train, 'both in in-
tenfity and direction, in relation to the magnitude and Strain
the fituation of its remote caufe, the only 1’ecurity we 11
have for fuccefs is to give to every part of the affem- Strakey
biage fuch folidity that we can leave no doubt of its fuf-
ficiency. But daily experience (hows us that this vague
fecurity is in many cafes uncertain, if we are thus igno¬
rant. In all cafes it is flovenly, unlike an artiit, attend¬
ed with ufelefs expence, and in machines is attended
with a lofs of power which is wailed in changing the
motions of a needlefs load of matter.
It muft therefore greatly tend to the improvement of
all profeflions occupied in the ereddion or employment
of fuch ftruftures, to have a diftindt notion of the (trains
to which thefe parts are expofed. Frequently, nay ge¬
nerally, thefe (trains arc not immediate, but arife from
the adtion of forces on diftant parts, by which the af-
femblage is (trained, and there is a tendency to rupture
in every part. This (train is induced on every part, and
is there modified by fixed mechanical laws. Thefe it is
our bufinefs to learn ; but our chief objedt in this invef-
tigation is to determine the (trength of materials which
it is neceflary to oppofe in every part to this (train ; and
how to oppofe this (Length in fuch a manner that it
(hall be exerted to the belt advantage. The notions of
(train and (trength therefore hardly admit of feparation $
for it is even by means of the (trength of the interme¬
diate parts that the (train is propagated to, or excited in,
the part under confideration. It is proper therefore to
confider the wdiole together under the article .527?£iVG7W
of Materials in mechanics.
STRAINING, is the clarification of a liquor, by
pafling it through a fieve or filter. The word is derived
from the French, ejireindre; which is formed from ex',
“ out of,” and fringere, “ to prefs.”
STRAIT, a narrow channel or arm of the fea, (liut
up between lands on either fide, and affording a paffage
out of one great fea into another.
There are three kinds of (traits. I. Such as join
one ocean to another. Of this kind are the (traits of
Magellan and Le Maire. 2. Thofe which join the
ocean to a gulf: the (traits of Gibraltar and Babelman-
del are of this kind, the Mediterranean and Red fea be¬
ing only large gulfs. 3. Thofe which join one gulf to
another; as the (traits of Caffa, which join the Palus
Maeotis to the Euxine or Black fea. The paffage of
(traits is commonly dangerous, on account of the rapi¬
dity and oppofite motion of currents. The moft cele¬
brated (trait in the world i-s that of Gibraltar, which is
about from 24 to 36 miles long, and from 15 to 24
broad, joining the Mediterranean fea with the Atlantic
ocean. The (traits of Magellan, difeovered in 1520
by F. Magellan, were ufed fome time as a paffage out
of the North into the South fea ; but fince the year
1616, that the (trait of Le Maire has been difeovered,
the former has been difufed ; both becaufe of its length,
which is full three hundred miles, and becaufe the navi¬
gation thereof is very dangerous, from the waves of the
North and South feas meeting in it and clafhing. The
(trait at the entrance of the Baltic is called the Sound $
that between England and France, Le pas de Calais,
or the Channel. There are alfo the (traits of Weigats,
of Jeflb, of Anian, of Davis, and Hudfon, &c.
STRAKES, or Streaks, in a (hip, the uniform
ranges of planks on the bottom and fides of a (hip, or
the continuation of planks joined to the ends of each'
other,
Strakes
II
Strange.
-S T R [ 742
other, and reaching from the ftem to the ftern-poft and
fafhion-pieces j the lowed of thefe, which is called the
^ garboard-flrcak, is let into the keel below, and into the
ftem and liern-poft. They fay alfo a fhip heels aJlrahe,
that is, hangs or inclines to one fide the quantity of a
whole plank’s breadth.
Strakes, o\\/lreh, in mining, are frames of boards
fixed on or in the ground, where they wa(h and firefs
the fmall ore in. a little ftrearn of water, hence called
Jlrahed ore.
STRALSUND, a ftrong and rich fea-port town of
Germany, in Hither Pomerania, formerly an important
trading-place. In 1678 it was forced to furrender to
the eleftor of Brandenburg, after 1800 houfes had been
burnt to afhes in one night’s time. After this the
Swedes defended it to the lail extremity •, and Chas. XII.
in 1714, came hither after his return out of Turkey. But
the thrown of Sweden not being able to hold out againft
five great powers, it was forced to fubmit in 1715. In
1720 it was rendered back to Sweden, but in a very
poor condition. It is almoft furrounded by the fea and
the lake Francen, and has a harbour feparated from the
ifie of Rugen by a narrow ftrait. It is 15 miles north-
weft of Grippfwald, and 40 north-eaft of Guftrow.
E. Long. 13. 28. N. Lat. 54. 17.
STRAMONIUM, a fpecies of plant. See Datura,
Botany Index.
STRAND {Saxori), any fhore or bank of a fea or
great river. Hence the ftreet in the weft fuburbs of
London, which lay next the fhore or bank of the
Thames, was called the Strand. An immunity from
cuftom, and all impofitions upon goods or veffelsby land
or water, was ufually expreffed by Jlrand or Jtream.
S BRANDED (from the SaxonJlrand), is when a
fhip is by tempeft, or by ill fteerage, run on ground,
and fo perilhes. Where a veffel is ftranded, juftices of
the peace, &c. ftiall command conftables near the fea-
coafts to call affiftance for the prefervation of the (hip •,
and officers of men of war are to be aiding and affifting
thereto.
STRANGE, Sir Robert, an eminent engraver,
who carried the art to great perfection in this country,
and was diftinguiffied not only as an artift, but highly
refpeCted and beloved on account of his private virtues
and domeftic habits. Modeft as he was ingenious, he
ufed to fay that the works of an artift fhould ferve for
his life and monument. His works no doubt will per¬
petuate his name whilft any tafte for the fine arts re¬
mains.
Sir Robert Strange was born in the ifland of Pomona
in Orkney, July the 14th 1721; and died at London
July the 3th 1792. He was lineally defeended from
David Strange or Strang, a younger fon of the family
of the Stranges or Strangs of Balcalky, in the county
of Fife, who fettled in Orkney at the time of the Re¬
formation. But as.there were no males remaining of the
elder branch of the Stranges of Balcafky, Sir Robert
became the male reprefentative of it, and was found by
a legal invettigadon to have a right to the armorial
bearings and every other mark of honour belonging to
that ancient family.
Pie received his claffical education at Kirkwall in
Orkney, under the care of a learned, worthy, and much
refpefted gentleman, Mr Murdoch Mackenzie, who has
jendered infinite fervice to his country by the accurate
4
]
s t R
furveys and charts lie has given of the ifiands of Orkney, Strange-
and ot the Britifir and Irith coafts.   v~—
Originally intended for the law, Mr Strange foon be¬
came tired of that profeffion, and perceived that his ge¬
nius decifively led him to the arts of drawing and en¬
graving. Por this purpofe he was introduced to the
late Mr Richard Cooper at Edinburgh, the only perfon
there who had then any tafte in that line of the fine
arts. Pie was bound with him as ar) apprentice for fix
years; during which time he made fuch progrefs in
his new profeffion, that his friends entertained the
higheft expectation of his fuccefs ; nor were they difap-
pointed.
In the year 1747 he married Ifabella, only daughter
of William Lumilden, fon of Biffiop Lumifden ; and
foon after his marriage he went to France, where with
the moft ardent application he prolecuted his ftudies,
chiefly at Paris, under the direftion of the celebrated
Le Bas, who engraved many excellent prints from the
Dutch painters. It was from Le Bas he had the firft
hint of the ufe of the inftrument commonly called the'
dry needle; but which he afterwards greatly improved
by Iris own genius, and rvhich has added fuch fuperior
beauties to his engravings.
In the year 1751 Mr Strange removed with his fa¬
mily from Edinburgh and fettled at London, where he
engraved feveral fine hiftorical prints, which jufily ac¬
quired to him great reputation. At this period hiftori¬
cal engraving had made little progrefs In Britain, and
he may be properly confidered as its father.
The admiration he always had for the works of the
great Italian painters made him long defire to vifit Ita¬
ly, the feat of the fine arts; and the farther he advan¬
ced in life, he became the more perfuaded that a jour¬
ney to that country was effential to an artift who had
the laudable ambition to excel in his profeffion. He
therefore undertook this journey in the year 1760. In
Italy he made many admirable drawings, leveral of
which he afterwards engraved. Thefe drawings are
now in the pofleffion of Lord Dundas.
Everywhere in Italy Angular marks of attention were
beftowed on Mr Strange ; not only by great perfonages,
but by the principal academies of the fine arts in that
country. He was made a member of the academies of
Rome, Florence, and Bologna, and profeflbr in the
royal academy at Parma.
To fhowT the eftimation in which his talents were held
at Rome, we cannot but record the following/anecdote.
The ceiling of the room of the Vatican library, in
which the colleflion of engravings is kept, is elegant¬
ly painted by Signor Rotfanelli. It reprefents the pro¬
grefs of engraving ; and the portraits of the moft emi¬
nent arlifts in that line are there introduced, among
which is that of our artift. Under his arm lie holds a
portfolio, on which his name is inferibed. He is the
only Britifti artift on whom this honour has been con¬
ferred.
In France, where he refided many years at different
periods, his talents likewife received every mark of at¬
tention that could be beftowed on a foreigner. He was
made a member of the royal academy of painting at
Paris.
His majefty King George III. ever attentive to the
progrefs of the fine arts in Britain, and fenfible of the
advantages of which engraving particularly has been to
this
Strange, this country, even in a commercial light ; and defirous
“ v-—' to give a mark of his royal approbation of the merit of
Mr Strange, whom he confidered as at the head of his
profeffion and the great improver of it—was gracioufly
pleafed to confer the honour of knighthood on him the
5th of January 1787.
Such was Sir Robert Strange as an artid ; nor wras he
lefs diftinguifhed by his truly amiable moral qualities,
which endeared him to all who had the happinefs to
know him.
With regard to his works, he left fifty capital plates,
ftill in good condition, which are carefully preferved in
his family. They are engraved from pitdures by the
mod celebrated painters of the Roman, Florentine,
Lombard, Venetian, and other fchools. They are hi-
ftorical, both facred and profane, poetical, allegorical.
From his earlieft eftablilhment in life, Sir Robert
carefully preferved about eighty copies of the fineft and
mod choice impreffions of each plate he engraved j
which, from length of time, have acquired a beauty,
mellow<iefs, and brilliancy,, eafier feen than defcribed.
He did this with a view of prefenting them to the pub¬
lic at a period when age (hould difable him from adding
to their number. Thefe he collefted into as many vo¬
lumes, and arranged them in the order in which they
were engraved. To each volume he prefixed two por¬
traits of himfelf, on the fame plate, the one an etching,
the other a finidred proof, from a drawing by John
Baptide Greufe. This is the lad plate which he en¬
graved 3 and is a proof that neither his eyes nor hand
tvere impaired by age. It likewife diows the ufe he.
made both of aquafortis and the graver. Each volume,
befides a dedication to the king, contains an introduc¬
tion on the progrefs of engraving, and critical remarks
on the pi (dares from which his engravings are taken.
Thefe volumes were ready to be given to the public,
when Sir Robert’s death delayed this magnificent publi¬
cation ; a publication which does fo much honour to the
artid, and to the country which gave him birth. He
died at London 5th July 1792.
The following is an authentic catalogue of his works.
Plate I. Two Heads of the author—one an etching, the
other a finifhed proof, from a drawing by John Baptide
Greufe ; 2. The Return from Market, by Wouvermans;
3. Cupid, by Vanloo ; 4. Mary Magdalen, by Guido;
Cleopatra, by the fame ; 6. The Madonna, by* the
fame; 7. The Angel Gabriel, by the fame; 8. The
Virgin, holding in her hand a book, and attended by
angels, by Carlo Maratt ; 9. The Virgin with the Child
alleep, by the fame ; 10. Liberality and Modedy, by
Guido ; 11. Apollo rewarding Merit and punithing Ar¬
rogance, bv Andrea Sacchi ; 12. The Finding of Ro¬
mulus and Remus, by Pietro da Cortona ; 13. Csefar re¬
pudiating Pompeia, by the fame ; 14. Three Children
of King Charles I. by Vandyke ; 15. Belifarius, by Sal¬
vator Rofa ; 16. St Agnes, by Dominichino ; 17. The
Judgement of Hercules, by Nicolas Pouffin ; 18. Verms
at'ired by the Graces, by Guido; 19, and 20. Judice
and Meeknefs, by Raphael; 21. The Offspring of
Love, by Guido; 22. Cup’d Sleeping, by the fame;
23. Abraham .giving up the Handmaid Hngar, by
Guercino ; 24. Edher a Suppliant before Ahafuerus,
bv the fame ; 2;. Jofeph and Potiphar’s Wife, by
Guido ; 26 Venus Blinding Cupid, .by Titian ; 27.
Venus, by the fame; 28. Danae, by the fame ; 29.
43 J st R
Portrait of King Charles I. by Vandyke ; 30. The Ma- Strange
donna, by Correggio; 31. St Ctecilia, by Raphael; 32. Straf{J
Mary Magdalen, by Guido ; 33. Our Saviour appear- ‘.11 ^ '
ing to his Mother after his Reiurreftion, by Guercino ;
34. A Mother and Child, by Parmegiano; 35. Cupid
Meditating, by Schidoni; 36. Laomeclon King of Troy
detected by Neptune and Apollo, by Salvator Rofa ;
37. The Death of Dido, by Guercino ; 38. Venus and
Adonis, by Titian ; 39. Fortune, by Guido ; 40. Cleo¬
patra, by the fame; 41. Two Children at School, by
Schidoni; 42. Mary Magdalen, by Correggio ; _ 43.
Portrait of King Charles I. attended by the marquis of
Hamilton, by Vandyke ; 44. Queen Henrietta, attend¬
ed by the Prince of Wales, and holding in her arms
the Duke of York, by the fame ; 45. Apotheofis of the
Royal Children, by Weft ; 46. The Annunciation, by*
Guido; 47. Portrait of Raphael Sancio D’Uibino, by
himfelf; 48. Sappho, by Carlo Dolci; 49. Our Saviour
afieep, by Vandyke ; 50. St John in the Defert, by
Murillo.
STRANGER, in Law, denotes a perfon who is not
privy or party to an aft. Thus a ftranger to a judge¬
ment is he to whom a judgement does not belong ; in
which fenfe the word Hands direftly oppofed to party
or privy.
STRANGLES, in Farrien/. See that article,
N° 481.
STRANGURY, a fupprefiion of urine. See Medi¬
cine Index.
STRAP, among furgeons, a fort of band ufed to
ft retch out limbs in the fatting of broken or disjointed
bones.
Strap, in a (hip, the rope which is fpliced about any
block, and made with an eye to fallen it anywhere on
occafion.
STRAPS, in the manege. The (traps of a faddle
are fmall leather (traps, nailed to the bows of the
faddle, with which we make the girths fall to the
faddle.
STRAPADO, or Strappado, a kind of military
punifbment, wherein the criminals hands being tied be¬
hind him, he is boifted up with a rope to the top of a
long piece of wood, and let fall again almoft to the
ground ; fo that, by the weight of his bpdy in the
ftiock, his arms are didocaled. Sometimes he is to un¬
dergo three ftrapadoes or more.
STRASBURG, an ancient, large, handfome, and
ftrong city of France, in Alface, with a population of
40,000. It contains about 200 ftreets, part of which
are very narrow, and moft of the houfes are built after
the ancient tafte. However, there are a great number
of handfome buildings, fuch as the hotel of the marlhal
of France, who is commander of the city ; the hotel of
the cardinal of Rouen, the biihop’s palace, the Jefuits
college, the royal hofpital, the hotel of Hftle-Darm-
ftadt, the arfenal, the town-houfe, and the cathedral.
It has a wooden bridge over the Rhine, which is thought
to be one of the fineft in Europe ; as is likewife the ca¬
thedral church, whole tower is the handfomeft in Ger¬
many, and the clock is greatly admired by all travel¬
lers. Some look upon it as one of the wonders of the
world, and the fteeple is allowed to be the higheft in
Europe. The clock not only {hows the hours of the
day, but the motion of the fun, moon, and ftars. A--'
mong other things there is an angel, which turns an
hour-
S T R
S^. Hour-glafs every hour j and the twelve apoftles proclaim
t—l ^ noon, by each ol them ftriking a blow with a hammer
on a bell. There is likewife a cock, which is a piece of
clock-work, that crows every hour. There are 700
Heps up to the tower or fteeple, it being 500 feet high.
It was a free and imperial city ; but the king of France
became mafter of it in 1681, and greatly augmented
the fortifications, though before it had 365 cannon.
The inhabitants w-ere formerly Proteftants, and carried
on a great trade ; but moft of them have been obliged
to embrace the Romilh fuperftition, though there is itill
a fort of toleration. Such was Strafburg before the
French revolution ; what it is now we have not leifure
to inquire. It is feated on the river 111, 55 miles north
of Bafil, 112 fouth-weft of Mentz, and 255 eaft of
Paris. E. Long. 7. 51. N. Lat. 48. 35.
STRATA, in Natural Ht/iory, the leveral beds or
layers of different matters whereof the earth is compofed.
See Geology.
The ftrata whereof the earth is compofed are fo very
different in different countries, that it is impoffible to
Try any thing concerning them that may be generally
applicable : and indeed the depths to which we can pe¬
netrate are fo fmall, that only a very few can be known
to us at any rate ; thofe that lie near the centre, or even
a great way from it, being for ever hid. One reafon
why we cannot penetrate to any great depth is, that as
we go down the air becomes foul, loaded with perni¬
cious vapours, inflammable air, fixed air, &c. which de-
ftroy the miners, and there is no poflibility of going on.
In many places, however, thefe vapours become perni¬
cious much fooner than in others, particularly w'here
fulphureous minerals abound, as in mines of metal, coal,
&c.
But however great differences there may be among
the under ftrata, the upper one is in fome refpe&s the
fame all over the globe, at leaft in this refpeft, that
it is fit for the fupport of vegetables, which the others
are not, without long expofure to the air. Properly
fpeaking, indeed, the upper ftratum of the earth all
round, is compofed of the pure vegetable mold, though
in many places it is mixed with large quantities of
other ftrata, as clay, fand, gravel, &c. ; and hence pro¬
ceed the differences of foils fo well known to thofe who
praftife agriculture.
It has been fuppofed, by fome naturalifts, that the
different ftrata of which the earth is compofed were
originally formed at the creation, and have continued
in a manner immutable ever fmce : But this cannot pof-
fibly have been the cafe, fince we find that many of the
ftrata are ftrangely intermixed with each other $ the
bones of animals both marine and terreftrial are fre¬
quently found at great depths in the earth j beds of
oyfter-lhells are found of immenfe extent in feverA coun¬
tries ; and concerning thefe and other (hell-fifli, it is re¬
markable, that they are generally found much farther
from the furface than the bones or teeth either of ma¬
rine or terrcftrial animals. Neither are the (hells or
other remains of filh found in thofe countries adjoining
to the feas where they grow naturally, but in the moft
diftant regions. Mr Whiteliurft, in his Inquiry into the
Original State and Formation of the Earth, has given
the following account of many different kinds of ani¬
mals, whofe (hells and other remains or etwvix are found
r 744 i
S T R
in England; though at prefent the living animals are Strata,
not to oe found except in the Eaft and Weft Indies. ——y—
A Catalogue of Extraneous Fossils, flowing
where they were dug up ; aljo their native Climates.
Mojlly feleSledfrom the curious Cabinet of Mr NEIL-
SON, m King-ftreet, Red-Lion Square.
Their names, arid Places where found. Native Climates.
Chambered Nautilus. SheppyT Chinefe Ocean, and
iflands j Richmond in Surrey ; £ other Parts of that
Sherbone in Dorfetfhire,
Teeth of Sharks.
Oxfordftiire,
j ^ ULllcf JL ufl
J great fea.
7 fl
J
::s
Coajl of Guinea.
1
\Wefl
'\wejl
}E^
Indies.
Indies.
Indies.
Northamptonflrire,
Sea-Tortoise, (everal kinds; theT
Hawhjhill, Logger head,andGreen (. Wef Indies.
fpecies. Shtppy ifland, - J
Mangrove Tree Oysters. Shep- i TTr „ t ,•
py ifland, ... \;WeJl Indm.
Coxcomb Tree Oysters. Ox-
fordfliire, Gloucefterfhire, Dor-
fetlhire, and Hanover,
Vertebra*: PaLATESo/V/if Or-i t- „ 7 ttt,
bes. Sheppy ifland, and many ( ^ ln-
other parts of England, - J ies%
Crocodile. Germany, Derby-'
(hire, Nottinghamfhire, Oxford-
(hire, and Yorkftiire,
Alligator’s Teeth. Oxiord-l^Eafl and Wef In-
(hire, Sheppy ifland, r \ dies.
The Banded Buccinum. Oxford-
flrire, and the Alps,
The Dipping-Snail, and Star-
Fish. Sheppy ifland,
Tail Buccinum. Sheppy ifland,
Hordel Cliff, Hampihire,
Nothing has more perplexed t.hofe who undertake to
form theories of the earth than thefe appearances. Some
have at once boldly afferted, from thefe and other phe¬
nomena, that the world is eternal. Others have had re-
courfe to the univerial deluge. Some, among whom is
the Count de Buffon, endeavour to prove that the
ocean and diy land are perpetually changing places}
that for many ages the higheft mountains have been
covered with water, in conlequence of which the ma¬
rine animals juft mentioned were generated in fuch vaft
quantities, that the waters will again cover thefe moun¬
tains, the habitable part of the earth become fea, and
the fea become dry land as before, &.c. Others have
imagined that they might be occafioned by volcanoes,
earthquakes, &c. which confound the different ftrata,
and often intermix the productions of the fea with thofe
of the dry land.
But for a view of the different ftrata fo far as they
are known ; as well as for a view of fome of the theories
which have been propofed to account for the formation
and changes of the earth, fee Geology.
Mr Forfter has given an acccum of fome of the ftra¬
ta of the South-(ea iflands, ihe fubftance of which may
be feen in the following table.
South Georgia.
I. No foil, except in a few crevices of the rocks.
3
2.
S T R [ 745 ] S T R
Strata. 2. Ponderous flate, with fome irony particles, in hori-
“ v zontal ftrata, perpendicularly interfedled with veins
of quartz.
Southern IJle q/*NEW Zealand.
1. Fine light black mould, in fome places nine inches
deep, but generally not fo much.
2. An argillaceous Tubftance, nearly related to the clafs
of Talcons, turned into earth by the aftion of the
air.
3. The fame fubftauce farther indurated, in oblique
ftrata, generally dipping to the fouth.
Easter Island.
1. Reddifh-brown dufty mould, looking as if it had
been burnt.
2. Burnt rocks, refembling flags or drofs and other
volcanic matters.
Marquesas.
1. Clay mixed with mould.
2. An earthy argillaceous fubftance mixed with tarras
and puzzolana.
Otaheite.
The fliores are coral rock, extending from the reef en¬
circling thefe ifles to the very high water-mark.
There begins the fand, formed in fome places from
fmall ftiells and rubbed pieces of coral ; but in others
the fliores are covered with blackilh fand, confiding
of the former fort mixed with black, fometimes glit¬
tering, particles of mica, and here and there fome
particles of the refractory iron ores called in Eng¬
land Skim, the ferrum micaceum of Linnaeus, and
Kall, the molybdcenumfpuma lupi of the fame author.
The plains from the fhores to the foot of the hills
are covered with a very fine thick ftratum of black
mould, mixed with the above-mentioned fand, which
the natives manure with fliells. The firft and low'er
range of hills are formed of a red ochreous earth,
fometimes fo intenfely red, that the natives ufe it to
paint their canoes and cloth. The higher hills con-
fift of a hard, compaCV, and ftiff clayey fubftance,
hardening into ftone vrhen out of the reach of the fun
and air. At the top of the valleys, along the banks
of the rivers, are large maffes of coarfe granite ftones
of various mixtures ; in one place are pillars of a
grey, folid bafaltes \ and, in feveral others, fragments
of black bafaltes.
Friendly Islands and New Hebrides.
The fame with the above.
Mallicollo.
Yellowifli clay mixed wdth common fand.
Tanna, a Volcanic IJland.
The chief ftrata here are clay mixed with aluminous
earth, interfperfed with lumps of pure chalk. The
ftrata of the clay are about fix inches, deviating very
little from the horizontal line.
New Caledonia and the adjacent JJles.
The (bores confift of (hell-fand, and particles of quartz ;
the foil in the plains a black mould mixed wdth this
Vol. XIX. Part II.
fand. The fides of the hills compofed of a yellow
ochreous clay, richly fpangled with fmall particles of
cat-filver, or a whitilh kind of daze, the mica argentea
of Linnteus. The higher parts of the hills confift
of a ftone called by the German mxwo.rigejleljlein, com¬
pofed of quartz and great lumps of the above cat-
filver. The latter is fometimes of an intenfely red or
orange colour, by means of an iron ochre.
“ From the above account, fays Mr Forfter, it ap¬
pears, I think, evidently, that all the high tropical ifles
of the South fea have been fabjeft to the adlion of vol¬
canoes. Pyritical and fulphureous fubftances, together
with a few iron-ftones, and fome veftiges of copper, are
no doubt found in feveral of them : but the mountains
of New Caledonia are the moft likely to contain the
richeft metallic veins; and the fame opinion, 1 fufpedt,
may be formed of the mountains in New Zealand.”
In the city of Modena in Italy, and for fome miles
round that place, there is the moft Angular arrange¬
ment of ftrata perhaps in the wdrole world. From the
furface of the ground to the depth of 14 feet, they meet
wTith nothing but the ruins of an ancient city. Being
come to that depth, they find paved ftreets, artificers
(hops, floors of houfes, and feveral pieces of inlaid work.
After thefe ruins they find a very folid earth, which
one would think had never been removed ; but a little
lower they find it black and marfhy, and full of briars.
Signior Ramazzini in one place found a heap of w'heat
entire at the depth of 24 feet $ in another, he found
filbert-trees with their nuts. At the depth of about
28 feet, they find a bed of chalk, about 11 feet deep,
which cuts very eafily 5 after this a bed of marftiy earth
of about two feet, mixed with ruflies, leaves, and
branches. After this bed comes another of chalk,
nearly of the fame thicknefs \ and which ends at the
depth of 42 feet. This is followed by another bed of
mar(hy earth like the former ; after which comes a new
chalk-bed, but thinner, which alfo has a rnarfhy bed
underneath it. This ends at the depth of 63 feet ;
after which they find fand mingled with fmall gravel,
and feveral marine fliells. This ftratum is ufually about
five feet deep, and underneath it is a vaft refervoir of
water. It is on account of this water that the foil Is
fo frequently dug, and the ftrata fo well known in this
part of the world. After coming to the fandy bottom
above-mentioned, the workmen pierce the ground with
a terebra or augre, when the water immediately fprings
up with great force, and fills the well to the brim.
The flow is perpetual, and neither increafes by rain,
nor decreafes by drought. Sometimes the augre meets
with great trees, which give the workmen much trouble;
they alfo fometimes fee at the bottom of thefe wells
great bones, coals, flints, and pieces of iron.
It has been afferted by fome, that the fpecific gra¬
vity of the ftrata conftantly increafed with the depth
from the furface. But Dr Leigh, in his Natural Hi-
ftory of Lancafhire, fpeaking of the coal-pits, denies
the ftrata to lie according to the laws of gravitation j
obferving, that the ftrata there are firft a bed of marie,
then free-ftone, next iron-ftone, then coal, or channel
mire, then fome other ftrata, then coal again, &c.
This determined Mr Derham to make a nicer inquiry
into the matter: accordingly, in 1712, he caufed di¬
vers places to be bored, laying the feveral ftrata by
5 B themfelves 5
S T R [ r
strata tLemfelves j and afterwards determined very carefully
Stratiotes. ^ fpecific gravity* The refult was, that in his yard
1 *-‘le ftfata were gradually fpecifically heavier and heavier
the lower and lower they went j but in another place
in his fields, he could not perceive any difference in the
fpecific gravities.
Acquainting the Royal Society therewith, their ope¬
rator Mr Haukfbee was ordered to try theftrataofa
cod pit, which he did to the depth of 30 ftrata : the
thicknefs and fpecific gravity of each whereof he gives
Vol. sxvib us in a table in the Philofophical Tranfa&ions ; and
from the whole makes this inference, that it evidently
appears the gravities of the feveral ftiata are in no
manner of order, but purely cafual, as if mixed by
chance.
Si RAPAGEM, in the art of war, any device for
deceiving and furprifing an enemy. The ancients dealt
very much in ftratagerns : the moderns wage war more
openly, and on the fquare. Frontinus has made a col¬
lection of the ancient ftratagems of war.
S1RAIEGUS, in antiquity, an officer
among the Athenians, whereof there were two chofen
yearly, to command the troops of the flate.
< Plutarch fays*, there was one chofen from out of each
tribe } but Pollux feems to fay they were chofen indif¬
ferently out of the people. The people themfelves
made the choice 5 and that on the laft day of the year,
in a place called Pnyx. The two Jlratcgi did not com¬
mand together, but took their turns day by day ; as
we find from Herodotus and Cornelius Nepos. Some¬
times indeed, a$ when a perfon was found of merit
vaftly fuperior, and exceedingly famed in war, the com¬
mand r^as given to him alone : but it was ever a rule
not to put any perfon in the office but whofe eftate was
in Attica, and who had children, that there might be
fome hoftages and fecurities for his conduct and fideli¬
ty. Conllantine the Great, befides many other privi-
leges granted to the city of Athens, honoured its
chief magiftrate with the title of Msfe Mag¬
nus Dux.
STRATH, in the Scottifh language, fignifies a long
narrow valley, with a river running along the bottom.
STRAlHEARN, a beautiful and extenfive valley
in Perth (hire, bounded on the north by the lofty ridge
of mountains called the Grampians, and on the fouth by
the Ochils, which are rounded on the tops and covered
with verdure. It is called Strathearn from the river
Earn, which runs through the middle of it from weft to
eaft for about 30 miles. On each fide of the banks of
this beautiful ftream are many villages and country-feats
diftinguiffied for romantic fituations. Were we to (ingle
out any of the villages, we would mention Crieff, which
ftands on a fine (loping ground on the north fide of the
Earn, and has been much admired by travellers for
its fitualion, and the variety, contraft, Angularity, and
beauty of the profpeft which it affords.
STRATHNAVER, a fubdivifion or diftrici of the
county of Sutherland in Scotland \ bounded on the
north by the ocean, on the eaft by Caithnefs, on the
fouth by Sutherland properly fo called, and on the weft
partly by Rofs and partly by the ocean.
STRATIOTES, Water-soldier, a genus of plants
belonging to the clafs polyandria. See Botany In-
iiex.
t<5 ] S T R
STRATO, a philofopher of Lampfacus, difciple and Strata
fucceflor in the fchool of Theophraftus, about 248 years l!
before the Chriftian era. He applied himfelf with un-^l.en^‘
common induftry to the ftudy of nature j and after the /
moft mature inveftigations, he fupported that nature was
inanimate, and that there was no god but nature. (See
PLAS’jic Nature^. He w’as appointed preceptor to Pto¬
lemy Philadelphus, who not only revered his abilities
and learning, but alfo rewarded his labours with un¬
bounded liberality. He wrote different treatifes, all
now loft.
STRAWBERRY. See Fragaria, Botany Index.
Stbattberu T-Tree. See Arbutus, Botany Index.
STRENGTH of MATERIALS, in Mechanics, is a importance
fubjefl: of fo much importance, that in a nation fo emi-of the fub-
nent as this for invention and ingenuity in all fpecies ofie<ft-
manufactures, and in particular fo dillingufthed for its
improvements in machinery of every kind, it is fome-
what Angular that no writer has treated it in the detail
which its importance and difficulty demands. The man
of fcience who vifits our great manufactories is delighted
with the ingenuity which he obferves in every part, the
innumerable inventions which come even from individual
artifans, and the determined purpofe of improvement and
refinement which he fees in every workthop. Every
cotton mill appears an academy of mechanical fcience
and mechanical invention is fpreading from thefe foun¬
tains over the whole kingdom : But the philofopher is
mortified to foe this ardent fpirit fo cramped by igno¬
rance of principle, and many of thefo original and bril¬
liant thoughts obfoured and clogged with needlefs and
even hurtful additions, and a complication of machinery
which checks improvement even by its appearance of in¬
genuity. There is nothing in which this want of foien-
tific education, this ignorance of principle, is fo frequent¬
ly obferved as in the injudicious proportion of the parts
of machines and other mechanical ftruftures j propor¬
tions and forms of parts in which the ftrength and pofi-
tion are nowifo regulated by the drains to which they
are expofed, and where repeated failures have been the
only leffons.
It cannot be othenvifo. We have no means of in-
ftru£lion, except two very (hort and abftra&ed treatifes
of the late Mr Emerfon on the ftrength of materials.
We do not recolle£l a performance in our language from
which our artifts can get information. Treatifes written
exprefsly on different branches of mechanical arts are to¬
tally filent on this, which is the bafis and only principle
of their performances. Who would imagine that Price’s
British Carpenter, the work of the firft reputation in
this country, and of which the foie aim is to teach the
carpenter to ereft folid and durable ftruflures, does not
contain one propofition or one reafon by which one form
of a thing can be fhown to be ftronger or weaker than
another ? We doubt very much if one carpenter in an
hundred can give a rcafon to convince his own mind
that a joift is ftronger when laid on its edge than when
laid on its broad fide. We fpeak in this ftrong manner
in hopes of exciting fome man of fcience to publiffi a
fyftem of inftru&ion on this fubjeft. The limits of cur
Work will not admit of a detail: but we think it necef-
fary to point out the leading principles, and to give the
traces of that fyftematic connexion by which all the
knowledge already pcffelTed of this fubjeft may be
brought
StresgtVi of
-Materials.
Strength of
materials
aril'es from
cohefion.
3
Experi¬
ments-to
alcertam it.
* See
.Birche’s
Hijtory, and
Hooke’s
Mathema¬
tical Collec¬
tions.
4 ,
Rendered
ufeful by
generaliza¬
tion.
S T R
broup-lit together and properly arranged
now attempt in as brief a manner as we are able.
The ftrength of materials arifes immediately or ulti¬
mately from ^ the cohefion of the parts of bodies. Our
examination of this property of tangible matter has as
vet been very partial and imperfect, and by no means
enables us to apply mathematical calculations with pre-
cifion and fuccefs. The various modifications of cohe¬
fion, in its different appearances of perfect foftnefs, plaftt-
city, duality, elafticity, hardnefs, have a mighty influ¬
ence on the flrength of bodies, but are hardly fulceptib e
of meafurement. Their texture alfo, whether unirorm
like glafs and duftile metals, cryftallized or granulated
like other metals and freeftone, or fibrous like timber, is
a circumftance no lefs important; yet even here, a -
though we derive fome advantage from remarking to
which of thefe forms of aggregation a fubftance belongs,,
the aid is but fmall. All we can do in this want of
general principles is to make experiments on every mals
of bodies. Accordingly philofophers have endeavoured
to inftrucl the public in this particular. The Royal So¬
ciety of London at its very firft inftitution made many
experiments at their meetings, as maybe feen in the
firft regifters of the Society *. Several individuals have
added their experiments. The moft numerous collechon
in detail is by Mufchenbroek, profeffor of natural phiio-
fophy at Leyden. Part of it was publiftied by himielf
in his E/fais de Phyftque, in two vols. 410 j but the
full colleftion is to be found in his Syftem of Natural
Philofophy, publithed after his death by Lulofs, in three
vols 410. This was tranflated from tne Low. Dutch
into French by Si gaud de la Fond, and pubiiftied at
Paris in 1760, and is a prodigious colle&ion of phyfical
knowledge of all kinds, and may almoft fuffice for a li¬
brary of natural philofophy. But this colleftion of ex¬
periments on the cohefion of bodies is not of that value
which one expefts. We prefume that they were care¬
fully made and faithfully narrated j but they were made
on fuch fmall fpecimens, that the unavoidable natural
inequalities of growth or texture produced irregularities
in the refults which bore too great a proportion to the
whole quantities obferved. We may make the fame re¬
mark on the experiments of Couplet, Pitot, De la Hire,
Du Hamel, and others of the French academy. In
fliort, if we except the experiments of Buflfon on the
ftrength of timber, made at the pisblic expence on a
large fcale, there is nothing to be met with from which
we can obtain abfolute meafures which may be employed
with confidence •, and there is nothing in the Enghfh
language except a fimple lift by Emerfon, which is. mere¬
ly a fet of affirmations, without any narration of circum-
ftances, to enable us to judge of the validity of his con-
clufions : but the chara&er of IVIr Emerfon, as a man ot
knowledge and of integrity, gives even to thefe aflertions
a confiderable value.
But to make ufe of any experiments,, there muft be
employed fome general principle by wdiich we can ge¬
neralize their refults. They will otherwife be only nar¬
rations of detached fafts. We muft have fome notion
of that intermedium, by the intervention of which an
external force applied to one part of a lever, joift, or
pillar, occafions a ftrain on a diftant part. This can be
nothing but the cohefion between the parts. It is this
connefting force which is brought into aftion, or, as we
[ ^4.7 3 5 i It
This we (hall move (tally expre& H, excited., TU. ^ion is
fied in every part by the laws of mechanics. Ii is this ^ ,>
aftion which is what we call the Jlrength of that part, 5
and its effeft is the ftrain on the adjoining parts ; and strength
thus it is the fame force, differently viewed, that confti-defined,
tutes both the ftrain and the ftrength.' W hen we con-
fider it in the fight of a refiftance to frafture, we call it
Jlrength.
We call every thing a force which we obierve to be .
ever accompanied by a change of motion; or, more
ftriftly fpeaking, we infer the prefence and agency of a
force wherever we obferve the ftate of things in refpeft
of motion different from what we know to be the relult
of the aftion of all the forces which w^e know to aft on
the body. Thus when we obferve a rope pi event a body
from falling, we infer a moving force inherent in the
rope with as much confidence as when we ooferve it
drag the body along the ground. I he immediate ac¬
tion of this force is undoubtedly exerted between the
immediately adjoining parts of the rope. 1 he immedi¬
ate effeft is the keeping the particles of the rope to¬
gether. They ought to feparate by any external force
drawing the ends of the rope contrarywife 5 and we a-
fcribe their not doing fo to a mechanical force really op-
pofing this external force. When defi.red to give it
name, we name it from what w.e conceive to be its e - jcnoWn 0B-
feft, and therefore its charafteriftic, and we call it .CO-jy from
HESION. This is merely a name for the faft j but it is their cf-
the fame thing in all our denominations. We know-¬
nothing of the caufes but in the effefts •, and our name
for the caufe is in faft the name of the effeft,. which is
cohesion. We mean nothing elfe by gravitation or
magnetifm. What do we mean when we fay that New¬
ton underftood thoroughly the nature of gravitation, of s
the force of gravitation j or that Franklin underftood
the nature of the eleftric force ? Nothing but this :
Newton confidered with patient fagacity the general
fafts of gravitation, and has defcribed and claffed them
with the utmoft precifion. In like manner, we {hall
underftand the nature of cohefion when we have dif-
covered with equal generality the laws 01 cohefion, or
general fafts wfliich are obferved in the appearances, and
when we have defcribed and claffed them with equal ac¬
curacy. -
Let us therefore attend to the more fimple and ob¬
vious phenomena of cohefion, and mark with caie evciy
circumftance of^refemolance by which they may be claf¬
fed. Let us receive thefe as the laws of cohefion, cha¬
rafteriftic of its fuppofed caufe, the force of cohenon.
We cannot pretend to enter on this vaft refearch.. The
modifications are innumerable : and it would require the
penetration of more than Newton to deleft the circum¬
ftance of fimilarity amidft millions of difcriminating cir-
cumftances. Yet this is the only way. of difcovering
which are the primary fafts chavafteriftic of the force,
and which are the modifications. T he ftudy is immenie,
but it is by no means defperate j and we entertain great
hopes that it will ere long be fuccefsfully profecuted :
but, in our particular predicament, we muft content our-
felves with felefting fuch general laws as feem to give
us the moft immediate information of the circumftances
that muft be attended to by the mechanician in his.con-
ftruftions, that he may unite {Length with fimplicity,
economy, and energy.
1. Then, it is a matter of faft that all bodies are'in a
j B 2 ' certain
. s T R [74
Str?r,£.t1i of certain degree perfedtly elaftlc j that is, when their form
Materials. or ku]k Js changed by certain moderate compreflions or
diftra&ions, it requires the continuance of the changing
All bodies force to continue the body in this new ilate j and when
eUltic. the force is removed, the body recovers its original form.
We limit th^affertion to certain moderate changes : For
inftance, take a lead wire jof one-fifteenth of an inch in
diameter and ten feet long; fix one end firmly to the
ceiling, and let the wire hang perpendicular j affix to the
lower end an index like the hand of a w'atch $ on fome
Hand immediately below let there be a circle divided in¬
to degrees, with its centre correfponding to the lower
point of the wire : now turn this index twice round, and
thus twill the wire. When the index is let go, it wall
turn backwards again, by the wire’s untwilting itfelf,
and make almoft four revolutions before it Hops ; after
which it twills and untwifts many times, the index going
backwards and forwards round the circle, diminilhing
however its arch of twill each time, till at lall it fettles
precifely in its original pofition. This may be repeated
for ever. Now, in this motion, every part of the ware
_ partakes equally of the twill. The particles are llretch-
ed, require force to keep them in their Hate of extenfion,
and recover completely their relative politions. Thefe
are all the charafters of what the mechanician calls
fe& elallicity. This is a quality quite familiar in many
cafes; as in glafs, tempered Heel, &c. but w'as thought
incompetent to lead, which is generally confidered as
having little or no elallicity. But we make.the afler-
tion in the moll general terms, with the limitation to
moderate derangement of form. We have made the
fame experiment on a thread of pipe-clay, made by
forcing foft clay through the fmall hole of a fyrmge by
means of a fcrew ; and we found it more elallic than
the lead wire : for a thread of one-twentieth of an inch
diameter and feven feet long allowed the index to make,
two turns, and yet completely recovered its firlt pofi¬
tion.
2. But if we turn the index of the lead w-ire four
times round, and let it go again, it untwills again in the
fame manner, but it makes little more than four turns
back again ; and after many ofcillations it finally Hops
in a pofition almolt two revolutions removed from its
original pofition. It has now acquired a new arrange¬
ment of parts, and this new arrangement is permanent
like the former ; and, what is of particular moment, it
Vv'h it is is peifeflly elallic. This change is familiarly known by
meant by the denomination of a SET. The wire is faid to have
syef- TAKEN A SET. When we attend minutely to the pro¬
cedure of nature in this phenomenon, we find that the
particles have as it were Aid on each other. Hill coher¬
ing, and have taken a new pofition, in which their con-
nefting forces are in equilibiio : and in this change of
relative fituation, it appears that the connealng forces
which maintained the particles in their firft fituation
were net in equilibrio in fome pofilion intermediate be¬
tween that of the firlt and that of the lall form. The
force required for changing this firft form augmented
with the change, but only to a certain degree-, and
during, this procefs the connefling forces always tended
to the recovery of this firft form. But after the change
of mutual pofition has palled a certain magnitude, the
union has been partly deftroyed, and the particles have
been brought .into new fituations; fuch, that the forces
which now connect each with its neighbour tend, not
3 ] S T R
to the recovery of the firll arrangement, but to pufh Strength of
them farther from it, into a new fituation, to which MwenaK
they now verge, and require force to prevent them from
acquiring. The wire is now- in fa£l again perfectly
elailic ;' that is, the forces which now connedl the par¬
ticles with their neighbours augment to a certain degree
as the derangement from this new pofition augments.
This is not reafoning from any theory. It is narrating
fafls, on which a theory is to be founded. What we
have been juft now faying is evidently a defeription of
that fenfible form of tangible matter which we call due- 9
tiiity. It has every gradation of variety, from the foft- Dudblity.
nefs of butter to the firmnefs of gold. All thefe bodies
have fome elafticity but we fay they are not perfectly
elaftic, becaufe they do not completely recover their
original form when it has been greatly damaged. The
whole gradation may be moll diftinftly obferved in a
piece of glafs or hard fealing wax. In the ordinary
form glafs is perhaps the moll completely elaftic body
that we know, and may be bent till juft ready to fnap,
and yet completely recovers its firft form, and takes no
fet whatever but when heated to fuch a degree as juft
to be vifible in the dark, it lofes its brittleneis, and be¬
comes fo tough that it cannot be broken by any blow- ;
but it is no longer elaftic, takes any fet, and keeps it.
When more heated, it becomes as plaftic as clay ; but
in this ftate is remarkably diftinguiffied from clay by a
quality which we may call VISCIDITY, which is fome- 1?
thing like elafticity, of which clay and other bodies ‘CK1
purely plaftic exhibit no appearance. This is the joint
operation of ftrong adhefion and foftnefs. When a rod
of perfe£lly foft glafs is fuddenly ftretched a little, it
does not at once take the ffiape which it acquires after
fome little time. It is owing to this, that in taking the
impreffion of a feal, if we take off the feal while the
wax is yet very hot, the fliarpnefs of the impreffion is
deftroyed immediately. Each part drawing its neigh¬
bour, and each part yielding, the prominent parts are
pulled down and blunted, and the ffia'rp hollows are
pulled upwards and alfo blunted. The feal mull be
kept on till all has become not only ftiff but hard. Ix
This vifeidity is to be obferved in all plaftic bodies’Obferved
which are homogeneous. It is not obferved in clay, be-in all ho-
caufe it is not homogeneous, but confifts of hard parti-n|0gene/,u5
cles of argillaceous earth flicking together by their at- j;*s>1C °“
traftion for water. Something like it might be made of
finely powdered glafs and a clammy fluid fuch as tur¬
pentine. Vifeidity has all degrees of foftnefs till it de¬
generates to ropy fluidity like that of olive oil. Perhaps
fomething of it may be found even in the moft perfeft
fluid that we are acquainted with, as we obferved in the
experiments for afeertaining fpecific gravity.
There is in a late volume of the Philofophical Tranf-
aftions a narrative of experiments, by which it appears
that the thread of the fpider is au exception to our firft
general law, and that it is perfe&ly du&ile. It is there
afferted, that a long thread of goffamer, furniffied with
an index, takes any pofition whatever; and that though
the index be turned round any number of times (even
many hundreds), it has no tendency to recover its firft
form. The thread takes completely any fet whatever.
We have not had an opportunity of repeating this ex¬
periment, but we have diftindlly obferved a phenomenon
totally inconfiftent with it. If a fibre of goffamer about
an inch long be held by the end horizontally, it bends
downward
\
V
\
\
Materials.
TI
Particles
a£ted on
bv attrac¬
tions and
repulfions
S T R [ 749
Strength of downward in a curve like a flender flip of whalebone or
a hair. If totally devoid of elafticity, and perfe£tly in- a
different to any fet, it would hang down perpendicularly
without any curvature.
When ductility and elaflicity are combined in differ¬
ent proportions, an immenfe variety of fenfible modes of
aggregation may be produced. Some degree of both
are probably to be obferved in all bodies of complex
conftitution ; that is, which conflll of particles made up
of many different kinds of atoms. Such a conflitution
of a body muff afford many fituations permanent, but
eafily deranged.
In all thefe changes of difpofition which take place
among the particles of a duftile body, the particles are
at fuch diftance that they Hill cohere. The body may
be ftretched a little ; and on removing the extending
force, the body fhrinks into its firft form. It alfo re¬
fills moderate compreffions •> and when the compreffing
force is removed) the body fwells out again. Now the
corpufcular yi?# here is, that the particles are a6Ied on by
attractions and repulfions, which balance each other
when no external force is adding on the body, and which
augment as the particles are made, by any external
caufe, to recede from this fituation of mutual inaftivity *,
for fince force is requifite to produce either the dilata¬
tion or the compreflion, and ts> maintain it, we are obli¬
ged, by the contlitution of our minds, to infer that it is
oppofed by a force accompanying or inherent in every
particle of dilatable or comprefiible matter 5 and as this
neceffity of employing force to produce a change indi¬
cates the agency of thefe corpufcular forces, and marks
their kind, according as the tendencies of the particles
appear to be toward each other in dilatation, or from
each other in compreflion ; fo it alfo meafures the de¬
grees of their intenfity. Should it require three times
the force to produce a double compreflion, we muft rec¬
kon the mutual repulfions triple when the compreflion
is doubled •, and fo in other inftances. We fee from all
this that the phenomena of cohefion indicate fome rela¬
tion between the centres of the particles. To difcover
this relation is the great problem in corpufcular me-
corpuicular as it was in the Newtonian invefligation of the
mec iatu m. fQrce Q£ gravitation. Could we difcover this law of ac¬
tion between the corpufcles with the fame certainty and
diftinftnefs, we might with equal confidence fay what
will be the remit of any pofition which we give to the
particles of bodies; but this is beyond our hopes. The
law of gravitation is fo fimple, that the difeovery or de¬
tection of it amid the variety of celeftial phenomena re¬
quired but one ftep ; and in its own nature its poflible
combinations ftill do not greatly exceed the powers of
human refearch. One is aimoft difpofed to fay that the
Supreme Being has exhibited it to our reafoning powers
as fufficient to employ with fuccefs our utmoft efforts,
but not fo abflrufe as to difeourage us from the noble
attempt. It feems to be otherwife with refpeft to co¬
hefion. Mathematics informs us, that if it deviates fen-
fibly from the law of gravitation, the fimpleft combina¬
tions will make the joint aCtion of feveral particles an
almoft impenetrable myftery. We muft therefore con¬
tent ourfelves, for a long time to come, with a careful
obfervation of the fimpleft cafes that we can propofe,
and with the difeovery of fecondary laws of action, in
which many particles combine their influence. In pur-
fuance of this plan, we obferve,.
] S T R
That whatever is the fituation of the particles ofStrength of
*3
The great
problem in
body with refpeft to each other, when in a quiefeent Materials.^
ftate, they are kept in thefe fituations by the balance of "
oppofite forces. This cannot be refufed, nor can we particies
form to ourfelves any other notion of the ftate of the kept in
particles of a body. Whether we fuppofe the ultimate their places
particles to be of certain magnitudes and fliapes, touch-
ing each other in fingle points of cobefion ; or whether force3.
we (with Bofcovich) conlider them as at a diftance from,
each other, and abting on each other by attraftions and
repulfions—we muft acknowledge, in the firft place,
that the centres of the particles (by whole mutual di-
ftances we muft eftimate the diftance of the particles) /
may and do vary their diftances from each other. What
elfe can we fay when we obferve a body increafe in
length, in breadth, and in thicknefs, by heating it, or
when we fee it diminilh in all thefe dimenfions by an ex¬
ternal compreflion ? A particle, therefore, fituated in the ^
midft of many others, and remaining in that fituation,
muft be conceived as maintained in it by the mutual
balancing of all the forces which conned it with its I5
neighbours. It is like a ball kept in its place by theniuftra-1
oppofite aftion of two fprings. This illuftration merits tion of
a more particular application. Suppofe a number ofthis P1'0!'0!'1"
balls ranged on the table in the angles of equilateraltlon’
triangles, and that each ball is conne&ed with the fix
wdiich lie around it by means of an elaltic wire curled
like a cork-fcrew ; fuppofe fuch another ftratum of balls
above this, and parallel to it, and fo placed that each
ball of the upper ftratum is perpendicularly over the
centre of the equilateral triangle below, and let thefe be
conne&ed with the balls of the under ftratum by fimilar
fpiral wires. Let there be a third and a fourth, and any
number of fuch ftrata, all con.-e&ed in the fame manner.
It is plain that this may extend to any fize and fill any
fpace.—Now let this affemblage of balls be firmly con¬
templated by the imagination, and be fuppofed to fhrink
continually in all its dimenfions, till the balls, and their
diftances from each other, and the connefting wires, all
vanifh from the fight as diferete individual objects. All
this is very conceivable. It will now appear like a folid
body, having length, breadth, and thicknefs; it may be
compreffed, and will again refume its dimenfions 5 it may
be ftretched, and will again (brink ; it will move away
when ftruck; in fhort, it will not differ in its fenfible
appearance from a folid elaftic body. Now when this
body is in a ftate of compreflion, for inftance, it is evi¬
dent that any one of the balls is at reft, in confequence
of the mutual balancing of the actions of all the fpiral
wires which conneft it with thofe around it. It will
greatly conduce to the full underftanding of all that fol¬
lows to recur to this illuftration. The analogy or re-
femblante between the effeifls of this conftjtution of
things and the effefts of the corpufcular forces is very
great •, and wherever it obtains^ we may fafely draw con-
clufions from what we know would be the condition of ^
a body of common tangible matter. We (hall juft givexty exam-
one inftrubtive example, and then have done with this pie.
hypothetical body. We can fuppofe it of a long (hape,
refting on one point j we can fuppofe two weights A, B,
fufpended at the extremities, and the whole in equilibrio.
We commonly exprefs this ftate of things by faying that
A and B are in equilibrio. This is very inaccurate. A
is in faft in equilibrio with the united aftion of all the
fprings which connect the ball to which it is applied*
with
S T R
r
SMa”er alsf a^j0’n"inS balls. Thefe fpilngs are brought in-
, _1 to action, and each is in equilibrio with the ioint adion
of all the reft.   
Plate
DXI.
Fig. r.
Thus through the whole extent of the
hypothetical body, the fprings are brought into adtion in
a way and in a degree which mathematics can eafily in-
veftigate. We need not do this : it is enough for our
purpofe that our imagination readily difcovers that fome
fprings are ftretghed, others are compreffed, and that a
preflate* is excited on the middle point of fupport, and
the lupport exerts a readhon which precifely balances it 5
and the other weight is, in like manner, in immediate
equilibrio with the equivalent of the adlions of all the
fpiings which conned! the laft ball writh its neighbours.
Now take the analogical or refembling cafe, an oblong
piece of folid matter, refting on a fulcrum, and loaded
with two weights in equilibrio. For the adlions of the
connedling fprings fubftitute the corpufcular forces, and
the refult will refemble that of the hypothefis.
Now as there is fomething that is at leaft analogous to
a change of diltance of the particles, and a concomitant
change of the intenftty of the connedling forces, we may
exprefs this in the fame way that wre are accuftomed to
do in fimilar cafes. Let A and B t.) reprefent the
centres of two particles of a coherent elaftic body in
their quiefeent inadlive ftate, and let us conlider only
the mechanical condition of B. The body may be
ftretched. In this cafe the diftance A B of the par¬
ticles may become A C. In this ftate there is fomething
which makes it neceflary to employ a force to keep the
particles at this diftance. C has a tendency towards A,
or we may fay that A attradls C. We may reprefent
the magnitude of this tendency of C towards A, or this
attradtion of A, by a line C c perpendicular "to A C.
Again, the body may be -.ompreffed, and the diftance
A B may become A D. Something obliges us to em¬
ploy force to continue this compreflion ) and D tends
from A, or A appears to repel I). The intenfity of this
tendency or repul/ion may be reprefented by another
perpendicular Y) d; and, to reprefent the different di-
redtions of thefe tendencies, or the different nature of
thefe adlions, we may fet D// on the oppofite fide of
A B. It is in this manner that the Abbe Bofcovich has
prefents the rePre^ente,» the adlions of corpufcular forces in his cele-
affion of brated Theory of Natural Philofophy. Newton had
corpufcular faid, that, as the great movements of the folar fyllem
forces. were regulated by forces operating at a diftance, and
varying with the diftance, fo he ftrongly fufpedled (yalde
fufpicor) that all the phenomena of cohefion, with all its
modifications in the different fenfible forms of aggrega¬
tion, and in the phenomena of chemiftry and phyfioiogy,
refulted from the fimilar agency of forces varying with
the diftance of the particles. The learned Jefuit pur-
fued this thought ; and has fhown, that if we fuppofe an
ultimate atom of matter endowed with powers of attrac¬
tion and repulfion, varying, both in kind and degree,
with the diftance, and if this force be the fame in every
atom, it may be regulated by fuch a relation to the di¬
ftance from the neighbouring atom, that a cclledtion of
fuch may have all the fenfible appearance of bodies in
their different forms of folids, liquids, and vapours, ela¬
ftic or unelaftic, and endowed with all the properties
which we perceive, by whofe immediate operation the
phenomena of motion by impulfe, and all the phenome¬
na of chemiftry, and of animal and vegetable economy,
maybe produced. He (hows, that notwithftanding"a
75° J S T R
perfect famenefs, and even a great fimplicity in this ato-Strength of
mical conititulion, there will reiult from this union all Materials,
that unfpeakable variety of form and property tvhich di- y"
verlify and embellilh the lace of nature. We (ball take
another opportunity of giving fuch an account of this ce¬
lebrated work as it delerves. We mention it only, by
the bye, as far as a general notion of it will be of lome
fervice on the preient occafion. For this purpofe, we
juit ob.erve that Bofcovich conceives a particle of any
individual fpecies of matter to confift of an unknown
number of particles of^fimpler conftitution j each of
winch particles, in their turn, is compounded of particles
Hill more fimply conftituted, and fo on through an un¬
known number of orders, till we arrive at the fimpleft
poffible conftitution of a particle of tangible matter, fuf-
ceptible of length, breadth, and thicknefs, and neceffari-
ly confifting of four atoms of matter. And he ftrows
that the more complex w^e fuppofe the conftitution of a
particle, the more mull the fenfible qualities of the aggre¬
gate refemble the obferved qualities of tangible bodies.
In particular, he fhows how a particle may be fo con¬
ftituted, that although it a£l on one other particle of the
Time kind through a confuierable interval, the interpo-
fition of a third particle of the fame kind may render it
totally, or almoft totally, inaftive j and therefore an af-
femblage of fuch particles would form fuch a fluid as
air. All thefe curious inferences are made w-ith uncon¬
trovertible evidence; and the greateft encouragement is
thus given to the mathematical philofopher to hope, that
by cautious and patient proceeding in this way, we may
gradually approach to a knowledge of the laws of co¬
hefion, that will not fliun a comparifon even with the
Principia of Newton. No ftep can be made in this in-
velh’gation, but by obferving with care, and generalizing
with judgement, the phenomena, which are abundantly
numerous, and much more at our command than tbofe
of the great and fenfible motions of bodies. Following
this plan, we cbferve, lg
4. It is matter of fa£l, that every body has fome de- Every body
'7
How Bof-
covieh re-
gree of compreflibility and dilatability ; and when the comi,r'
changes of dimenfion are fo moderate that the bodv ^ ^ ^
completely recovers its original dimenfions on the cefia- e‘
tion of the changing force, the extenfions or compref-
fions are fenfibly proportional to the extending or com-
preffing forces; and therefore the conncBing forces are
proportional to the difiances of the particles from their
quiefeent, neutral, or inaEhve pcfitwns. This feems to
have been fiill viewed as a law of nature by the penetra-iJ£(W19 na_
ting eye of Dr Robert Hooke, one of the molt eminent tme diico-
’philofophers of the laft century. He publiflied a cipher,Vtretl by
which he faid contained the theory of fpringinefs.arrd -0£
the motions of bodies by the aeflion of fprings. It was
this, cemnosssttuu.—When explained in his dif-
fertation, publiflied fome years after, it rvas ut tenfio fie
vis. Ibis is precifely the propefition juft now afferted
as a general fa61, a law’ of nature. This differtaticn is
full of curious obfervations of fa61s in fupport of bis af-
fertion. In his application to the motion of bodies he
gives his noble difeovery of the balance-fpring of a
watch, which is founded on this law. The fpring, as it
is more and more coiled up, or unwound, by the motion
of the balance, n£ls on it with a force proportional to
the diftance of the balance from its quiefeent pofition.
I he balance therefore is a61ed on by an accelerating
force, wnich varies in the fame manner as the force of
gravity
S T R l 751 ] s T R
Strength of gravity a£i:ing on a pendulum fwinging in a cycloid.
Mdteria!-.^ jts vibrations therefore mull be performed in equal time,
v whether they are wide or narrow. In the fame differta-
tion Hooke mentions all the fadls which John Bernoulli
afterwards adduced in fiipport of Leibnitz’s whimfical
doctrine of the force of bodies in motion, or the doftrine
of the vires viva ; a do&rine which Hooke might juft-
Jo ly have claimed as his own, had he not feen its futility.
And con- Experiments made fince the time of Hooke fhow that
firmed by this law is ftriftly true in the. extent ta which we have
the expe- limited it, viz. in all the changes of form which will be
ethers^ °f comp’ielety undone by the elaiiicity of the body. It is
nearly true to a much greater extent. James Bernoulli,
in his differtation on the elaftic curve, relates fome ex¬
periments of bis own, which feem to deviate confiderably
from it} but on dole examination they do not. The
fineft experiments are thofe of Coulomb, publilhed in
fome late volumes of the memoirs of the Academy of
Paris. He fufpended balls by wires,' and obferved their
motions of ofcillation, which he found accurately cor-
refponding with this law.
This we {hall find to be a very important fafl in the
do&rine of the {Length of bodies, and we defire the
reader to make it familiar to his mind. If we apply to
this our manner of exprefiing thefe forces by perpendi¬
cular ordinates C c, D c/ (fig. 1.), we muft take other
fituations E, F, of the particle B, and draw E <?, Ff;
and we muft have D d: Ff— BD : BF, or C c : E e =
BC : BE. In fuch a fuppofition Yd Bee muft be a
ftraight line. But we {hall have abundant evidence by
and bye that this cannot be ftri&ly true, and that the
line Bee which limits the ordinates exprefting the at-
traflive forces becomes concave towards the line ABE,
and that the part Bdf is convex towards it. All that
can be fafely concluded from the experiments hitherto
made is, that to a certain extent the forces, both attrac¬
tive and repulfive, are fenfibhj proportional to the dilata-
9t tions and compreflions. For,
When a 5- It is univeifally abferved, that when the dilata-
body is tions have proceeded a certain length, a lefs addition
-h di- 0f force is fufficient to increafe the dilatation in the fame
fmall*ad- ^egree* This is always cbferved when the body h?.s
dition of fo far ftretched that it takes a fet, and does not
force will completely recover its form. The like may be general-
increafe its ly obferved in compreffions. Moft perfons will recol-
dilaution. je^ that in violently ftretching an elaftic cord, it be¬
comes fuddenly weaker, or more eafily ftretched. But
thefe phenomena do not pofitively prove a diminution of
the corpufcular force a£ting on one particle: It more
probably arifes from the difunion of fome particles, whofe
s&ion contributed to the whole or fenfible effedl. And
in compreflions we may fuppofe fomething of the fame
kind j for when we comprefs a body in one dire&ion, it
commonly, bulges out in another; and in cafes of very
violent a&ion fome particles may be difunited, whofe
tranfverfe aftion had formerly balanced part of the com-
prefling force. For the reader will fee on reflection,
that fince the compreflion in one dire£tion caufes the
body to bulge out in the tranfverfe direction ; and fince
this bulging out is in oppofition to the tranfverfe forces
of attra&ion, it muft employ fome part of the compref-
fing force. And the common appearances are in per¬
fect uniformity with this conception of things. When
we prefs a bit of dryifli clay, it fwells out and cracks
tranfverfely. When a pillar of wood is overloaded, it
fwells out, and fmall crevices appear in the direction of Strength of
the fibres. After this it will not bear half of the load. Materials,
This the carpenters call crippling ; and a knowledge
of the circumftanccs which modify it is of great import¬
ance, and enables us to underftand fome very paradoxical
appearances, as will be Ihown by and bye.
This partial difuniting of particles formerly cohering
is,' we imagine, the chief reafon why the totality of the
forces which really oppofe ah external ftrain does not
increafe in the proportion of the extenfions and compref¬
fions. But fufficient evidence will aifo be given that
the forces which would conneft one particle with one
other particle do not augment in the accurate pro¬
portion of the change of diftance 5 that in extenfions
they in creafe more (lowly, and in compreffions more
rapidly.
But there is another caufe of this deviation perhaps DudHfitv
equally effe&ual with the former. Moft bodies manifeft another
fome degree of du&ility. Now what is this ? The faff caufe of
is, that the parts have taken a new arrangement, ji^deviatioa-,
which they again cohere. Therefore, in the paflage to
this new arrangement, the fenfible forces, which are the
joint refult of many corpufcular forces, begin to refpeft
this new arrangement inftead of the former. This muft
change the fimple law of corpufcular force, chara&eriftic
of the particular fpecies of matter under examination.
It does not require much reflection to convince us that
the poffible ’arrangements which the particles of a body
may acquire, without appearing to change their nature,
muft be more numerous according as the particles are of
a more complex conftitution ; and it is reafonable to
fuppofe that the conftitution even of the moft fimple.
kind of matter that we are acquainted with is exceed¬
ingly complex. Our microfcopes (how us animals fo
minute, that a heap of them muft appear to the naked
eye an uniform mafs with a grain finer than that of the
fineft marble or razor hone ; and yet each of thefe has
not only limbs, but bones, mufcular fibres, blood-vefiels,
fibres, and a blood confifting, in all probability, of glo-
bules organifed and complex like our own. The ima¬
gination is here loft in wonder : and nothing is left us
but to adore inconceivable art and wifdonv, and to exult
in the thought that we arc the only fpeftators of this
beautiful feene who can derive pleafure from the view.
What is trodden under foot with indi&rtince, even by
the half-reafoning elephant, may be made by us the
fource of the pureft and moft unmixed pleafure. But
let us proceed to obferve,
6. That the forces which conned the particles of The forces
tangible bodies change by a change of diftance, not on- which con-
ly in degree, but alfo in kind. The particle B (fig. 1.) neA. ‘j16
is attraded by A when in the Situation C or E. "ft is foieCf
repelled by it when at D or F. It is not affeded by it bodies C
when in the fituation B. The reader is requefted care- charge by
fully to remark, that this is not an inference founded on a f'h.an£e
the authority of our mathematical figure. The figure cfcll^anc"i
is an expreflion (to aflift the imagination) of fads in na¬
ture. It requires no force to keep the particles of a
body in their quiefeent fituations: but if they are fepa-
parated by ftretching the body, they endeavour (pardon
the figurative expreflion) to come together again. If
they are brought nearer by compreffion, they endeavour
to recede. This endeavour is manifefted by the necef-
fity of employing force to maintain the extenfion or con-
denfation y and we reprefent this by the different pefition -
ef
?4
Light al¬
ternately
attracted
•and repel¬
led.
rs T R [ 75
°f °Ur KneS‘ But tll5s .is n0t 311 : ihe Particle Which
> t- 1S spelled by A when in the lituation F or D, is neutral
v\ hen at B, and is attracted when at C or E, may be
placed at fuch a diftance AG from A greater than AB
that it lhall be again repelled, or at fuch a diftance AH
that it ihall again be attracted ; and thefe alterations
may be repeated again and again. This is curious and
important, and requires fomelhing more than a bare af-
fertion for its proof.
In the article Opiics we mentioned the moft curious
and valuable obfervations of Sir Ifaac Newton, by which
it appears that light is thus alternately attrafted and re¬
pelled by bodies. The rings of colour which appear
between the objeft glaffes of long telefcopes (bowed,
that in the fmall interval of -j-g-^-^-th ot an inch, there
are at leaft an hundred fuch changes obfervable, and
that it is highly probable that thefe alternations extend
to a much greater diftance. At one of thefe diftances
the light aftually converges towards the folid matter of
the glafs, which we exprefs ftiortly, by faying that it is
attracted by it,' and that at the next diftance it declines
from the glals, or is repelled by it. The fame thing is
more (imply inferred from the phenomena of light pafting
by the edges of knives and other opaque bodies. We
refer the reader to the experiments themfelves, the
detail being too long for this place ; and we requeft
him to conlider them minutely and attentively, and
to form diftincl notions of the inferences drawn from
them. And rve defire it to be remarked, that although
Sir Ifaac, in his difcuflion, always confiders light as a
let of corpufcles moving in free (pace, and obeying the
aftions of external forces like any other matter, the par¬
ticular conclufion in which we are juft now interefted
does not at all depend on this notion of the nature of
light. Should we, with Des Cartes or Huygens, fup-
pofe light to be the undulation of an elaftic medium,
the conclufion will be the fame. The undulations at
certain diftances are difturbed by forces direfted towards
the body, and at a greater diftance, the difturbing forces
tend from the body.
But the fame alternations of attraftion and repulfion
alternations may be obferved between the particles of common mat-
tioifaifd" ter‘ ^ we ta^e a P*ece vei7 (lat and well-poliftied
repulfion glafs, fuch as is made for the horizon glafles of a good
obfervable Hadley’s quadrant, and if rye wrap round it a fibre of
m the par- fftk as it comes from the cocoon, taking care that the
-!r?pSAf fibre nowhere crofs another, and then prefs this pretty
hard on fuch another piece of glafs, it wall lift it up and
keep it fufpended. The particles therefore of the one
do moft certainly attraft thofe of the other, and this at
a diftance equal to the thicknefs of the filk fibre. This
is nearly the limit j and it fometimes requires a confider-
able preflure to produce the effeft. The preflure is
effectual only by comprefling the filk fibre, and thus di-
miniftiing the diftance between the glafs plates. This
adhefion cannot be attributed to the preffure of the at-
mofphere, becaufe there is nothing to hinder the air
from infinuating itfelf between the plates, fince they are
feparated by the filk. Befides, the experiment fucceeds
equally well under the receiver of an air-pump. This
moft: valuable experiment was firft made by Huygens,
who reported it to the Royal Society. It is narrated in
the Philofophical Tranfaftions, N° 86.
Here then is an attraftion ailing, like gravity, at a
diftance. But take away the filk fibre, and try to make
2 5
The fame
tides of
o'her bo¬
dies, as
glafs.
2 ] S T R
the glaffes touch each other, and we (hall find a very Strength of
great force neceflary. By Newton’s experiments it ap- Materials,
pears, that unlefs the prifmatic colours begin to appear" v""_l '*
between the glaffes, they are at leaft T|^th of an inch
aiunder or more. Now we know that a very confider-
aole force is neceffary for producing thefe colours, and
that the more we prefs the glaffes together the more
rings of colours appear. It alfo appears from Newton’s
meafures, that the difference of diftance between the
glafles where each of thefe colours appear is about the
89,000th pait of an inch. We know farther, that
when we have produced the laft appearance of a greafy
or pearly colour, and»hen augment the preflure, making
it about a thoufand pounds on the fquare inch, all co¬
lours vanifh, and the two pieces of glafs feem to make
one tranfparent undiftinguifhable mafs. They appear
now to have no air between them, or to be in mathe¬
matical con tail. But another fail (hows this conclufion
to be premature. The fame circles of colours appear in
the top of a foap bubble j and as it grows thinner at
top, there appears an unrefleiling fpot in the middle.
We have the greateft probability therefore that the per-
feit tranfparency in the middle of the two glaffes does
not arife from their being in contail, but becaufe the
thicknefs of zn between them is too (mail in that place
for the refleilion of light. Nay, Newton exprefsly
found no refleilion where the thicknefs was |ths or more
of the -g^o-o th part of an inch.
All this while the glaffes are ftrongly repelling each
other, for great preffure is neceffary for continuing the
appearance of thofe colours, and they vanifti in fucceflion
as the preffure is diminilhed. This vanifliing of the co¬
lours is a proof that the glaffes are moving off from each
other, or repelling each other. But we can put an end
to this repulfion by very ftrong preffure, and at the fame
time Aiding the glaffes on each other. We do not pre¬
tend to account for this effeil of the Hiding motion 5 but
the fail is, that by fo doing, the glaffes will cohere
with very great force, fo that we (hall break them by
any attempt to pull them afunder. It commonly hap¬
pens (at leaft it did fo with us), that in this Aiding com-
predion of two ftnooth flat plates of glafs they fcratch
and mutually deftroy each other’s furface. It is alfo
w-orth remarking, that differeat kinds of glafs exhibit
different properties in this refpeil. Flint glafs will at-
trail even though a filk fibre lies double between them,
and they much more *eadily cohere by this Aiding pref¬
fure.
Here then are two difiances at which the plates of
glafs attraft each other ; namely, when the filk fibre is
interpofed, and when they are forced together with this
Aiding motion. -\nd in any intermediate fituation they
repel each other. We fee the fame thing in other folid
bodies. Two pieces of lead made perfeftly clean, may Lfa,j ^, 1
be made to cohere by grinding them together in the iron! ^
fame manner. It is in this way that pretty ornaments
of (liver are united to iron. The piece is feraped clean,
and a fmall bit of filver like a fifti (bale is laid on. The
die which is to (trike it into a flower or other ornament
is then fet on it, and we give it a fmart blow, which
forces the metals into contabl as firm as if they were
foldered together. It fometimes happens that the die
adheres to the coin fo that they cannot be (eparated :
and it is found that this frequently happens, when the
engraving is fuch,vthat the raifed figure is not complete¬
ly
S T R t 7S3
Strength ofly furrounded with a fmooth flat ground. The probable
Ma-enaK caufg Df this is curious.. WheJi the coin has a flat fur-
face all around, this is produced by the moft prominent
part of the die. This applies to the metal, and com¬
pletely confines the air which filled the hollow of the
die. As the prefluve goes on, the metal is Iqueezed up
]
S 'f R
28
RepuKion
the caufe
m ng. in a
fluid fpe-
ficady
light
27
Probable
©aufe why
thediead-
hertsto thejnj.o the hollow of the die •, but there is ftill air com-
prefled between them, which cannot efcape by any paf-
fage. It is therefore prodigioufly condenfed, and exerts
an clafticity proportioned to the condenfation. - This
ferves to feparate the die from the metal when the ftroke
is over. The hollow part of the die has not touched
the metal all the while, and we may fay tnat the im-
preflion was made by air. If this air efcape by any en¬
graving reaching through the border, they cohere in-
feparably.
We have admitted that the glafs plates are in contaft
when they cohere thus firmly. But we are not certain
of this : for if we take thefe cohering glafies, and touch
them with water, it quickly infinuates itfelf between
them. Yet they ftill cohere, but can now be pretty
eafily feparated.
It is owdng to this repulfian, exerted through its pro¬
per fphere, that certain powders fwim on the furface of
of 0 me bo-water> are welted with great difficulty. Certain
dies fwim- Jnfe(qs can run about on the furface of water. '1 hey
have brufliy feet, which occupy a confiderable furface ;
and if their fteps are viewred with a magnifying glafs,
the furface of the water is feen deprefled all around, re-
than them- fembljng the footfleps of a man w’alkingon feather-beds.
This is owing to a repulfion betw’een the brufli and the
water. A common fly cannot wTalk in this manner on
water. Its feet are wetted, becaufe they attract the wa¬
ter inftead of repelling it. A fleet needle, wiped very
clean, will lie on the furface of water, making an im-
preflion as a great bar would make on a feather bed *,
and its weight is lefs than that of the difplaced water.
A dew drop lies on the leaves of plants without touch¬
ing them mathematically, as is plain from the extreme
brilliancy of the refledlion at the pofterior furface 5 nay,
it may be fometimes obferved that the drops of rain lie
on the furface of water, and roll about on it like balls
on a table. Yet all tbefe fubflances can be wetted ;
that is, water can be applied to them at fuch diflances
that they attract it.
What we faid a little ago of water infinuating itfelf
betw'een the glafs plates without altogether deflroying
their cohefion, flrow7s that this cohefion is not the fame
that obtains between the particles of one of the plates j
that is, the twm plates are not in the ftate of one conti¬
nued mafs. It is highly probable, therefore, that be¬
tween thefe two flates there is an intermediate ftate of
repulfion, nay, perhaps many fuch, alternated with at¬
tractive ftates.
A piece of ice is elaftic, for it rebounds and rings.
Its particles, therefore, when comprefled, refile •, and
when ftretched, contraft again. The particles are there¬
fore in the ftate reprefented by B in figure 1. aCted on
by repulfive forces, if brought nearer ; and by attrac¬
tive forces, if drawn further afunder. Ice expands, like
all other bodies, by heat. It abforbs a vaft quantity of
fire ; which, by combining its attractions and repulfions
with thofe of the particles of ice, changes completely
the law of aCtion, wdthout making any fenfible change
in the diftance of the particles, and the ice becomes wa-
Vol. XIX. Part II.
ter. In this new ftate the particles are again in limits Strength 6f
between attractive and repulfive forces *, for vvater has
been ftiown, by the experiments of Canton and Zimmer¬
man, to be elaftic or compreflible. It again expands by
heat. It again abforbs a prodigious quantity of heat,
and becomes elaftic vapour ; its particles repelling each
other at all diftances yet obferved. 1 he diftance be¬
tween the particles of one plate of glafs and thofe of
another which lies on it, and is carried by it, is a di-
ftance of repuifion 5 lor the force which fupports^ the
upper piece is aCting in oppofition to its weight. I his
diftance is lefs than that at which it would/z//£rWit be¬
low it with a filk fibre interpofed •, for no pnlmatic co¬
lours appear between them wThen the filk fiore is inter-
poled. But the diitance at which glafs attrafts water
is much leis than this, for no colours appear when glafs
is wetted with w7ater. JLhis diftance is lefs, and not
greater, than the other } for when the glaflfes have w7a-
ter interpofed between them inftead of air, it is found,
that when any particular colour appears, the thicknefs
of the plate of water is to that of tne plate of air which
would produce the fame colour nearly as 3 to 4. Now,
if a piece of glais be wetted, .and exhibit no colour, and
another piece of glafs be Amply laid on it, no coiour
will appear; but if they are ftrongly prefled, the colours
appear in the lame ma; ner as if the glafies had air be¬
tween. Alfo, when glafs is Amply wetted, and the film
of water is allowed to evaporate, when it is thus reduced
to a proper thinnefs, the colours fliow themfelves in great
beautv. # 29
Thefe are a few7 of many thoufand facts, by which it™^
is unqueftionably proved that the particles, of tangible conne^ecj
matter are conntffed by forces adting at a diflance, vary- by forces
ing with the diftance, and alternately attradlive and re-adting at a
pulfive. If we reprefent thefe forces as we have already d!ftance-
done in fig. 1. by the ordinates C c, D r/, E e, Fjr, &c.
of a curve, it is evident that this curve muft crofs the
axis at all thofe diflances where the forces change from
attradtive to repulfive, and the curve muft have branches
alternately above and below7 the axis.
All thefe alternalions of attradlion and repulfion take
place at fmall and inlenfible diflances. At all fenfible
diflances the particles are influenced by the attradlion of
gravitation ; and therefore this part of the curve mufl:
be a hyperbola whofe equation isyrr —. What is the
form of the curve correfponding to the fmalleft diflance
of the particles ? that is, what is the mutual adtion be¬
tween the particles juft before their coming into abfolute
contadt ? Analogy fhould lead us to fuppofe it to be re¬
pulfion : for folidity is the laft and fimpleft form of bo¬
dies with which we are acquainted.—Fluids are more
compounded, containing fire as an effential ingredient.
We fhould conclude that this ultimate repulfion is infu-
perable, for the hardeft bodies are the moft elaftic. We
are fully entitled to fay, that this repelling force ex¬
ceeds all that we have ever yet applied to overcome it ;
nay, there are good reafons for faying that this ultimate
repulfion, by which the particles are kept from mathe¬
matical contadt, is really infuperable in its owm na¬
ture, and that it is impoffible to produce mathematical
contadt. 30
We (hall juft mention one of thefe, which we confider ^at^ema*
as unanfw7erable. Suppofe tw7o atoms, or ultimate par-tac^
tides of matter A and B. Let A be at reft, and B f^ie.
j; C move
S T R
S-re^ oWe.p^itwitb the velocity 2j and let us fuppofe
i that it comes into mathematical contact, and impels it
(according to the common acceptation of the word).
Both move with the velocity I. This is granted by all
to be the final refult of the collifion. Now the inllant
of time in which this communication happens is no part
either of the duration of the folitary motion of A, nor
of the joint motion of A and B : It is the reparation or
boundary between them. It is at once the end of the
full, and the beginning of the fecond, belonging equal¬
ly to both. A was moving with the velocity 2. The
dillinguifliing circumflance therefore of its mechanical
ilate is, that rt has a determination (however incompre-
henfible) by which it would move lor ever with the ve¬
locity 2, if nothing changed it. This it has during the
whole of its folitary motion, and therefore in the laid
inftant of this motion. In like manner, during the
whole of the joint motion, and.therefore in the firlt in¬
ftant of this motion, the atom A has a determination by
which it would move for ever -with the velocity i. In
pne and the fame inftant, therefore, the atom A has two
incompatible determinations. Whatever notion we can
form of this ftate, which we call velocity, as a diftinftion
of condition, the fame impoflibility of conception or the
fame abfurdity occurs. Nor can it be avoided in any
other way than by faying, that this change of A’s mo¬
tion is brought about by infenfible gradations j that is,
that A and B influence each other precifely as they
would do if a {lender fpring were interpofed. The reader
is defired to look at what we have faid in the article
Physics, § 82.
The two magnets there fpoken of are good reprefen-
tatives of two atoms endowed with mutual powers of re-
pulfion 5 and the communication of motion is accom-
plilhed in both cafes in precifely the fame manner.
If, therefore, we fhall ever be fo fortunate as to difeo-
ver the law of variation of that force which connefts
one atom of matter with another atom, and which is
therefore charafteriftic of matter, and the ultimate fource
of all its fenfible qualities, the curve whofe ordinates re-
prefent the kind and the intenfity of this atomical force
Fig. a. will be fomething like that fketched in fig. 2. The firft
branch n « B will have AK (perpendicular to the axis
AH) for its afiymptote, and the laft branch l mo will
be to all fenfe a hyperbola, having AO for its affymp-
tote ; and the ordinates /L, m M, &c. will be propor-
. tional to — , a &c. exprefling the univerfal gra¬
vitation of matter. It will have many branches B C,
[ 754 ] S T R
difeovery of the primary force from an rrrewa/e know-StrengtVof
ledge oi the corpufcular forces of this particular matter Materials,
is abfolutely out of our power. u—
,AU we can learn is, the poffibility, nay the cer¬
tainty, of an innumerable variety of external fenfible
forms and qualities, by which different kinds of matter
wdll be diftinguilhed, arifing from the number, the order
of compofition, and the arrangement of the fubordinatc
particles of w’hich a particle of this or that kind of mat¬
ter is compofed. All thefe varieties will take place at
thole Imall and infenfible diftances which are between
A and H, and may produce all that variety which we
obferve in the tangible or mechanical forms of bodies,
3*
The fim-
pleft ex-
Di/E, F/G, &c. exprefling attra&ions, and alternate
repulfive branches C c I), E F, G H, &c. All thefe
wall be contained within a diftance AH, which does
not exceed a very minute fratftion of an inch.
The fimpleft particle which can he a conftituent of a
tended par- b°dy having IengtK breadth, and thicknefs, mull confift
tide con- °^our fuch atoms, all of which combine their influence
filts of four on each atom of another fuch particle. It is,evident that
atoms. the curve which expreffes the forces that conne<ft two
fuch particles mull be totally different from this original
curve, this hylarchic principle. Suppofing the laft
known, our mathematical knowledge is quite able to dif-
cover the firft ; but when wre proceed to comnofe a body
of particles, each of which confifts of four fuch partjeles,
we may venture to fay, that the compound force which
conneds them is almoft beyond cur fearch, and that the
fuch as elafticity,. du&ility, hardnefs, foftnefs, fluidity,
vapour, and all thofe unfeen motions or adions which we
obferve in full on and congelation, evaporation and con-
denfation, folution and precipitation, cryftallization, ve¬
getable and animal aflimilation and fecretion, &c. &c.
&c.. while all bodies muft be, in a certain degree,
elaltic, all muft gravitate, and all muft be incompeno-
trable.
dhis general and fatisfadory refemblanee between the
appearance of tangible matter and the legitimate confe-
quence of this general hypothetical property cf an atom
of matter, affords a confiderable probability that fuch is
the origin of all the phenomena. We earneftly recom¬
mend to our readers a careful perufal of Bofcovich’s ce¬
lebrated treatife. A careful perufal is neceflary for fee¬
ing its value j and nothing will be got by a hafty look
at it. The reader will be particularly pleafed with the
facility and evidence with which the ingenious author
has deduced all the ordinary principles of mechanics,
and with the explanation which he has given of fluidity,
and his dedudion from thence of the laws of hydiofta-
tics. . No part of the treatife is more valuable than the
dodrine of the propagation of preffure through folkl
bodies. This, however, is but juft touched on in the
courfe of the inveftigaticn of the principles of mechanics.
We {hall borrow as much as will {office for our prefent
inquiry into the ftrength of materials} and we truft that
our readers are not difplealed with this genefal {ketch
of the dodrine (if it may be fo called) of the cohefion
of bodies. It is curious and important in itfelf, and isxhe doe-
the foundation of all the knowledge we can acquire of the trine of co—
prefent article. We are forry to fay that it is as yet ahefion >et
new fubjed of ftudy ; but it is a very promifing one,a "ew iub"
and we by no means defpair of feeing the whole of che-^ '
miftry brought by its means within the pale of mechani¬
cal feience. The great and diftinguiftiing agent in che-
rniftry is heat, or fire the caufe of heat $ and one of its
moft Angular effeds is the converfion of bodies into ela-
ftic vapour. We have the cleareft evidence that this is
brought about by mechanical forces: for it can be oppof-
ed or prevented by external preffure, a very familiar me¬
chanical force. We may perhaps find another mechani¬
cal force which will prevent fulion.
Having now made our readers familiar with the mode
of adion in which cohefion operates in giving ftrength to
{olid bodies, we proceed to confider the {trains to which
this ftrength is oppofed.
A piece of folid matter is expofed to four kinds of^tra,^ t(J
{trains, pretty different in the manner of their operation, w hich
1. It may be torn afunder, as in the cafe of ropes, length is
ftvetchers, king-pofts, tye-beair.s, See. oppofed.
15 T R
t 755 1
S T K
Strength of
MateriaK
34
Matter
may be
palled
al'under.
33
A circutn-
ftance to
be attend¬
ed to in
every con-
ftru<ftion
requiring
flrtngth.
2. It may be crufhed, as in the cafe of pillars, pofts,
and trufs beams.
3. It may be broken acrofs, as happens to a joift or
lever of any kind.
4. It may be wrenched or twilled, as in the cafe of
the axle of a wheel, the nail of a prefs, &c.
I. It may be pulled asunder.
This is the fimplcft of all ftrains, and the others are
indeed modifications of it. To this the force of cohefion
is direBly oppofed, with very little modification of its ac¬
tion by any particular circumftances.
When a long cylindrical or prifmatic body, fuch as a
rod of wood or metal, or a rope, is drawn by one end,
it mult be refilled at the other, in order to bring its co¬
hefion into aftion. When it is faftened at one end, we
cannot conceive it any other way than as equally llretch-
ed in all its parts *, for all our obfervations and experi¬
ments on natural bodies concur in {bowing us that the
forces which connedl their particles, in any way what¬
ever, are equal and oppofite. This is called the third
law of motion •, and we admit its univerfality, while we
affirm that it is purely experimental (fee Physics).. Yet
we have met with differtations by perfons of eminent
knowledge, where propofitions are maintained inconfift-
ent with this. During the difpute about the communi¬
cation of motion, fome of the ableft writers have faid,
that a fpring compreffed or ftretched at the two ends
was gradually lefs and lefs compreffed or ftretched from
the extremities towards the middle: but the fame wri¬
ters acknowledged the univerfal equality of adlion and
reaction, which is quite incompatible with this Hate of
the fpring. No fuch inequality of compreffion or dilata¬
tion has ever been obferved ; and a little reflection will
ffiow it to be impoffible, in confiftency with the equality
of aftion and reaCtion.
Since all parts are thus equally ftretched, it follows,
that the ftrain in any tranfverfe feCHon is the fame, as
alfo in every point of that feCIion. If therefore the body
be fuppofed of a homogeneous texture, the cohefion of
the parts is equable ; and fince every part is equally
ftretched, the particles are drawn to equal diftances
from their quiefcent pofitions, and the forces which are
thus excited, and now exerted in oppofition to the ftrain-
ing force, are equal. This external force may be in-
creafed by degrees, which will gradually feparate the
parts of the body more and more from each other, and
the conneCling forces increafe with this increafe of di-
ftance, till at laft the cohefion of fome particles is over¬
come. This muft be immediately followed by a rup¬
ture, becaufe the remaining forces are nowr weaker than
before.
I tbs the united force of cohefion, immediately before the
difunion of the firft particles, that we call the STRENGTH
of the feClion. It may alfo be properly called its abso¬
lute strength, being exerted in the fimpleft form,
and not modified by any relation to other circum¬
ftances.
If the external force has not produced any permanent
change on the body, and it therefore recovers its former
dimenfions when the force is withdrawn, it is plain that
this ftrain may be repeated as often as w7e pleafe, and the
body which withftands it once will always wdthftand it.
It is evident that this ffiould be attended to in all ccn-
ftruftions, and that in all our inveftigations on this fub-Strength of
jeft this ftiould be kept ftriaiy in view. When we treat Mat^na s‘.
a piece of foft clay in this manner, and with this precau¬
tion, the force employed muft be very fmall. If we ex¬
ceed this, we produce a permanent change. The rod of
clay is not indeed torn afunder j but it has become
fomewhat more {lender : the number of particles in
a crofs fedlion is now {mailer *, and therefore, although
it will again, in this new form, fuffer, or allow an
endlefs repetition of a certain itrain without any far¬
ther permanent change, this ftrain is fmaller than the
former.
Something of the fame kind happens in all bodies
which receive a SETT by the ftrain to which they are ex-
pofed. All duftile bodies are of this kind. But there
are many bodies vyhich are not ductile. Such bodies
break completely whenever they are ftretched beyond
the limit of tlieir perfect elalticity. Bodies of a fibrous
ftru£ture exhibit very great varieties in their cohefion.
In fome the fibres have no lateral cohefion, as in theneties ;n.
cafe of a rope. The only way in w?hich all the fibres. o^eflon,
can be made to unite their ftrength is, to twift them to- but
gether. This caufes them to bind each other fo faft,
that any one of them will break before it can be drawm
out of the bundle. In other fibrous bodies, fuch as tim¬
ber, the fibres are held together by fome cement or glu¬
ten. This is feldom as ftrong as the fibre. Accordingly
timber is much eafier pulled afunder in a dire&ion tranf-
■ verfe to the fibres. There is, however, every poffible
variety in this particular.
In ftretcbing and breaking fibrous bodies, the vifible
extenfion is frequently very confiderable. This is not
folely the increafing of the diftance of the particles of
the cohering fibre : the greateft part chiefly arifes from
drawTing the crooked fibre ftraight. In this, too, there
is great diverfity •, and it is accompanied with important
differences in their power of withftanding a ftrain. In
fome woods, fuch as fir, the fibres on which the ftrength
moft depends are very ftraight. Such woods are com¬
monly very elaftic, do not take a fett, and break
abruptly when overftrained: others, fuch as oak and
birch, have their refilling fibres very undulating and
crooked, and ftretch very fenfibly by a ftrain. They
are very liable to take a fet, and they do not break fo
fuddenly, but give warning by complaining, as the car¬
penters call it 5 that is, by giving vifible figns of a de¬
rangement of texture. Hard bodies of an uniform glaffy
ftrufture, or granulated like ftones, are elaftic through
the whole extent of their cohefion, and take no fett, but
break at once when overloaded.
Notwithftanding the immenfe variety which mature
exhibits in the ftru&ure and cohefion of bodies, there
are certain general fa£ls of which we may nowr avail our-
felves with advantage. In particular, 37
The abfolute cohefion is proportional to the area ofche abfo-
the fe£tion. This muft be the cafe where the texture is^onor*'6'
perfefUy uniform, as ?ve have reafon to think it is in ftrengt^
glafs and the ductile metals. The cohefion of each par-proportion-
tide being alike, the whole cohefion muft be proper-ai to the
tional to their number, that is, to the area of the fec-jff^^ ^
tion. The fame muft be admitted with refpecl to bodies^‘1°"^"
of a granulated texture, where the granulation is regu-to theex-
lar and uniform. The fame muft be admitted of fibroustending
bodies, if we fuppofe their fibres equally ftrong, equallytorce-
5 C 2 denfe,
S T Ft
3»
Relative
Arencth.
Materials0 ^e!^e’ .an<^ ^ra^ar^y difpofed through the whole fe£iion j
anc^this we muft either fuppofe, or muft ftate the di-
veifity, and meafure the cohefion accordingly.
^ We rnay therefore aflert, as a general propofition on
this fubjedl, that the abfolute ftrength in any part of a
body by which it refiils being pulled afunder, or the
force which muft be employed to tear it afunder in that
part, is proportional to the area of the fe£lion perpendi¬
cular to the extending force.
Therefore all cylindrical or prifmatical rods are
equally ilrong in every part, and will break alike in
any part; and bodies which have unequal fedlions will
always break in the flendereft part. The length of the
cylinder or pril'm has no effeft on the ftrength ; and the
vulgar notion, that it is eafier to break a very long rope
than a ftiort one, is a very great miftake. Alfo the ab¬
folute ftrengths of bodies which have fimilar fedlions are
proportional to the fquares of their diameters or homolo¬
gous fides of the fedion.
The weight of the body itfelf may be employed to
lain it and to oreak it. It is evident, that a rope may
be fo long as to break by its own weight. When the
rope is hanging perpendicularly, although it is equally
ftrong in every part, it will break towards the upper
end, becaufe the drain on any part is the weight of all
that is below it. Its relative strength in any
part, or power of withftanding the ftrain which is ac¬
tually laid on it, is inverfely as the quantity below that
part.
When the rope is ftretched horizontally, as in towing
a ftiip, the ftrain arifing from its weight often bears a
very fenfible proportion to its whole ftrength.
Let AEB (tig. 3.) be any portion of fuch a rope,
and AC, BC be tangents to the curve into which its
gravity bends it. Complete the parallelogram ACBD.
It is well known that the curve is a catenaria, and that
DC is perpendicular to the horizon ; and that DC is
to AC as the weight of the rope AEB to the ftrain
at A.
In order that a fufpended heavy body may be equal¬
ly able in every part to carry its own weight, the fac¬
tion in that part muft be proportional to the folid con¬
tents of all that is below it. Suppofe it a conoidal
fpindle, formed by the revolution of the curve Aa e
(fig. 4.) round the axis CE. We muft have AC* : a c*
AEB fob : a ILb fol. This condition requires the
logarithmic curve for Aae, of which Cc is the axis.
I hefe are the chief general rules which can be fafely
deduced from our cleareft notions of the cohefion of bo¬
dies. In order to make any pradical ufe of them, it is
proper to have fome meafuresof the cohefion of fuch bo-
pies as are commonly employed in our mechanics, and
other ftrudures where they are expofed to this kind of
ftrain. d hefe muft be deduced folely from experiment.
Therefore they muft be confidered as no more than ge¬
neral values, or as the averages of many particular trials.
r 756 i
S T IP
T'S. 3.
Fig. 4.
3*7
The cohe¬
fion of me-
cnvarwus1' ,rregularities are very great, becaufe none of the
-tircuniftan- fubftances are conftant in their texture and firmnefs.
ets Metals differ by a thoufand circumftances unknown to
us, according to their purity, to the heat with which
they were melted, to the moulds in which they were
caft, and tne treatment they have afterwards received, Strensth of
bv rorcnncr. win*  : _ 7 ht 1
Materials.
by forging, wire-drawing, tempering, &c.
It is a very curious and inexplicable fad, that by for¬
ging a metal, or by frequently drawing it through a
moot a hole in a fteel plate, its cohefion is greatly in-
creafed. I his operation undoubtedly deranges the na¬
tural fituation of the particles. They are fqueezed
clofer together in one diredion ; but it is not in the di-
red ion m which they refill the fradure. In this direc¬
tion they are rather feparated to a greater diftance. The
general denfity, however, is augmented in all of them
except lead, which grows rather rarer by ware-drawing :
but its cohefion may be more than tripled by this opera¬
tion. Gold, filver, and brafs, have their cohefion nearly
tripled ; copper and iron have it more than doubled. In
this operation they alfo grow much harder. It is proper
to heat them to rednefs after drawing a little. This is
called*??ea/ing- 0r annealing It foftens the metal again,
and renders it fufceptible of another drawing without the
rilk of cracking in the operation.
We do not pretend to give any explanation of this re¬
markable and very important fad, which has fomething
relembling it in woods and other fibrous bodies, as will
be mentioned afterwards.
I he varieties in the cohefion of ftones and other mi¬
nerals, and of vegetable and animal fubftances, are hard¬
ly fufceptible of any defcription or claftification.
W e Ihall take for the meafure of cohefion the num- Cohefion
ber of pounds avoirdupois which are juft fufficient to tear aml
afunder a rod or bundle of one inch fquare. From this
it will be eafy to compute the ftrength correfponding to metals,^
any other dimenfion.
V?, Metals.
40
Gold, caft
Silver, caft
f Japan
| Barbary
Copper, caft <[ Hungary
j Anglefea
( Sweden
Iron, caft
{
Iron, bar
Steel, bar
'Ordinary
Stirian
Beft Swedifh and Ruffian
Horfe-nails
^ Soft
!_ Razor temper
' Malacca
Banca
Tin, caft Block
Englifh block
—— grain
Lead, caft
Regulus of antimony
Zinc - - _
Biimuth - - _ .
lbs.
20,000
24,000
40,000
43,000
19.500
22,000
31,000
34,000
37,000
42,000
59,000
68,000
75,ooo
84,000
71,000 (a)
120,000
150,000
3,ioo
3.600
3,800
5,200
6.500
860-
1,000
2.600
2,900
It
(a} This was an experiment by Mufchenbroek, to examine the vulgar notion that iron forged from, old horfe
ijails was ftrqnger than all ethers, and fhows its falfity.
S T H
t 757 1
S T R
41
Tenacity
of metals
increafed
by mix¬
tures.
Streftgth of It Is very remarkable that almoft all tbe mixtures of
Materials, metals are more tenacious than the metals themfelyes.
  The change of tenacity depends much on the proportion
of the ingredients, and the proportion which produces
the moft tenacious mixture is different in the different
metals. We have feleaed the following from the expe¬
riments of Mufchenbroek. The proportion of ingredi¬
ents here feleaed is that which produces the greateft
ftrength.
Two parts of gold with one of filver
Five parts of gold with one of copper
Five parts of filver with one of copper
Four parts of filver with one of tin
Six parts of copper with one of tin
Five parts of Japan copper with one of Banca
tin •• - - / " . ‘
Six parts of Chili copper with one of Ma¬
lacca tin - "
Six parts of Swedifti copper with one of Ma-#
lacca tin - - # "
Brafs confifts of copper and zinc in an un¬
known proportion ; its ftrength is
Three parts of block tin with one part of
lead - -
Eight parts of block tin with one part 01
sxinc - . , " *
Four parts of Malacca tin with one part oi
regulus of antimony
Eight parts of lead with one of zinc
Four parts of tin with one of lead and one
of zinc -
28,000
50,000
48,500
41,000
41,000
57,000
60,000
64,000
51,000
10,200
10,000
12,000
4>5°0
13,ooo
Thefe numbers are of confiderable ufe in the arts.
The mixtures of copper and tin are particularly intereft-
ing in the fabric of great guns. We fee that, by mixing
copper whofe greateft ftrength does not exceed 37,000,
with tin which does not exceed 6000, wc produce a me¬
tal whofe tenacity is ahnoft double, at the fame time that
it is harder and more eafily wrought. It is, however,
more fufible, which is a great inconvenience. We alio lee
that a very fmall addition of zinc almoft doubles the te¬
nacity of tin, and increaies the tenacity of lead five
times j and a fmall addition of lead doubles the tenacity
of tin. Thefe are economical mixtures. Ibis is a very
valuable information to the plumbers for augmenting
the ftrength of water-pipes.
By having recourfe to thefe tables, the engineer can
proportion the thicknefs of his pipes (of whatever metal)
to the preffures to which they are expofed.
2. The wood next the bark, commonly called the Strength of
white or blea, is alfo weaker than the reft j and the Mate”a|3-<
wood gradually increafes in ftrength as we recede from
the centre to the blea.
3. The wood is ftronger in the middle of the trunk
than at the fpringing of the branches or at the root’, and
the wood of the branches is weaker than that of the
trunk.
4. The wood of the north fide of all trees which
grow in our European climates is the weaktft,and that of
the fouth-eaft fide is the ftrongeft ; and the difference is
moft remarkable in hedge-row trees, and fuch as grow
fingly. The heart of a tree is never in its centre, but
always nearer to the north fide, and the annual coats of
wood are thinner on that fide. In conformity with
this, it is a general opinion of carpenters that timber is
ftronger whofe annual plates are thicker. . Lhe trachea
or air-veffels are weaker than the fimple ligneous fibres.
Thefe air-veffels' are the fame in diameter and number of
rows in trees of the fame fpecies, and they make the vi-
fible feparation between the annual plates. Therefore
when thefe are thicker, they contain a greater propor¬
tion of the fimple ligneous fibres.
5. All woods are more tenacious while green, and
lofe very confiderably by drying after the trees are fel¬
led.
The only author who has put it in our power to-
judge of the propriety of his experiments is Mufchen-
broek. He has deferibed his method of trial minutely ;
and it feems unexceptionable. The woods were ail
formed into flips fit for his apparatus, and part of the. flip
was cut away to a parallelepiped of J-th of an inch
fquare, and therefore-^th of a fquare inch in feftion. The
abfolute ftrengths of a fquare inch were as follow :
lib.
lib.
20, TOO
18.500
17,300
i5>50°
13,900
13,200
12.500
12,500
12,000
11,800
10,000
Mr Mufchenbroek has given a very minute detail of
the experiments on the aflr and the walnut, dating the
weights which were required to tear afunder flips taken
r   r\$ tr/ap rmH on pnrVi iirlp in a
Locuft tree
Jujeb
Beech, oak
Orange
Alder
Elm
Mulberry
Willow
Aih
Plum
Elder
Pomegranate
Lemon
Tamarind
Fir
Walnut
Pitch pine
Quince
Cyprefs
Poplar
Cedar
9-75? Abfolute
9>25° (trength of
8,75° different
8,330 kinds of
8,-q wood,
7,65°
6,750
6,000
• 5’5°Q
4,880
id, Woods.
We may premife to this part of the table the follow-
ing general obfervations. .
Tenavftv or x. The wood immediately furrounding the pith or
ftrength of heart of the tree is the weakeft, and its inferiority is io
wood. much more remarkable as the tree is older. In this ai-
fertion, however, we fpeak with fome hefitation. Mm-
ehenbroek’s detail of experiments is decidedly in the af¬
firmative. Mr Buffon, on the other hand, fays, that his
experience has taught him that the heart oi a found tree
is the ftrongeft ; but he gives no inftances. We are
certain, from many obfervations of our own, on very
large oaks and firs, that the heart is much weaker than
the exterior parts.
gular progretfion from the centre to the circumference.
The numbers of this table correfponding to thefe two
timbers may therefore be confidered as the average of
more than 50 trials made of each *, and he fays that all
the others were made with the fame care, We cannot
therefore fee any reafon for not confiding in the refults ;
yet they are confiderably higher than thofe given by
fome other writers. Mr Pitot fays, on the authority of
his own experiments, and of thofe of Mr Parent, that
60 pounds will juft tear afunder a fquare line of found
oak, and that it will bear 50 with fafety. This gives
8640 for the utmoft ftrength of a fquare inch, which is
much inferior to Mufchenbroek’s valuation.
We may add to thefe,
Ivory
Strength of
Materials.
44
and of
other fub-
ftances.
45
No fub-
ftance to
be (trained
S T R
Ivory
Bone
Horn
Whalebone
Tooth of lea-calf
- 16,270
5,250
8,75°
4,075
The reader will furely obferve, that thefe numbers ex-
prefs fomething more than the utmoft cohefion j for the
in architee We'glltS 316 fuCh 38 wil1 Very ^^ckly, that is, in a mi-
tore above nUtC ‘T’ te3r the.rods afund^ It may be faid in
tnre above
one half its
llrength.
' UC IdIU ill
general, that two thirds of thefe weights will fenfibly
impair the ftrength after a confiderable while, and that
one-half is the utmoft that can remain fufpended at them
without rilk for ever; and it is this laft allotment that
the engineer ihould reckon upon in his conftruaions.
There is, however, confiderable difference in this refpeft.
VV oods of a very ftraight fibre, fuch as fir, will be lefs
impaired \by any load which is not fufticient to break
them immediately.
r /J-C<7°!;ding to Mr Emerfon, the load which may be
lately fulpended to an inch fquare is as follows :
758 ] S T R
complicated in the prefect cafe. It mull be in feme cir-Stren.tl „r
cuitous way that compreffion can have any tendency to
tear afunder the pares of a folid body, and it is very dif- ‘ >  
ficult to trace the fteps. J
rnnf T ^ ^chs ^Perabiy hard and in
contadl, and difpofed in lines which are in the direftion
of tire external preffures, it does not appear how any
preffure can difumte the particles; but this is a gratui-
tous fuppofition. There are infinite odds again!! this
precife arrangement of the lines of particles; and the
comprcffibility of all kinds of matter in fome degree
flrows that the particles are in a fixation equivalent to
diftance. This being the cafe, and the particles, with
their intervals, or what is equivalent to intervals, beine
in ^nations that are oblique with refpea to the preffures^
1 muft follow, that by Iqueezing them together in one
Iron
Brafs -
Hempen rope
Ivory 1
Oak, box, yew, plum-tree
Elm, afh, beech
Walnut, plum
Red fir, holly, elder, plane, crab
Cherry, hazel
Alder, afp, birch, willow
Lead - - . .
Freeftone
76,400
35*6oo
19,600
15,700
7,850
6,070
5*36o
5,Goo
4*760
4,290
430
914
He gives us a pra&ical rule, that a cylinder whole di¬
ameter is d inches, loaded to one-fourth of its abfolute
ftrength, wall carry as follows :
Iron - 135,
Good rope - 22 ^
. Oak - . ,A C»‘-
Fir . . . .9)
The rank which the different woods hold in this lift
of Mr Emerfon’s is very different from what we find in
Mufchenbroek’s. But precife meafures muft not be ex¬
pected in this matter. It is wonderful that in a matter of
fuch unqueftionable importance the public has not ena¬
bled fome perfons of judgement to make proper trials.
They are beyond the abilities of private perfons.
II. Bodies may be crushed.
It is of equal, perhaps greater, importance to know
know what ^ flrain which may be laid on folid bodies without
wi'l cmfli danger of crulhing theim Pillars and ports of all kinds
bodies. aie expofed to this ftrain in its fimpleft form ; and there
are cafes wiiere the ftrain is enormous, viz. where it arifes
from the oblique polition of the parts ; as in the ftuts,
braces, and truffes, which occur very frequently in our
great works.
It is therefore moft oefirable to have fome general
knowledge of the principle which determines the ftrength
of bodies in oppofition to this kind of ftrain. But un¬
fortunately we are much more at a lofs in this than in
the lari cale. The mechanum of nature is much more
4
^. 4s
It is of in¬
i' n- ,1 / ^ujgcuier in one
1.region, th^,a.re made to buIge °ut or feparate in other
directions. 1 his may proceed fo far that fome may be
thus pufhed laterally beyond their limits of cohefion.
I he mom Ait that this happens the refiftance to compref-
mn is dimmifhed, and the body will now be crufhed to¬
gether. We may form fome notion of this by fuppofinp-
a number of fpherules, like fmall fliot, flicking together
by means of a cement.. Comprefling this in fome par-
t'cnlar direfhon caufes the fpherules to a£l among each
other like fo many wedges, each tending to penetrate
through between the three which lie below it : and this
is the fimpleft, and perhaps the only diftinft, notion we
can have of the matter. We have reafon to think that
the conftitution of very homogeneous bodies, fuchaso-lafs
is not very different from this. The particles are&cer-
tainly arranged fymmetrically in the angles of fome re¬
gular fohds. It is only fuch an arrangement that is con¬
fident with tranfparency, and with the free paflW of
light in evert/ direction. b
If this be the conftitution of bodies, it appears proba- Theit7
bIe tbat Jbe 1 f^g^* or the refiftance which they areRrenSth
capable of making to an attempt to crufti them to pieces power
is proportional to the area of the feftion whofe plane isofrefift_
perpendicular to the external force; for each particle be r' Ci? t0
ingfimilarly and equally afted on and refifted, the whole force*
refiftance muft be as their number ; that is. as the ex
tent of the feaion. ’
Accordingly this principle is affumed by the few wri¬
ters who have confidered this fubjeft; but we confefs
that it appears to us very doubtful. Suppofe a number
ot brittle or friable balls lying on a table uniformly ar¬
ranged, but not cohering nor in contaft, and that a
board is laid over them and loaded with a weight ; we
have no hefitation in faying, that the weight neceffary
to crufti the whole colledfion is proportional to their num¬
ber or to the area of the fe&ion. But when they are
in contatt (and ftill more if they cohere), we imagine
that the cafe is materially altered. Any individual ball
is crufhed only in confequence of its being bulged out¬
wards in the direftion perpendicular to the preffure em¬
ployed. If this could be prevented by a hoop put
round the ball like an equator, we cannot fee how any
force can crufti it. Any thing therefore which makes
this bulging outwards more difficult, makes a greater
force neceffary. Now this effed will be produced by
the mere contad of the balls before the preffure is ap¬
plied ; for the central ball cannot fwell outward lateral¬
ly without puflnng away the balls on all fides of it
This is prevented by the fridion on thetable and upper
board
S T R
[ 759 1
S T R
Strength ofboard, which is at leaft equal to one third of the pref-
Matenak fure> Tims any interior ball becomes itronger by the
“ 1 mere vicinity of the others j and if we farther fuppofe
them to cohere laterally, we think that its ftrength will
be Hill more increafed.
The analogy between thefe balls and the cohering
particles of a friable body is very perfect. We Ihould
therefore expeft that the ftrength by which it refills be¬
ing crulhed will increafe in a greater ratio than that of
the fe£tion, or the fquare of the diameter of fimilar fec-
tions *, and that a fquare inch of any matter will bear a
greater weight in proportion as it makes a part ol a
greater fedtion. Accordingly this appears in many ex¬
periments, as will be noticed afterwards. Mufchenbroek,
Euler, and fome others, have fuppofed the ftrength of
columns to be as the biquadrates of their diameters.
But Euler deduced this from formulae which occurred
to him in the courfe of his algebraic analyfis 5 and he
boldly adopts it as a principle, without looking for its
foundation in the phyfical aflumptions which he had
made in the beginning of his inveftigalion. But fome
of his original aflumptions were as paradoxical, or at
leaft as gratuitous, as thefe refults : and thofe, in parti¬
cular, from which this proportion of the ftrength of co¬
lumns was deduced, were almoft foreign to the cafe j
and therefore the inference was of no value. Yet it was
✓ received as a principle by Mufchenbroek and by the aca¬
demicians of St Peterfburgh. We make thele very tew
obiervations, becaufe the fubjedt is of great pradtical
importance j and it is a great obftacle to improvements
when deference to a great name, joined to incapacity or
indolence, caufes authors to adopt his carelefs reveries as
principles from which they are afterwards to draw im¬
portant confequences. It muft be acknowledged that
we have not as yet eftabhfhed the relation between the
/ dimenfions and the ftrength of a pillar on folid mechani¬
cal principles. Experience plainly contradidls the ge¬
neral opinion, that the ftrength is proportional to the
area of the fedfion •, but it is {till more inconfiftent with
the opinion, that it is in the quadruplicate ratio of the
diameters of fimilar fedfions. It would feem that tne
ratio depends much on the internal ftrudlure of the bo-
only by ex- dy •, and experiment feems the only method for afcer-
peument. Gaining its general law's.
If we fuppofe the body to be of a fibrous texture,
having the fibres fituated in the direction of the preflure,
and {lightly adhering to each other by fome kind of ce¬
ment, fuch a body will fail only by the bending of the
fibres, by which they will break the cement and be de¬
tached from each other. Something like this may be
Tuppofed in wooden pillars. In fuch cafes, too it would
appear that the refiftance muft be as the number of equal¬
ly refilling fibres, and as their mutual fupport, jointly j
and, therefore, as fome fundtion of the area of the fec-
tion. The fame thing muft happen if the fibres are na¬
turally crooked or undulated, as is obferved in many
woods, &c. provided we fuppofe fome fimilarity in their
form. Similarity of fome kind muft always be fuppofed,
otherwife we need never aim at any general inferences.
In all cafes therefore we can hardly refufe admitting
that the ftrength in oppofition to compreflion is propor-
tional to a fundlion of the area of the fedfion.
As the whole length of a cylinder or prifm is equally
prefled, it does not appear that the ftrength of a pillar
is at all affedted by its length. If indeed it be fuppofed
43
to be as¬
certained
to bend under the preffure, the cafe is greatly changed,Strength o-f
becaufe it is then expofed to a tranfverfe ftrain; and this Matfcna-Sq
increafes with the length of the pillar. But this will
be confidered with due attention under the next clafs
of ftrains.
Few experiments have been made on this fpecies of
ftrength and ftrain. Mr Petit fays, that his experiments
and thofe of Mr Parent, (how that the force neceffary for
crufhing a body is nearly equal to that which will tear it
afunder. He fays that it requires fomething more than
60 pounds on every fquare line to crufh a piece of found
oak. But the rule is by no means general : Glafs, for
inftance, will carry a hundred times as much as oak in
this way, that is, refting on it j but will xvo>\. fufpend
above four or five times as much. Oak will iufpend a
great deal more than fir j but fir will carry twice as
much as a pillar. Woods of a foft texture, although,
confifting of very tenacious fibres, are more eafily cruftr-
ed by their load. This loftnefs of texture is chiefly ow¬
ing to their fibres not being ftraight but undulated, and
there being confiderable vacuities between them, fo that
they are eafily bent laterally and crufhed. When a poll
is overftrained by its load, it is obferved to fwelHenfibly
in diameter. Increafing the load caufes longitudinal
cracks or (hivers to appear, and-it prefently after gives
way. This is called crippling.
In all cafes where the fibres lie oblique to the ftrain
the ftrength is greatly diminiftied, becauie the parts can
then be made to Hide on each other, when the cohefion
of the cementing matter is overcome.
Mufchenbioek has given fome experiments on tjjis
fubjed ; but they are cafes oflong pillars, and therefore
do not belong to this place. Ihey will be confidered
afterw'ards.
The only experiments of which wTe have feen any de¬
tail (and it is ufelefs to infert mere affertions) are thofe
of Mr Gauthey, in the 4th volume of Rozier’s Journal
de Physique. This engineer expofed to great prefiures
fmall rectangular parallelepipeds, cut from a great va¬
riety of ftones, and noted the weights which cruftied
them. The following table exhibits the medium refults
of many trials on two very uniform kinds of freeftone,
one of them among the hardeft and the other among the
fofteft ufed in building. _ _
Column lit exprefles the length AB of the feCtion inExpen_
French lines or 1 2ths of an inch j column 2d exprefles ments for
the breadth BC j column 3d is the area of the feCtion this pur-
in fquare lines j column 4th is the number of ounces rc-P^^3
quired to crufli the piece j column 5th is the weight ftong "
which was then borne by each fquare line of the lec¬
tion j and column 6th is the round numbers to which
Mr Gauthey imagines that thofe in column 5th ap¬
proximate.
AB
8
8
8
9
9
18
18
BC
8
12
16
16
18
18
Hard Stone.
AB X BC Weight
64
96
128
736
2625
4496
Soft Stone.
144
162
324
432
c6o
848
29:8
5296
Force
1M
27-3
35-1
3 9
5-3
9
12.2
12
24
36
4
4-5
9
121
Little
s T R [ 760 ] S T R
Strength of little can be deduced from thefe experiments : The
^iatenals. jfl. an(j ^d, compared with the 5th and 6th, (hould fur*
nidi fimilar refults ; for the ift and 5th are refpeftively
halt of the 3d and 6th : but the 3d is three times ftronger
(that is, a line of the 3d) than the firlf, whereas the 6th
is only twice as itrong as the 5th.
It is evident, however, that the ftrength increafes much
fader than the area of the leflion, and that a fquare line
can carry more and more weight, according as it makes
a part of a larger and larger feftion. In the feries of
experiments on the foft done, the individual ftrength of
a fquare line feems to increafe nearly in the proportion
of the fe61ion of which it makes a part.
Mr Gauthey deduces, from the whole of his numer¬
ous experiments, that a pillar of hard ftone of Givry,
whofe feftion is a fquare foot, will bear with perftft lafety
664,000 pounds, and that its extreme ftrength is 871,000,
and the Imalleti ftrength obferved in any of his experiments
was 460,000. Uhe foft bed of Givry ftone had for its
fmalleft ftrength 187,000, for its greateft 311,000, and
for its fate load 249,000. Good brick will carry with
fafety 320,000 j chaik will carry only 9000. The bold-
eft piece of architecture in this refpeCt which he has feen
is a pillar in the church of All-Saints at Angers. It is
24 feet long and 1 1 inches fquare, and is loaded with
60,000, which is notone-fevenlh of what is ntctffary for
cruthing it.
We may obferve here by the way, that Mr Gauthey’s
meafure of the fufpending ftiength of ftone is vaftly fmall
in proportion to its power of fupporting a load laid' above
it. He finds that a prifra of the hard bed of Givry, of
a foot feCtion, is torn afunder by 4600 pounds j and if
50 it be firmly fixed horizontally in a wall, it w ill be broken
notfatis- by a weight of 56,000 fufpended a foot from the wall. If
fadtory. on two propS at a focq diftance, it will be broken
by 206,000 laid on its middle. 1 hefe experiments a-
gree fo ill with each other, that little ufe can be made
of them. The iubjeCt is of great importance, and well
51- deferves the attention of the patriotic philolopber.
©ood ex- A fet of good experiments would be very valuable, be-
nmchwant cau^e ,'t aga‘lifi; this ^’‘no ftram that we muft guard
>want-by judicious conftruftion in the molt delicate and diffi¬
cult problems which come through the hands of the ci¬
vil and military engineer. The conftruCtion of ftone
arches, and the conftruClion of great wooden bridges,
and particularly the conftru&ion of the frames of car¬
pentry called centres in the erection of ftone bridges,
are the moft difficult jobs that occur. In the centres on
which the arches of the bridge of Orleans w^ere built
feme of the pieces of oak were carrying upwards of tw’o
tons on every fquare inch of their fcantling. AH who
faw it faid that it was not able to carry the fourth part
of the intended load. But the engineer underftood the
principles of his art, and ran the rilk: and the refult
completely juftjfied his confidence j for the centre did
not complain in any part, only it was found too fupple j
fo that it went out of ffiape while the haunches only of
the arch were laid on it, The engineer cone&ed this
by load’ng it at the crown, and thus kept it completely
in ffiape during the progrefs of the work.
In the Memoirs (old) of the Academy of Peterftmrgh
for *778, there is a difiertation by Euler on this fubjeft,
but particularly limited to the ftratn on columns, in
which the bending, is taken into the account, Mr Eufs
1*24 treated the fame fubjeft with relation to carpentry
3
in a fubfequent volume. But there is little in thefe pa-Strength of
pers befides a dry mathematical difquiiition, proceeding on -vlaunals.
affumptions which (to Ipeak favourably) are extremely
gratuitous. 1 he molt important confequence of the
compreffion is wffioliy overlooked, as w'e ihall prefc ntly
fee. Our knowdedge of the mtchaniim ot cohelion is
as yet far too impeifedt to entitle us to a confident ap¬
plication of mathematics. Experiments Ihould be mul¬
tiplied.
T he only way we can hope to make thefe experiments tt°w ftiey
ufeful is to pay a careful aitention to the manner ina e toH-e
which the fra&ure is produced. By difeovering the U
neral relemblances in this particular, we advance a hep
in our power of introducing mathematical meafurement.
Thus, when a cubical piece of chalk is dowdy cruffied
between the chaps ol a vice, we lee it uniformly Iplit in
a furface oblique to the preffure, and the two parts then
Aide along the iurface of fiatture. This fhould lead us
to examine mathematically what relation there is be¬
tween this furface of frafture and the neceffary force \
then we ffiould endeavour to deteimine experimentally
the pofition of this furface. Having dilcoyered fome
general law or refemblance in this circumftance, we
Ihould try w hat mathematical hypothelis wdll agree w ith
this. Having found one, we may then apply our ftmpleft:
notions of cohefion, and compare the xefult of our
computations with experiment. We are authorifed to
fay, that a feiies of experiments have been made in this
w;ay, and that their relults have been very uniform, and
therefore fatisfaftory, and that they will foon be laid be¬
fore the public as the foundations of luccelsful praflice
in the conftrudion of arches.
III. A Body may be broken across.
The moft ufual, and the greateft ftrain, to which ma Itisofim-
terials are expofed, is that which tends to break them (JOIiai te
tranfverfely. It is feldom, however, that this is done into,^iH!,w •
a manner perfectly Ample; tor when a beam proje<ftswin break
horizontally from a wall, and a weight is fufpended from a body
its extremity, the beam is commonly broken near the tianfvtrfe”
wall, and the intermediate part has performed the fnnc-iy*
tions of a lever. It fometimes, though rarely, happens
that the pin in the joint of a pair of pincers or fcilfars is
cut through by the ftrain ; and this is almoft the only
cafe of a limple tranfveife fra&ure. Being fo rare, we
may content ourfelves with fa>ing, that in this cafe the
ftrength of the piece is proportional to the area of the
fe£ion. ^
Experiments w-ere made for difeovering the refiftances Experi.
made by bodies to this kind of ftrain in the following ments
manner : Two iron bars were difpofed horizontally at n)ade
an inch diftance ; a third hung perpendicularly be tween ^cer am
them, being iupported by a pin made of the fubftance to
be examined. This pin was made of a prifmatic form,
fo as to fit exa&ly the holes in the three bars, which
w^ere made very exaff, and of the fame fize and drape.
A fcale was fufpended at the lower end of the perpen¬
dicular bar, and loaded till it tore out that part of the
pin which filled the middle hole. This weight was evi¬
dently the meafure of the lateral cohefion of two feftions.
The fide-bars were made to grafp the middle bar pretty
ftrongly between them, that there might be no diftance
impofed between the oppofite preflures. This would
have combined the energy of a lever with the purely
tranfmfe preffure* For the fame reafon it was necef-
fary
>
55
Their re
fult.
5«
The
ftrengtli
of a lever,
tfg- 5-
S T R [76
Strength offAVy tliat the internal parts of the holes Htould be no
Materials, filler than the edges. Great irregularities occurred
in our firft experiments from this caufe, becaufe the pins
were fomewhat tighter within than at the edges; but
when this was correaed they were extremely regular.
We employed three fets of holes, viz. a circle, a fquare
(which was occafionally made a redangle whofe length
was twice its breadth), and an equilateral triangle. We
found in all our experiments the ftrength exaaiy pro¬
portional to the area of the feaion, and quite independ¬
ent of its figure or pofition, and wre found it corfiderably
above the direft cohefion ; that is, it took confiderably
more than twice the force to tear out this middle piece
than to tear the pin afunder by a diredt pull. . A piece
of fine freeftone required 205 pounds to pull it direftly
afunder, and 575 to break it in this way. The differ¬
ence was very conftant in any one fubftance, but varied
from four-thirds to fix-thirds in different kinds of matter,
being fmalleft in bodies of a fibrous texture. But indeed^
we could not make the trial on any bodies of confider-
able cohefion, becaufe they required fuch forces as our
apparatus could not fupport. Chalk, clay baked in the
fun, baked fugar, brick, and freeftone, were the ftrongeft
that we could examine.
But the more common cafe, where the energy ox a
lever intervenes, demands a minute examination.
Let DABC (fig. '5.) be a vertical feaion of a
prifmatic folid (that is, of equal fize throughout), pro-
ieaing horizontally from a wall in which it is firmly
fixed; and let a weight P be hung on it at B, or let
any power P aa at B in a direaion perpendicular to
AB. Suppofe the body of infuperable ftrength m every
part except in the vertical feaion DA, perpendicular to
its length. It muft break in this feaion only. _ Let the
eohefion be uniform over the whole of this feaion j that
is, let each of the adjoining particles of the two parts
cohere with an equal force/ _ , , nm
There are two ways in which it may break. I he part
ABCD may fimply Aide down along the furface of frac¬
ture, provided that the power aaing at B is equal to t^e
accumulated force which is exerted by every particle ot
the feaion in the direaion AD.
But fuppofe this effeaually prevented by fomethmg
that fupports the point A. The aaion at P tends to make
the body turn round A (or round a horizontal line paf-
ling through A at right angles to AB) as round a joint.
This it cannot do without feparating at the line DA.
In this cafe the adjoining particles at D or at E will be
feparated horizontally. But their cohefion refifts this
feparation. In order, therefore, that the Mure may
happen, the energy or momentum of the power P, ac¬
ting by means of the lever AB, muft be^fuperior to the
accumulated energies of the particles. The energy of
each depends not only on its cohefive force, but alio on
its fituation •, for the fuppofed infuperable firmnefs of
the reft of the body makes it a lever turning round the
fulcrum A, and the cohefion cf each particle, fuch as
D or E, afts by means of the arm DA or EA. I he
energy of each particle will therefore be had by multi¬
plying the force exerted by it in the inftant of fraflure
by the arm of the lever by which it afts.
Let us therefore firft fuppofe, that in the inftant or
fracture every particle is exerting an equal torce/ The
energy of D will be/xEA, and that of E will be^/ X
EA, and that of the whole will be the fum of all thefe
Vol. XIX. Part II.
I ] S T R
products. Let the depth DA of the fecVion he called ^
and let any undetermined part of it E A be called x, and /
then the fpace occupied by any particle will be x.
The cohefion of this fpace may be reprefented by fxt
and that of the whole by /r/. The energy by which
each element x of the line DA, or </, refifts the frac¬
ture, will be fx 'x, and the whole accumulated energies
will be f x/ x. This we know to be f X i or
fd X\d. It is the fame therefore as if the cohefion
fd of the whole feaion had been ading at the point G,
which is the middle of DA.
The reader who is not familiarly acquainted with this
fluxionary calculus may arrive at the fame conclufion in
another way. Suppofe the beam, inftead of projeding
horizontally from a wall, to be hanging from the ceiling,
in which it is firmly fixed. Let us confider how the
equal cohefion of every part operates in hindering tbe
lower part from feparating from the upper by opening
round the joint A. The equal cohefion operates juft as
equal gravity would do, but in the oppofite dire&ion.
Now we know, by the molt elementary mechanics, that
the effeft of this will be the fame as if the whole weight
were concentrated in the centre of gravity G of the line
DA, and that this point G_is in the middle of DA.
Now the number of fibres being as the length d of tne
line, and the cohefion of each fibre being zr/ the co¬
hefion of the whole line is / X ^ or fd-
The accumulated energy therefore of the cohefion in
the inftant of Mure is /</ X I d. Now this muft be
equal or juft inferior to the energy of the power employ¬
ed to break it. Let the length AB be called /; then
P X / E the correfponding energy of the power. T his
gives us fd^d—pliox the equation of equilibrium cor¬
refponding to the vertical leftion ADCB.
Suppofe now that tbe frafture is not permitted at
DA, but at another fe&ion 2 a more remote from B.
The body being prifmatic, all tbe vertical fe&ions are
equal 5 and therefore fd \d\s the fame as befoie. But
tbe energy of the power is by this means mcreafed, be¬
ing now = P X B «, inftead of P X BA : Hence we fee
that when the prifmatic body is not infuperably ftrong
in all its parts, but equally ftrong throughout, it muft
break clofe at tbe wall, where the ftrain or energy of
the power is greateft. We fee, too, that a power which
is juft able to break it at the wall is unable to break it
anywhere elfe ; alfo an abfolute cohefion fd, which can
withftand the power p in the feftion DA, will not with-
ftand it in the fedion and will withftand more in
the feftion d' a'.
This teaches us to diftinguifii between abfolute and
relative ftrength. The relative ftrength of a fedion has
a reference to the ftrain adually exerted on that iedion.
This relative ftrength is properly meafured by the power
which is ]uft able to balance or overcome it, when
applied at its proper place. Now fince we had fd^d
* * i* d 1
—/> /, we have p—^-j— for the meafure of the ftrength
of the fedion of the fedion DA, in relation to the power
applied at B. ,
If the folid is a redangular beam, whofe breadth is b,
it is plain that all the vertical fedions are equal, and
that AG or U is the fame in all. Therefore the equa-
5 D ' ' tion
S T R
^ylaterH °rtl0n exPre^*ing l^e equilibrium between the momentum
'na 'S', t^e external force and the accumulated momenta of
cohefion will be.p l—Jdby,~-d.
The produtl £ evidently expreffes the area of the
feftion of frafture, which we may call j-, and we may
exprefs the equilibrium l\ms, p l—f s^d, anti. 2 l: d—
fs:p.
Now fs is a proper expreflion of the abfolute cohe¬
fion ol the feftion of fracture, and is a proper mcafure
of its ftrength in relation to a power applied at B. We
may theieforc fay, that twice the length of a reElangulav
beam is to the depth as the abfolute cohefon to the rela¬
tive frength.
Since the aflion of equable cohefion is fimilar to the
action of equal gravity, it follows, that whatever is the
figure of the feftion, the relative ftrength will be the
fame as if the abfolute cohefion of all the fibres were
acting at the centre of gravity of the feftion. Let g
be the diftance between the centre of gravity of the fec-
tion and the axis of frafture, we (hall have p l —f r
and / \ g-=zf s : p. It will be very ufeful to recollect this
analogy in words : “ The length of a prifmatic beam of
any (hope is to the height of the centre of gravity above
the lower fide, as the abfolute cohefon to the frength re¬
lative to this length?"1
Becaufe the relative ftrength of a rectangular beam
. fbd^d fbd* . r
is    or —y, it follows, that the relative ftrengths
of different beams are proportional to the abfolute cohe¬
fion of the particles, to the breadth, and to the fquare of
the depth dheClly, and to the length inverfely ; alfo in
prifm-s w'hofe feCtions are fimilar, the ftrengths are as the
cubes of the diameters.
Such are the more general refults of the mechanifm
of this tranfverfe ftrain, in the hypothefis that all the
particles are exerting equal forces in the inftant of frac¬
ture. We are indebted for this do&rine to the cele-
brated Galileo j and it was one of the firft fpecimens of
the application of mathematics to the fcience of nature.
We have not included in the preceding inveftigation
that aftion of the external force by which the folid is
drawn fidewife, or tends to Hide along the furface of frac¬
ture. We have fuppofed a particle E to be pulled only
in the direftion E e, perpendicular to the feCHon of frac¬
ture, by the aClion of the crooked lever BAE. But it
is alfo pulled in the direction EA j and its reaCtion is
in fome direCHon s E, compounded of if by which it
refills being pulled outwards •, and i e by which it refifts
being pulled downwards. We are but imperfeClly ac¬
quainted wdth the force s e, and only know that their
accumulated fum is equal to the force p ; but in all im¬
portant cafes which occur in praCtice, it is unneceffary to
attend to this force *, becaufe it is fo fmall in compari-
fon of the forces in the direction Ee, as wre eafily conclude
irom the ufual fmallnefs of AD in comparifon of AB.
The hypothefis of equal cohefion, exerted by all the
bypothtfis particles in the inftant of fraCture, is not conformable to
formable natlire : f°r we know, that when a force is applied tranf-
to nature, verfely at B, the beam is bent downwards, becoming
convex on the upper fide ; that fide is therefore on the
ftretch. \ he particles at D are farther removed from
each other than thofe at E, and are therefore a&ualh/
exerting greater cohefive forces. We cannot fay with
certainty aqd precifion in what proportion each fibre is
extended. . It feems moft probable that the extenfions
[ 762 ]
S T R
57 .
Afcertain-
ed on the
hypothefis
of equalco
hefion:
58
hut that
are proportional to the diftances from A. We {hall fup- Strength of
pofe this to be really the cafe. Now recoiled the ge- Materials,
neral law which we formerly faid was obferved in all f
moderate extenfions, ti/iz. that the attradive forces ex¬
erted by the dilated particles were proportional to their
dilatations. Suppofe now that the beam is lo much bent
that the particles at D are exerting their utmoft force,
and that this fibre is juft ready to break or adually
breaks. It is plain that a total fradure muft immedi¬
ately enfue j becaufe the force wrhich was fupenor to
the full cohtfion of the particle at D, and a certain por¬
tion of the cohefion of all the reft, will be more than fu-
pericr to the full cohefion of the particle next within
D, and a fmaller portion of the cohefion of the remain¬
der.
Now let F reprefent, as before, the full force of the
exterior fibre D, which is exerted by it in the inftant of
its breaking, and then the force exerted at the fame in¬
ftant by the fibre E will be had by this analogy, AD :
AE, or d: x—fand the force really exerted by
the fibre E is /x -7*
a
The force exerted by a fibre whofe thicknefs is x is
; but this force refifts the ftrain by ading
by means of the lever EA or x. Its energy or mo-
therefore'
mentum is therefore
f x1 x
, and the accumulated momen¬
ta of all the fibres in the line AE will lie f x fum of
• This, when x is taken equal to d, will exprefs the
momentum of the whole fibres in the line AD. This,,
therefore, is /-t-, or/| </*, ox f dX ^d. Now fd ex¬
preffes the abfolute cohefion of the whole line AD. The
accumulated momentum is therefore the fame as if the
abfolute cohefion of the whole line were exerted at one-
third of AD from A.
From thefe premifes it follows that the equation ex- ^
preffing the equilibrium of the ftrain and cohefion is /> /ftrength
t=fdy,\d; and hence we deduce the analogy, “ afeertained
thrice the length is to the depth, fo is the abfolute cohefon on.
to the relative frength?'1 principles.
This equation and this proportion will equally apply
to redangular beams xvhofe breadth is b ; for we (hall
then have p l—fb d y. \ d.
We alfo fee that the relative ftrength is proportional
to the abfolute cohefion of the particles, to the breadth,
and to the fquare of the depth diredly, and to the length
inverfely : for p is the meafure of the force with which
•• fbdid fbd1
it is relilted, and p—  , — 7-. In this re-
l 31
fped therefore this hypothefis agrees with the Galilean j
but it affigns to every beam a fmaller proportion of the
abfolute cohefion of the fedion of fradure, in the pro¬
portion of three to two. In the Galilean hypothefis
this fedion has a momentum equal to one-half of its ab¬
folute ftrength, but in the other hypothefis it is only one-
third. In beams of a different form the proportion may
be different.
As this is a moft important propofition, and the foun¬
dation
S T R [76
60
The fame
propofition
prefented
in another
point of
view.
F,g. 6.
Strength ofdation of many practical maxims, we are anxious to have
Materials cicarly comprehended, and its evidence perceived by
‘■“'“’’V"”"-' all. Our better informed readers will therefore indulge
us while we endeavour to prefent it in another point of
view, where it will be better feen by thofe who are not
familiarly acquainted with the fluxionary calculus.
Fig. 6. A is a perfpedlive view of a three-fided
beam projecting horizontally from a wall, and loaded
with a weight at B juft; fufRcient to break it. DABC
is a vertical plane through its higheft point D, in the
direction of its length. <7 D is another vertical feCtion
perpendicular to AB. The piece being fuppofed of in-
fuperable ftrength everywhere except in the feClion
rt D <7, and the coheflon being alfo fuppoied infuperable
along the line a A. a, it can break nowhere but in this
feCtion, and by turning round a A a as round a hinge.
Make D J equal to AD, and let D ^ reprefent the ab-
folute cohelion of the fibre at D, which abfolute cohe-
fion we expreffed by the fymboiyi Let a plane a da
be made to pafs through a a and d, and let d a' a' be
another crofs feCtion. It is plain that the prifmatic fo-
lid contained between the two feCtions c D a and a' da!
will reprefent the full cohefion of the whole feCtion of
fraCture} for we may conceive this prifm as made up of
lines fuch as F/, equal and parallel to D d, reprefent-
ing the abfolute cohefion of each particle fuch as F.
The pyramidal folid dT) a a, cut off by the plane da a,
will reprefent the cohefions achially exerted by the dif¬
ferent fibres in the inftant of fraCture. For take any
point E in the furface of fraCtuie, and draw E e paral¬
lel to AB, meeting the plane a d a in and let e AE
be a vertical plane. It is evident that D is to E ^ as
AD to AE ; and therefore (fince the forces exerted by
the different fibres are as their extenfion, and their ex-
tenfion as their diftances from the axis of fraCture) E e
will reprefent the force aCtually exerted by the fibre in
E, while D is exertisg its full force T>d. In like
manner, the plane FF/f expreffes the cohefion exerted
by all the fibres in the line FF, and fo on through
the whole furface. Therefore the pyramid da a~D ex¬
preffes the accumulated exertion of the whole furface of
fraCture.
Farther, fuppofe the beam to be held perpendicular
to the horizon with the end B uppermoft, and that the
weight of the prifm contained betwreen the two feCtions
aT) a and a'da! (now horizontal) is juft able to over¬
come the full cohefion of the feCtion ot fraCture. The
weight of the pyramid d Y) a a will alfo be juft able to
overcome the cohefions actually exerted by the different
fibres in the inftant of fraCture, becaufe the weight of
each fibre, fuch as F. e, is juft fuperior to the cohefion
aCtually exerted at E.
Let 0 be the centre of gravity of the pyramidal fo¬
lid, and draw 0 O perpendicular to the plane aT> a.
The whole weight of the folid </ D a a may be conceiv¬
ed as accumulated in the point 0, and as aCting on the
point O, and it will have the fame tendency to feparate
the two cohering furfaces as when each fibre is hanging
by its refpeCtive point. For this reafon the point O
may be called the centre of actual effort of the unequal
forces of cohefion. The momentum therefore, or ener¬
gy by which the cohering furfaces are feparated, will
be properly meafured by the %veight of the folid dT> a a
multiplied by OA *, and this produCl is equal to the
produft of the weight p multiplied by BA, or by /.
5 3 s T R 
Thus fuppofe that the cohefion along the line ikD only St
is confidered. The whole cohefion will be reprefen ted ^
by a triangle AD d. D d reprefents f, and AD is d,
and AD is x. Therefore AD d is ^fd. The centre
of gravity 0 of the triangle AD d is in the interfeClion
of a line drawn from A to the middle of D with a
line drawn from d to the middle of AD ; and therefore
the line 0 O will make AO=j of AD. Therefore the
aftual momentum of cohefion isfxidXyd, —fxaX
Yd, — fdx\d, or equal to the abfolute cohtfion aCling
by means of the lever —. If the feClion of fracture is
. 3 . .
a reCtangle, as in a common joift, whofe breadth a a
is — b, it is plain that all the vertical lines will be
reprefen ted by triangles like A~Dd; and the whole ac¬
tual cohefion will be reprefented by a wedge whofe
bafes are vertical planes, and which is equal to half of
the parallelepiped AD xD^X^tf, and will therefore
be zz^fbd; and the diflance AO of its centre of
gravity from the horizontal line AA' will be of AD.
The momentum of cohefion of a joift wdll therefore be
Ysfbdx^d, or fbd\d, as we have determined in the
other way.
The beam reprefented in the figure is a triangular
prilm. The pyramid JDaad is -j- of the prifm aaYyda'a’.
If we make s reprefent the furface of the triangle a Da,
the pyramid is y oi fs. The diftance AO of its centre
of gravity from the horizontalline A A' is 4 ot AD, or
4 d. Therefore the momentum of aCtual cohefion is
?x fs X 4 ^4 —fs^d; that is, it is the fame as if the
full cohefion of all the fibres were accumulated at a
point I whofe diftance from A is 4th of AD or d; or
(that we may fee its value in every point of view) it is
■g-th of the momentum of the full cohefion ot all the fi¬
bres when accumulated at the point D, or aCting at the
clifiance ubrAD.
This is a very convenient way of conceiving the mo¬
mentum of aftual cohefion, by comparing it with the
momentum of abfolute cohefion applied at the diftance
AD from the axis of fraCture. The momentum of the
abfolute cohefton applied at D is to the momentum of
aCtual cohefion in the inftant of fraCture as AD to AI.
Therefore the length of AI, or its proportion to AD,
is a fort of index of the ftrength of the beam. We thali
call it the Index, and exprefs it by the fymbol i.
Its value is eafily obtained. The produCl of the ab¬
folute cohefion by AI muft be equal to that of the ac¬
tual cohefion by AO. Therefore fay, “ as the prifma¬
tic folid aaDda' af is to the pyramidal folid a aD d,
fo is AO .to AI.” We are affifted in this determina¬
tion by a very convenient circumftance. In this hypo-
thefis of the aftual cohefions being as the diftances of
the fibres from A, the point O is the centre of ofcilla-
tion or percuflion of the furface Dan turning round
the axis a a : for the momentum of cohefion of the line
FF is FF xF/x EA—FF x EA*, becaufe Fy is equal
to EiE Now AO, by the nature of the centre of gra¬
vity, is equal to the fum of all thefe momenta divided
by the pyramid a a D d; that is, by the fum of all the
FF X Fy,- that is, by the fum of all the FF X EA.
Therefore AO~
fum of FF x E A*
fum of FF x EA ’
which is juft the
value of the diftance of the centre of percufiion of the
triangle aaD from A: (See Rotation). Moreover,
S D 2 ' . ^
s T R [ 754
Strength of If G be the feantre of gravity of the triangle aDa, we
, ".atem s. fjjaij }iave t0 QA as the abfolute cohefion to the
7 fum of the cohefions a&ually exerted in the inrtant of
frafture ; for, by the nature of this centre of gravity,
A „ . . fum of FF x EA
AU is equal to
S T E
61
llow tlie
illative
liter
may
termined
t'V any o-
ther hypo
teefls.
furaofFF * a"d the f“m 0f FF X
AG is equal to the fum of FF X EA. But the fum of
all the lines FF is the triangle aT> ay and the fum of all
the FFx EA is the fum of all the rectangles Y¥ff;
that is, the pyramid r/U a a. Therefore a prifm whofe
bafe is the triangle a~D a, and whofe height is AG, is
equal to the pyramid, or will exprefs the him of the ac¬
tual cohefions ; and a prifm, whofe bafe is the fame tri¬
angle, and whofe height is D ^ or D a, expreffes the
abfolute cohefion. Therefore DA is to GA as the ab¬
folute cohefion to the fum of the aftual cohefions.
Therefore we have DA : GArrOA : LA.
Therefore, whatever be the form of the beam, that
is, whatever be the figure of its feClion, find the centre
of ofcillation O, and the centre of gravity G of this
ftclion. Call their diftances from the axis of fraClure o
and g.
Then AI or
a
and the momentum of co-
op
hefion is /\r X —7, where s is the area of frafture.
a
This index is eafily determined in all the cafes which
generally occur in praftice. In a reftangular beam AI
is yd of AD ; in a cylinder (^circular or elliptic) AI is
x^ths of AD, &c. &c.
In this hypothefis, that the cohefion adlually exerted
by each fibre is as its extenfion, and that the extenfions
of the fibres are as their diftances from A (fig. 5.),
it is plain that the forces exerted by the fibres D, E,
&c. will be reprefented by the ordinates Dr/, E e, &c.
to a ftraight line A d. And we learn from the princi¬
ples of Rotation that the centre of percuifion O is in
the ordinate which paffes through the centre of gravity
of the triangle AD </, or (if we confider the whole fec-
tion having breadth as well as depth) through the cen¬
tre of gravity of the folid bounded by the planes DA,
d A; and we found that this point O was the centre of
effort of the cohefions aBually exerted in the inftant of
frafture, and that I was the centre of an equal momen¬
tum, which would be produced if all the fibres were ac¬
cumulated there and exerted their full cohefion.
This confideration enables us to determine, with equal
facility and neatnefs, the ftrength of a beam in any hy¬
pothefis of forces. The above hypothefis was introdu¬
ced with a cautious limitation to moderate drains, which
produced no permanent change of form, or no fett as
the artifts call it : and this fuffices for all purpofes of
praClice, feeing that it would be imprudent to expofe
materials to more violent drains. But when we com¬
pare this theory with experiments in which the pieces
are really broken, confiderable deviations may be ex-
pefted, becaufe it is very probable that in the vicinity
of rupture the forces arc no longer proportional to the
extenfions.
That no doubt may remain as to the juftnefs and
may'be de- completenefs of the theory, we mud diow how the rela¬
tive ftrength may be determined in any other hypothe¬
fis. Therefore fuppofe that it has been eftabliftred by
experiment on any kind of folid matter, that the forces
a&ually exerted in the inftant of fraCtuxe by the fibres
at D, E, &c. are as the ordinates D d\ E e\ &c. of any Strength cf
curve line Ke'd'. We are fuppofed to know the form Materials.
of this curve, and that of the folid which is bounded by   V  
the. vertical plane through AD, and by the furface
which pafies through this curve A e'd’ perpendicularly
to tne length of the beam. We know the place of the
centre of gravity of this curve furface or folid, and can
draw a line through it parallel to AB, and cutting the
furface of fradture in fome point O. ’ihis point is alfo-
the centre of effort of all the cohefions actually exerted ;
and the produCt of AO and of the folid which expreffes
the aftual cohefions will give the momentum of cohefion
equivalent to the former f r °—,
d
Or we may find an
index AI, by making AI a fourth proportional to the
full cohefion of the furface of fraCture, to the accumula¬
ted aftual cohefions, and to AO ; and then fs x i
(=AI) will be the momentum of cohefion; and we
fliall ftill have I for the point in which all the fibres
may be fuppofed to exert their full cohefion yj and to
produce a momentum of cohefion equal to the real mo¬
mentum of the cohelions actually exerted, and the rela¬
tive ftrength of the beam will ftill be pzz---— or^--^
Thus, if the forces be as the fquares of the extenfions
(ftill fuppofed to be as the diftances from A), the curve
A e'd' will be a common parabola, having AB for its
axis and AD for the tangent at its vertex. The area.
AD d' will be |d AD X D d; and in the cafe of a
rectangular beam, AO will be dfths AD, and AI will
be |-th of AD.
We may obferve here in general, that if the forces
aftually exerted in the inftant of fraCture be as any
power q of the diftance from A, the index AI will be
AD
— for a rectangular beam, and the momentum of
y-j-2
coheiion will always be (c a-ter is paribus) as the breadth
and as the fquare of the depth; nay, this will be the
cafe whenever the aCtion of the fibres D and E is ex-
preffed by any fmilar funSlions of d and x. This is evi¬
dent to every reader acquainted with the fluxionary cal¬
culus.
As far as w^e can judge from experience, no Ample
algebraic power of the diftance will exprefs the aCtual
cohefions of the fibres. No curve which has either AD
or AB for its tangent will fuit. The obfervations which
we made in the beginning fhow, that although the curve
of fig. 2. muft be fenfibly ftraight in the vicinity of the
points of interfeClion with the axis, in order to agree
wfith our obfervations which ftrow the moderate exten¬
fions to be as the extending forces, the curve mujl be
concave towards the axis in all its attraClive branches,
becaufe it cuts it again. Therefore the curve Kd d'
of fig. 5. muft make a finite angle with AD or AB,
and it muft, in all probability, be alfo concave to¬
wards AD in the neighbourhood of d'. It may how¬
ever be convex in fome part of the intermediate arch.
We have made experiments on the extenfions of differ¬
ent bodies, and find great diverfities in this refpeft :
But in all, the moderate extenfions were as the forces,
and this with great accuracy till the body took a fett,
and remained longer than formerly when the extending
force was removed.
We muft now remark, that this corre£lion of the Ga¬
lilean hypothefis of equal forces was fuggefted by the
bending
S T R
[ 765 3
S T R
€t
^Bernoulli’s
problem of
tbe elaftic
curve.
Strength of bendin*? wbicli is obfervea in all bodies wVncn are fliaiu-
Matenals. ecj traniverfely. Becaufe they are bent, the fibres on
^ ^ the convex fide have been extended. We cannot fay in
what proportion this obtains in the different fibres. Our
moft diftinft notions of the internal equilibrium between
the particles render it highly probable that their exten-
fion is proportional to their diftance from that fibre
which retains its former dimenfions. But by whatever
larv this is regulated, we fee plainly that the adlions of
the flretched fibres mull follow the proportions of fome
function of this diftance, and that therefore the relative
ftrength of a beam is in all cafes fufceptible of mathema¬
tical determination.
We alfo fee an intimate connexion between the ftram
and the curvature. Bhis fuggefted to the celebrated
James Bernoulli the problem of the Elastic Curve,
i. e. the curve into which an extenfible rigid body will
be bent by a tranfverfe ftrain. His folution in the Afla
Lipjtce 1694 and 1695 *s a very beautiful fpecimen of
mathematical difcuflion ; and we recommend it to the
perufal of the curious reader, He wall find it very per-
fpicuoufiy treated in the firft volume of his works, pub-
liihed after his death, where the wide fteps which he
had taken in his inveftigation are explained fo as to be
eafily comprehended. His nephew _ Daniel Bernoulli
has given an elegant abridgement in the Peterfburg
Memoirs for 1729. The problem is too intricate to .be
fully di feu fled in a work like ours ; but it is alfo too in¬
timately connefted with our prefent fubjeft to be entire¬
ly omitted. We muft content ourfelves with fhowing
the leading mechanical properties of this curve, from
which the mathematician may deduce all its geometri¬
cal properties.
When a bar of uniform depth and breadth, and of a
given length, is bent into an arch of a circle, the ex-
tenfion of the outer fibres is proportional to the curva¬
ture j for, becaufe the curves formed by the inner and
outer fides of the beam are fimilar, the circumferences
are as the radii, and the radius of the inner circle is to the
difference of the radii as the length of the inner circum¬
ference is to the difference of the circumferences. The
difference of the radii is the depth of the beam, the dif¬
ference of the circumferences is the extenfion of the
outer fibres, and the inner circumference is fuppofed to
be the primitive length of the beam. Now the fecond
and third quantities of the above analogy, viz. the depth
and length of the beam, are conftant quantities, as is al¬
fo their produft. Therefore the produft of the inner ra¬
dius and the extenfion of the outer fibre is alfo a con¬
ftant quantity, and the whole extenfion of the outer fibre
is inverfely as the radius of curvature, or is direftly as
the curvature of the beam.
The mathematical reader will readily fee, that into
whatever curve the elaftic bar is bent, the whole exten¬
fion of the outer fibre is equal to the length oi a fimilar
curve, having the fame proportion to the thicknels of
the beam that the length of the beam has to the radius
of curvature.
Fig. 7. Now let ADCB (fig. 7.) be fuch a rod, of uni¬
form breadth and thicknefs, firmly fixed in a verti¬
cal pofition, and bent into a curve AEFB by a weight
W fufpended at B, and of fucE magnitude that the ex¬
tremity B has its tangent perpendicular to the aftion ol
the weight, or parallel to the horizon. Suppofe too
that the extenfions are proportional to the extending
63.
Its leading
mechanical
property
deferibed.
forces. From any two points E and F draw the hori- Strength
zontal ordinates EG, FH. It is evident that the exte- ,Matcm‘^
rior fibres of the feSions E c and F/ are ftretched by
forces which are in the proportion of EG to FH (thefe
being the long arms of the levers, and the equal thick-
neffes E e, F/ being the Ihort arms). Therefore (by
the hypothefis) their extenfions are in the fame.propor-
tion. But becaufe the extenfions are proportional to
fome fimilar functions ol the diftance from the axes ol
fradfture E and F, tne extenfton of any fibre in the fec-
tion E <? is to the contemporaneous extenfion of the fimi-
larly fituated fibre in the feclron Fyj as the extenfion oi.
the exterior fibre in the feftion E c is to the extenfion oi
the exterior fibre in the feaion Ff: therefore the whole
extenfion of E e is to the whole extenfion of F/as EG
to FH, and EG is to EH as the curvature in E to the
curvature in F. .
Here let it be remarked, that this proportionality of
the curvature to the extenfion of the fibres is not li¬
mited to the hypothefis of the proportionality of the
extenfions to the extending forces. It follows from
the extenfion in the different fedions being, as fome
fimilar fundion of the diftance from the axis of frac¬
ture an affumption which cannot be refufed.
This then is the fundamental property of the elaftic
curve, from which its equation, or relation between the
abfeiffa and ordinate, may be deduced in the ufual formsj
and all its other geometrical properties., ihefe are
foreign to our purpofe j and we {hall notice only fuc.i
properties as have an immediate relation to the ftiam
and ftrength of the different parts of a flexible body, and
which in particular ferve to explain fome difficulties in
the valuable experiments of M. Buffon on the Strength
of Beams. . 64
We obferve, in the firft place, that the .elaftic curve It yot a
cannot be a circle, but is gradually more incurvated.asci
it recedes from the point ot application B of the {train¬
ing forces. At B it has no curvature j and if the bar
were extended beyond B there would be no curvature
there. In like manner, when a beam is fupported at
the ends and loaded in the middle, the curvature is
greateft in the middle ; but at the props, or beyond
them, if the beam extend farther,, there is no curvature.
Therefore when a beam projefting 20 feet from a wall
is bent to a certain curvature at the wall by a weight
fufpended at the end, and'a beam of the fame fize pro¬
jecting 20 feet is bent to the very fame curvature at the
wall by a greater wTeight at 10 feet diftance, the figure
and the mechanical ftate of the beam in the vicinity of
the wall is different in thefe two cafes, though the cur¬
vature at the very wall is the fame in both. In the firit
cafe every part of the beam is incurvated; in the fecond,
all beyond the 10 feet is without curvature. In the firftr
experiment the curvature at the diftance of five feet
from the wall is three-fourths of the curvature at the
wall; in the fecond, the curvature- at the fame place
is but one-half of that at the wall. This muft weaken
the long beam in this whole interval of five feet, becaule
the greater curvature is the refult of a greater extenfion
of the fibres, _ 6S
In the next place, we may remark, that there is a I-very^heavrl,..
certain determinate curvature for every- beam
cannot be exceeded without breaking it; for there ism;nate
a certain feparation of two adjoining particles thatvature.
puts an end to their cohefion. A fibre ca.n therefore
be
66
And when
©f uniform
. S T R r ?
‘Smlf-r', e-''tfndcd onl>' a cerlain proportion of its length.
   1 he ultimate extenfion of the outer fibres mult bear
a certain determinate proportion to its length, and
this proportion is the fame with that of the thicknefs
(°r what we have hitherto called the depth) to the
radius of ultimate curvature, which is therefore deter¬
minate.
©i umtorm ^ .beam of uniform breadth and depth is therefore
breadth and]*10 ,^ucurvated where the ftrain is greateft, and will
depth is .break In the moft meurvated part. But by changing
moft meur- its form, fo as lo make the ftrength of its different fec-
where the tl0nS in the ^ °f the ftrain» is is evident that the cur-
ftrarn is vature may be the fame throughout, or may be made to
.greateft. va,T according to any law. This is a remark worthy
ot the attention of the watchmaker. The mod delicate
problem in pra&ical mechanics is fo to taper the balance-
^ug a watch that its wide and narrow vibrations
may be ifochronous. Hooke’s principle ut tenfio ftc vis
n not fufficient when we take the inertia and motion of
the fpring itfelf into the account. The figure into
which it bends and unbends has alfo an influence. Our
readers will take notice that the artift aims at an accu¬
racy which will not admit an error of -g-^J^th, and
5hat Harrifon and Arnold have aftually attained it in
Several inftances. d he taper of a fpring is at prefent a
noftrum in the hands of each artift, and he is careful not
to impart his fecret.
. Again, fince the depth of the beam is thus propor¬
tional to the radius of ultimate curvature, this ultimate
or breaking curvature is inverfely as the depth. It may
57
To what
the curva
be expreffed by -.
a
, When a wTeight is hung on the end of a pnfmatic
oeam, the curvature is nearly as the weight and the
portionaf0" lenSth dire<aiy> and as the breadth and the cube of the
' - - - - : bd'
depth inverfely j for the ftrength is r= /—T. Let us
3 1
luppofe that this produces the ultimate curvature -.
d
i\ow let the beam be loaded with a fmaller weight w,
and let the curvature produced be C, w^e have this ana-
. b d
■logy / —j' : cj and c =
_ 3
3/ 4 ' 7^7- ^ ^ evident
that this is alfo true of a beam fupported at the ends and
loaded between the props j and we fee how to deter¬
mine the curvature in its different parts, whether
arifing irom the load, or from its own weight, or from
both.
When a beam is thus loaded at the end or middle,
the loaded point is pulled dowm, and the (pace through
6g which it is drawn may be called the Deflection. This
DefleAion. may be confidered as the fubtenfe of the angle of con¬
tact, or as the verfed fine of the arch into w'hich the
beam is bent, and is therefore as the curvature when
the length of the arches is given (the flexure being mo¬
derate), and as the fquare of the length of the arch
when the curvature is given. The deflexion therefore
is as the curvature and as the fquare of the length of
the arch jointly ; that is, as x /*, or as The
Jbd* Jbd*
deflexion from the primitive fhape is therefore as the
bending weight and the cube of the length direftly, and
as the breadth and cube of the depth inverfely.
In beams juft ready to break, the curvature is as the
2
66 ] S T R
depth mverlely, and the defkaion is as the ftjuare ofatrenttl, of
the length divided by the depth ; for the ultimate cur- Materials,
vatme at the breaking part is the fame whatever is the v—“■**
ofThe l’e„7h.in tl,iS Cafe tl“! dclkai‘“ is “ “-e fquare TheXeo.
W U ^ u i . rernsrefult-
U e have been the more particular in our confideration in£ from
of this lubjefl, becaufe the refulting theorems afford us thisfnbjt<a
the fineft methods of examining the laws of corpufcular
adlion, that is, for difeovenng the variation of the force thodsef ex*
of cohefion by a change of diftance. It is true it is not amining
the atomical law, or Hylarchic Principle as it may the laws of
juftly be called, which is thus made acceftible, but theCOrpUftulaT
fpecific law of the particles of the fubilance or kind Gf adho11*
matter under examination. But even this is a very ^eat
point; and coincidences in this refpeft among thet> dif¬
ferent kinds of matter are of great moment. We may
thus learn the nature of the corpufcular adion of diffe¬
rent fubftances, and perhaps approach to a difeovery of
the mechanifm of chemical affinities. For that chemi¬
cal adfions are infenfible cafes of local motion is unde¬
niable, and local motion is the province of mechanical
dilcuffion ; nay, we fee that thefe hidden changes are
produced by mechanical forces in many important cafes,
for we fee them promoted or prevented by means purely
mechanical. The converfion of bodies into elaftic va¬
pour by heat can at all times be prevented by a fiifficient
external preffure. A ftrong folution of Glauber’s fait
will congeal in an inftant by agitation, giving out ita
latent heat; and it will remain fluid for ever, and return
its latent heat in a clofe veffel wffiich it completely fills.
Even water will by fuch treatment freeze in an inftant
by agitation, or remain fluid for ever by confinement.
We know that heat is produced or extricated by fric¬
tion, that certain compounds of gold or filver with faline
matters explode WTth irrefillible violence by the finalleli
preffure or agitation. Such fafts lliould roufe the ma¬
thematical philofopher, and excite him to follow out the
conjectures of the illuftrious Newton, encouraged by the
ingenious attempts of Bofcovich ; and the proper begin¬
ning of this fludy is to attend to the laws of attra&ion and
repuifion exerted by the particles of cohering bodies, dif-
coverable by experiments made on their aCtual exten-
fions and compreffions. The experiments of Ample ex-
tenfions and compreffions are quite infufficient, becaufe
the total ftretching of a wire is fo fmall a quantity, that
the miftake of the icooth part of an inch occafions an
irregularity which deranges any progreffion fo as to
make it ufelefs. But by the-bending of bodies, a diften-
fion of-fig-th of an inch may be eafily magnified in the
defleClion of the fpring ten thoufand times. We know
that the inveftigation is intricate and difficult, but not
beyond the reach of our prefent mathematical attain¬
ments ; and it wall give very fine opportunities of em-
ploying all the addrefs of analyfis. In the I'yth century
and the beginning of the i8th this was a fufficient ex¬
citement to the firft geniufes of Europe. The cycloid,
the catenaria, the elaftic curve, the velaria, the cauftics,
were reckoned an abundant recompenfe for much ftudy ;
and James Bernoulli requefted, as an honourable monu¬
ment, that the logarithmic fpiral might be inferibed on
his tombftone. The reward for the ftudy to which we
now prefume to incite the mathematicians is the almoft
unlimited extenfion ot natural fcience, important in
every particular branch. To go no further than our
prefent fubje<ft, a great deal of important pradlical know¬
ledge
^ .
Bernoulli
calls in
queftion
this law,
S T R [
Strength of ledge refpe&tng the ftrength of bodies is derived from
Materials. ^ fjngje obfervation, that in the moderate extenfions
' v which happen before the parts are overftrained the forces
are nearly in the proportion of the extenlions or repara¬
tions of the particles. To return to our fubjeft.
James Bernoulli, in bis fecond diflertation on the elas¬
tic curve, calls in queftion this law, and accommodates
his inveftigation to any hypethefis concerning the rela¬
tion of the forces and extenfions. He relates fome ex¬
periments of lute firings where the relation was confider-
ably different. Strings of three feet long,
Stretched by 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 pds.
Were lengthened 9, 17, 23, 27, 30 lines.
But this is a moft exceptionable form of the experiment.
The firings were twifted, and the mechanifm of the ex¬
tenfions is here exceedingly complicated, combined with
compreftions and with tranfverfe twifts, &c. We made
experiments on fine flips of the gum caoutchouc, and on
the juice of the berries of the white bryony, of which a
fingle grain will draw to a thread of two feet long, and
again return into a perfectly round fphere. We rnea-
fured the diameter of the thread by a microfcope with a
micrometer, and thus could tell in every fete of exten-
fion the proportional number of particles in the fe&ions.
We found, that though the whole range in which the
diftance of the particles was changed in the proportion
of 13 to I, the extenfions did not fenfibhj deviate from
the proportion of the forces. The fame thing was ob-
lerVed in the caoutchouc as long as it perfectly recover¬
ed its firft dimenfions. And it is on the authority of
thefe experiments that we prefume to announce this as a
law of nature.
Dr Robert Hooke was undoubtedly the firft who at¬
tended to this fubjefl, and afiumed this as a law of na¬
ture. Pvlariotte indeed was the firft who exprefsly ufed
it for determining the ftrength of beams : this he. did
about the 1679, correcting the fimple theory of Galileo.
Leibnitz indeed, in bis differtation in the Acia Erudi-
torum 1684 dc Refijlentia So/idorum, introduces this con-
fideration, and wifhes to be coniidered as the difeoverer j
and he is always acknowledged as fuch by the Bernoullis
and others who adhered to his peculiar doctrines. But
Marriotte had publifhed the doClrine in the moft exprefs
terms long before ; and Bulfinger, in the Comment. Pe-
tropol. 1729, completely vindicates his claim. But
Hooke was unqueftionably the difeoverer. of this law.
It made the foundation of his theory of fprings, announ¬
ced to the Royal Society about the year 1661, and read
in 1666. On this occafion he mentions many things on
the ftrength of bodies as quite familiar to his thoughts,
which are immediate deduclions from this principle j and
among thefe a//the fa£b which John Bernoulli fo vaunt-
ingly adduces in fupport of Leibnitz’s finical dogmas
about the force of bodies in motion ; a tloCfrine which
Hooke might have claimed as his own, had he not per¬
ceived its frivolous inanity.
But even with this firft correction of Marriotte, the
mechanifm of tranfverfe (train is not fully npr juftly ex¬
plained. The force aCting in the direction BP (fig. 5.),
I y° exp lam' 3nd bending the body ABCD, not only ftretches the
fibres on the fide oppofite to the axis of fraCture, but
comprefles the fide AB, which becomes concave by the
(train. Indeed it cannot do the one without doing the
other : For in order to ftretch the fibres at D, there
.
whirli was
fir ft a (Tu¬
rned by
Dr Hooke.
72
Though
corredled
by Mari-
otte, it does
the mecha-
nifm of
tranfvejfe
(train,
767 ] S T R
muft be fome fulcrum, fome fupport, on whlcl the vir-Strength of
tual lever BAD may prefs, that it may tear afunder the
ftretebed fibres. This fulcrum muft fuftain both the
preffure arifing from the cohefion of the diftended fibres,
and alfo the aCJion of the external force, which imme¬
diately tends to caufe the prominent part of the beam to
Hide along the feCfion DA. Let BAD (fig. 5.) be
confidered as a crooked lever, of which A is the ful¬
crum. Let an external force be applied at B in the di¬
rection BP, and let a force equal to the accumulated
cohefion of AD be applied at O in the direction oppo¬
fite to AB, that is, perpendicular to AO and let thefe
two forces be fuppofed to balance each other by/the in¬
tervention of the lever. In the firft place, the force at
O muft be to the force at B as AB to AO : Therefore,
if we make AK equal and oppofite to AO, and AL
equal and oppofite to AB, the common principles of
mechanics inform us that the fulcrum A is affeCled in
the fame manner as if the two forces AK and AL were
immediately applied to it, the force AK being equal to
the weight P, and AL equal to the accumulated cohe¬
fion actually exerted in the irritant of fraCture. The ful¬
crum is therefore really prefled in the direction AM, the
diagonal of the parallelogram, and it muft refill in the
direction and with the force MA \ and this power of re-
fiftance, this fupport, muft be furniihed by the repul-
five forces exerted by thofe particles only which are in a
ftate of aCtual compreftion. The force AK, which is
equal to the external force P, muft be refilled in the di¬
rection KA by the lateral cohefion of the whole parti¬
cles between D and A (the particle D is not only drawn
forward but downward). This prevents the part CDAB
from Hiding down along the feCtion DA. 73
This is fully verified by experiment. If we attempt as is fully
to break a long flip of cork, or any fuch very comprelfi-verifil:<;l blr
ble body, we always obferve it to bulge out on the con-^f^1"
cave fide before it cracks on the other fide. If it is a
body of fibrous or foliated texture, it feldom fails fplin-
tering off on the concave fide 5 and in many cafes this
fplintering is very deep, even reaching half way through
the piece. In hard and granulated bodies, fuch as a
piece of freeftone, chalk, dry clay, fugar, and the like,
we generally fee a confiderable fplinter or ftiiver fly off
from the hollow fide. If the fraCture be {lowly made
by a force at B gradually augmented, the formation of
the fplinter is very diftinCtly feen. It forms a triangu¬
lar piece like alb, which generally breaks in the mid¬
dle. We doubt not but that attentive obfervation would
{borv that the direction of the crack on each fide of I is
not very different from the direction AM and its corre-
fpondent on the other fide. This is by no means a cir-
cumftance of idle curiofity, but intimately connected
with the mechanifm of cohefion.
Let us fee what confequences refult from this ftate of Confequsn-
the cafe refpeCting the ftrength of bodies. Let DAKC ces refult-
(fig. 8.) reprefent a vertical feCfion of a prifm of
preffible materials, fuch as a piece of timber. Suppofe cf1'jlie‘‘ca{-e<
it loaded with a weight P hung at its extremity. Sup- yig. s.
pofe it of fuch a conftitution that all the fibres in AD
are in a ftate of dilatation, while thofe in A A are in a
ftate of compreffion. In the inftant of fraClure the par¬
ticles at D and E are with-held by forces D d, E s, and
the particles at A and E repel, refill, or fupport, with
forces A E -.
Some line, fuch as dn A will limit all thefe
ordi¬
nate?,.
Strength of
Materials.
75
An impor¬
tant confe-
quence of
the com-
preffibility
of body
fully pro¬
ved.
S T R [ 768 ] S T R
nates, 'wltich reprefent the forces a&ually exerted in the
inlfant of ffa£lure. If the forces be as the extenfions
and compreffions, as we have great reafon to believe,
</e A and A e 5 will be two ftraight lines. They will
form one ftraight line d Ah, if the forces which refill a
certain dilatation are equal to the forces which refill an
equal compreffion. But this is quite accidental, and is
not ftriftly true in any body. In molt bodies which
have any confiderable firmnefs, the compreflions made
by any external force are not fo great as the dilatations
which the fame force would produce •, that is, the repul-
fions which are excited by any fuppofed degree of com-
preflion are greater than the attra6fions excited by the
fame degree of dilatation. Hence it will generally fol¬
low, that the angle d AD is lefs than the angle h A A,
and the ordinates D </, E <?, &c. are lefs than the corre-
fponding ordinates A h, E i, &c.
But whatever be the nature of the line d Ah, w7e are
certain of this, that the whole area AD d is equal to the
whole area A A 5 : for as the force at B is gradually in-
creafed, and the parts between A and D are more ex¬
tended, and greater cohefive forces are excited, there is
always fuch a degree of repulfive forces excited in the
particles between A and A that the one fet precifely ba¬
lances the other. The force at B, afting perpendicu¬
larly to AB, has no tendency to pufh the whole piece
clofer on the part next the wall or to pull it away.
The fum of the attradlive and repulfive forces adlually
excited muft therefore be equal. Thefe Turns are repre-
fented by the two triangular areas, which are therefore
equal.
The greater we fuppofe the repulfive forces corre-
fponding to any degree of compreflion, in comparifon
with the attradlive forces correfponding to the fame de¬
gree of extenfion, the fmaller wdll A A be in compari¬
fon of AD. In a piece of cork or fponge, A A may
chance to be equal to AD, or even to exceed it; but
in a piece of marble, A A wdll perhaps be very fmall in
comparifon of AD.
Now7 it is evident that the repulfive forces excited be¬
tween A and A have no lhare in preventing the fradlure.
They rather contribute to it, by furnilhing a fulcrum to
the lever, by whofe energy the cohefion of the particles
in AD is overcome. Hence we fee an important con-
fequence of the compreflibility of the body. Its power
of refilling this tranfverfe drain is diminilhed by it, and
fo much the more diminiflied as the fluff is more com-
preflible.
This is fully verified by fome very curious experiments
made by Du Hamel. He took 16 bars of willow 2 feet
long and 4 an inch fquare, and fupporting them by props
under the ends, he broke them by weights hung on the
middle. He broke 4 of them by weights of 40, 41, 47,
and 52 pounds: the mean is 45. He then cut 4 of them
-I d through on the upper fide, and filled up the cut with
a thin piece of harder wood ftuck in pretty tight. Thefe
were broken by 48, 54, 50, and 52 pounds; the mean of
which is 51. He cut other four \ through, and they were
broken by 47, 49, 50, 46 ; the mean of wdiich is 48.
The remaining four were cut -yds ; and their mean
ftrength wras 42* . .
Another fet of his experiments is ftill more remark¬
able.
Six battens of willow 36 inches long and l|- fquare
.were broken by 5 25 pounds at a medium,
I
Six bars were cut -yd through, and the cut filled with Strength t/
a wedge of hard wood ftuck in with a little force: thefe Materials.
broke with 551. - j
Six bars were cut half through, and the cut wras filled
in the fame manner : they broke with 542.
Six bats wrerecut -|ths through: thefe broke with 530.
A batten cut ^ths through, and loaded till nearly
broken, was unloaded, and the wedge taken out of the
cut. A thicker wedge was put in tight, fo as to make
the batten ftraight again by filling up fhe fpace left by
the compreflion of the w'ood : this batten broke with
377 pounds.
From this it is plain that more than -yds of the thick-
nefs (perhaps nearly ^ths) contributed nothing to the
ftrength.
The point A is the centre of fradlure in this cafe ;
and in order to eftimate the ftrength of the piece, rve
may fuppofe that the crooked lever virtually concerned
in the ftrain is DAB. We muft find the point I, which
is the centre of effort of all the attradlive forces, or that
point where the full cohefion of AD muft be applied, fo
as to have a momentum equal to the accumulated mo¬
menta of all the variable forces. We muft in like man¬
ner find the centre of effort i of the repulfive or fup¬
porting forces exerted by the fibres lying between A
and A.
It is plain, and the remark is important, that this laft
centre of effort is the real fulcrum of the lever, although
A is the point where there is neither extenfion nor con-
tradlion ; for the lever is fupported in the fame manner
as if the repulfions of the whole line AA were exerted at
that point. Therefore let S reprefent the furface of
fradlure from A to D, andy”reprefent the abfohite cohe-
fion of a fibre at D in the inftant of fradlure. We fliall
have jfS x l i—p J, or /:l i — fS \p\ that is, the
length AB is to the diftance between the two centres
of effort I and i, as the abfolute cohefion of the fedtion
between A and D is to the relative ftrength of the fec-
tion.
It would be perhaps more accurate to make AI and
Ai equal to the diftances of A from the horizontal lines
paffmg through the centres of gravity of the triangles
</AD and ^AA. It is only in this conftrudlion that the-
points I and i are the centres of real effort of the accu¬
mulated attradlions and repulfions. But I and i, deter¬
mined as we have done, are the points where the full,
equal, adlions may be all applied, fo as to produce the
lame momenta. The final refults are the fame in both
cafes. The attentive and duly informed reader will fee
that Mr Bulfinger, in a very elaborate differtation on
the ftrength of beams in the Comment. Petropolitan. 1729,
has committed feveral miftakes in his eftimation of the
adtions of the fibres. We mention this becaufe his rea-
fonings are quoted and appealed to as authorities by
Mufchenbroek and other authors of note. The fubjedl
has been confidered by many authors on the continent.
We recommend to the reader’s perufal the very minute
difeuflions in the Memoirs of the Academy of Paris for
1702 by Yarignon, the Memoirs for 1708 by Parent,
and particularly that of Coulomb in the Mem. par les
Sfavans Etrangers, tom. vii.
It is evident from wdiat has been faid above, that if
S and s reprefent the furfaces of the fedlions above and
below A, and if G and g are the diftances of their cen¬
tres of gravity from A, and O and_othe diftances of their
centres
S T R
[
6 ’ ~
analogy,
7
Strength of centres of ofclllation, and D and d their whole depths,
Materials. r , ^ M1 u yS’G’O fS'g-0
.v— i the momentum of cohefion will be —^^—
-pi.
If (as is moft likely) the forces are proportional to
the extenlions and compreffions, the diftances AI and
G*0 g.o
At, which are refpe&ively = and are re-
fpedively = | DA, and | A A •, and when taken toge¬
ther are = ^-DA. If, moreover, the extenfions are
equal to the compreflions in the inftant of fra&ure,. and
the body is a reftangular prifm like a common joift or
beam, then DA and A A are alfo equal j and there¬
fore the momentum of cohelion is fb X id X, \d, —
J ^ j ^ i d zz pi. Hence we obtain this
“ Six times the length is to the depth as
the abfolute cohelioii of the feftion is to its relative
ftrength.”
This confe- Thus we fee that the compreffibility of bodies has a
quence far- very great influence on their power of withftanding a
the* ex. tranfverfe ftrain. We fee that in this moft favourable fup-
vplained. p0fltion 0f equal dilatations and compreflions, the ftrength
'is reduced to one half of the value of what it would have
been had the body been incompreflible. This is by no means
obvious; for it does not readily appear how compref¬
fibility, which does not diminilh the cohefion of a Angle
fibre, lliould impair the ftrength of the whole. The rea-
fon, however, is fufticiently convincing when pointed out.
In the inftant of fra&ure a fmaller portion of the fedlion
is aftually exerting cohefive forces, while a part of it is
only ferving as a fulcrum to the lever, by whofe means
the ftrain on the feftion is produced. We fee too that
this diminution of ftrength does not fo much depend on
the fenfible compreflibility, as on its proportion to the
dilatability by equal forces. When this proportion is
final], A A is fmall in comparifon of AD, and a greater
portion of the whole fibre is exerting attractive forces.
The experiments already mentioned, of Du Hamel de
Monceau, on battens of willow, fhow that its comprefli-
bility is nearly equal to its dilatability. Hut the cafe is
not very different in tempered fteel. The famous Har-
rifon, in the delicate experiments which he made while
occupied in making his longitude watch, difcoyered that
a rod of tempered fteel was nearly as much ditninifhed
in its length as it was augmented by the fame external
force. But it is not by any means certain that this is
the proportion of dilatation and compreflion which ob¬
tains in the very inftant of fra&ure. We rather imagine
that it is not. The forces are nearly as the dilatations
till very near breaking ; but we think that they dimi-
nith when the body is juft going to break. But it feems
certain that the forces which refift compreflion increafe
fafter than the compreflions, even before frafture. We
know inconteftably that the ultimate refinances to com¬
preflion are infuperable by any force which we can em¬
ploy. The repulfive forces therefore (in their whole ex¬
tent) increafe fafter than the compreflions, and are ex-
prefled by an affymptotic branch of the Bofcovician
curve formerly explained. It is therefore probable, efpe-
cially in the more Ample fubftances, that they increafe
fafter, even in fuch compreflions as frequently obtain in
the breaking of hard bodies. We are difpofed to think
that this is always the cafe in fuch bodies as do not fly
off in fplinters on the concave fide j but this ravtft be
VOL. XIX. Part II.
69 ] S T ft
underftood with me exception of the permanent changes Strength of
which may be made by compreflion, when the bodies are ^Materials^
crippled by it. This always increafes the compreflion 'r’~
itfelf, and caufes the neutral point to fhift ftill more to¬
wards D. The effett of this is fometimes very great
and fatal.
Experiment alone can help us to difcover the propor¬
tion between the dilatability and compreflibility of bo -
dies. The ftrain now under confideration feems the belt
calculated for this refearch. Thus if we find that a.
piece of wood an inch fquare requires 12,000 pounds to
tear it afunder by a diredt pull, and that 200 pounds
will break it tranfverfely by adting xo inches from the
fedtion of fradture, we muft conclude that the neutral
point A is in the middle of the depth, and that the. at-
tradlive and repulfive forces are equal. Any notions
that we can form of the conftitution of fuch fibrous bo¬
dies as timber, make us imagine that && fenjible com¬
preflions, including what arifes from the bending up of
the compreffed fibres, is much greater than the real cor-
pufcular extenfions. One may get a geneial conviction
of this unexpedted propofition by refledting on what
muft happen during the fradture. An undulated fibre
can only be drawn ftraight, and then the corpufcular
extenfion begins j but it may be bent up by comprel-
fion to any degree, the corpufcular compreflion being
little affedted all the while. This obfervation is very im¬
portant *, and though the forces of corpufcular repulfion
may be almoft infuperable by any compreflion that we
can employ, a fenjible compreflion may be produced by
forces not enormous, fufficient to cripple the beam. Of
this we fhall fee very important inftances afterwards. . ^
It deferves to be noticed, that although the relative The pro-
ftrength of a prifmatic folid is extremely different in the portional
three hypothefes now confidered, yet the proportional ftrengdis 0f
ftrengths of different pieces follow the fame ratio pjeces f0[.
namely, the diredt ratio of the breadth, the direct ratio j o\v tlic
of the fquare of the depth, and the inverfe ratio of the fame ra»
length. In the firft hypothefis (of equal forces) the d0*
, fbd1. , r ,
ftrength of a redtangular beam was —77— j m the lecond
2/
(of attradlive forces proportioned to the extenfions) it
was fJ-L- • and in the third (equal attradtions and re-
3 ^
pulfions proportional to the extenfions and compreflions)
it was or more generally where m expref-
fes the unknown proportion between the attradtions and
repulfions correfponding to an equal extenfion and com¬
preflion. _ # # «
Hence we derive a piece of ufeful information, which
is confirmed by unexceptionable experience, that the ftrength ®f
ftrength of a piece depends chiefly on its depth, that is, a piece de-
on that dimenfion which is in the diredtion of the ftrain. pends chief-
A bar of timber of one inch in breadth and two inches ^
in depth is four times as ftrong as a bar of only one inch
deep, and it is twice as ftrong as a bar two inches broad
and one deep ; that is, a joift or lever is always ftrongeft ^
when laid on its edge. _ _ And there.
There is therefore a choice in the manner in which fore a
the eohefion is oppofed to the ftrain. The general aim choice in
muft be to put the centre of effort I as far from the ful-^1^1111'
crum or the neutral point A as poflible, fo as to give the which the
greateft energy or momentum to the cohefion. Thus if cohefion is
a triangular bar nroiedling from a \va 1 is loaded with a,0Ppofed t°
6 ‘ j r E weightche ftrum.
fbd'
S T R [ 7
Strengfh of weight: at its extremity, it will bear thrice as much when
« at^ria \ one of the fides is uppermoft as when it is undermoft.
TLhe bar of fig. 6. would be three times as ftrong
if the fide AB were uppermoft and the edge DC under-
80 moft.
eftjrMrthas Hence it follows that the ftrongefl joift that can be Pear by recollefting that FO is
not tlie cut out of a round tree is not the one which has the
fp eateft greateft quantity of timber in it, but fuch that the pro-
timber^ °f *tS breadth by the fquare of its depth fliall be
Fig. 9.
the greateft poftible. Let A BCD (fig. 9.)" be the fee-
tion of this joift inferibed in the circle, AB being the
breadth and AD the depth. Since it is a rectangular
feCtion, the diagonal BD is a diameter of the circle, and
BAD is a right-angled triangle. Let BD be called
<7, and BA be called x ; then AD is a/o1 x%.
Now we muft have AB x AD*, or # x a1 — **, or
a*x—**, a maximum. Its fluxion cfx — $x*x muft be
made = 0, or a* r= 3 x*f or xz —
3
If therefore we
Si
A hollow
tube ftrong
er than a
folid rod
make DE — -j- DB, and draw EC perpendicular to
BD, it will cut the circumference in the point C,
which determines the depth BC and the breadth CD.
Becaufe BD : BC ~ CD : CE, we have the area of
the feCtion BC'CD = BD*CE. Therefore the different
feftions having the fame diagonal BD are proportional
to their heights CE. Therefore the fedion BCDA is
lefs than the feOion BcDr?, whofe four fides are equal.
'I he joift fo fhaped, therefore, is both ftronger, lighter,
and cheaper-
The ftrength of ABCD is to that of /2 B c D as
10,000 to 9186, and the weight and expence as 10,coo
j fo that ABCD is preferable to « B c D in
containing the proportion of 10,60710 9186, or nearly 115 to 100.
the fame . From the fame principles it follows that a hollow tube
matter^ ° ilronger than a folid rod containing the fame quan-
Fig. xo. matter. Let fig. 10. reprefent the feftion of a cy-
lindric tube, of which AF and BE are the exterior and
interior diameters, and C the centre. Draw BD per¬
pendicular to BC, and join DC. Then, becaufe BDl=
CD —CB1, BD is the radius of a circle containing
the fame quantity of matter with the ring. If we efti-
mate the ftrength by the firft hypothefis, it is evident
that the ftrength of the tube will be to that of the
folid cylinder, whofe radius is BD, as BD1 X AC to
BD x BD 5 that is, as AC to BD : for BD3 expreffes
the cohefion of the ring or the circle, and AC and BD
are equal to the diftances of the centres of effort
(the fame with the centres of gravity) of the ring and
circle from the axis of the fra&ure.
The proportion of thefe ftrengths will be different in
the other hypothefes, and is not eafily expreffed by a ge¬
neral. formula ; but in both it is ftill more in favour of
the ring or hollow tube.
The following very fimple folution will be readily un-
derftood by the intelligent reader. Let O be the centre
of ofcillation of the exterior .circle, 0 the centre of ofcil-
lation of the inner circle, and w the centre of ofcillation
of the ring included between them. Let M be the
quantity of furface of the exterior circle, ?n that of the
inner circle, and p. that of the ring.
We have Fw _ M-FO-m.Fo _ ,;FC- + EC*
- 4FC '
_/> X'F-m
— —■—  , and the
and the ftrength of the ring
7° 1 S T R
ftrength of the fame quantity of matter in the form of a Strength of
folid cylinder is/^ X | BD j fo that the ftrength of the Mater a!s.
ring is to that of the folid rod of equal weight as F u» v"’" 1
to | BD, or nearly as FC to BD. This will eafily ap-
fum of/>. r*
 ^ (lee Ro-
772. r U
1 aj.ion), and that the momentum of cohefion is
ftft * FC * C 72 fm-Yo 
2 ^  for the inner circle, &c.
Emerfon has given a very inaccurate approximation
to this value in his Mechanics, 410.
.This property of hollow tubes is accompanied alfo and ^
with greater ftiffnefs j and the fuperiority in ftrength (tutf.
and ftiffnefs is. fo much the greater as the furrounding
Ihell is thinner in proportion to its diameter. g.
Here we fee the admirable wifdom of the Author of Henc/the
nature in forming the bones of animal limbs hollow. The w‘£a°m of
bones of the arms and legs have to perform the office of tGod m .
levers, and are thus oppofed to very great tranfverfe b^e’s &.c7
- ftrains. By this form they become incomparably ftrong-hoiiow.
er and ftiffer, and give more room for the infer tion of
mufcles, while they are lighter and therefore more
agile 5 and the fame Wifdom has made ufe of this hol¬
low for other valuable purpofes of the animal economy.
In like manner the quills in the wings of birds acquire
by their thinnefs the very great ftrength which is necef-
lary, while they are fo light as to give fufficient buoy¬
ancy to the animal in the rare medium in which it muft
live and fly about. Ihe ftalks of many plants, fuch as
all the graffes, and many reeds, are in like manner hol-
lowq and thus poffefs an extraordinary ftrength. Our
beft engineers now begin to imitate nature by making
many parts of their machines hollow, fuch as their axles
of call iron, &c. 5 -and the ingenious Mr Ramfden now
makes the axes and framings of his great aftronomical
inftruments in the fame manner.
In the fuppofition of homogeneous texture, it is plain
that the frafture happens as foon as the particles at D
are. feparated beyond their utmoft limit of cohefion.
This is a determined quantity, and the piece bends till
this degree of extenfion is produced in the outermoft
fibre. It follows, that the fmaller wrp fuppole the di-
ftance between A and D, the greater will be the curva¬
ture which the beam will acquire before it breaks.
Greater depth therefore makes a beam not only ftronger
but alfo ftifler. But if the parallel fibres can Aide on
each other, both the ftrength and the ftiffnefs will be
diminilhed. Therefore if, inftead of one beam D A KCFig. 8.
(fig. 8.) wefuppofetwo,DABCand AAKB,notcohering s4
each of them will bend, and the extenfion of the fibres
AB of the under beam will not hinder the compreflion compound
of the adjoining fibres AB of the upper beam. The beam may
two together therefore will not be more than twice asbe formed,
ftrong as one of them (fuppofing DArrA A) inftead of
being four times as ftrong; and they wfill bend as much
as either of them alone would bend by half the load.
This may be prevented, if it were poffible to unite the
two beams all along the feam AB, fo that the one fliall
not Aide on the other. This may be done in fmall
works, by gluing them together with a cement as ftrong
as the natural lateral cohefion of the fibres. If this can¬
not be done (as it cannot in large works), the Aiding is
prevented by JOGGLING the beams together ; that is,
by cutting dowm feveral reflangular notches in the up¬
per fide of the lower beam, and making fimilar notches
in
9
4
Fig. xi.
Fig. i*.
S T R [77
S,„riri.;, of in the under fide of the upper beam, and filling up the
Materials fquare fpaces with pieces of very hard wood firmly dn-
  ven in, as reprefented in fig. it. Some employ iron
bolts by way of joggles. But when the joggle is much
harder than the wood into which it is driven, it is very
apt to work loofe, by widening the hole into which it is
lodged. The fame thing is fometimes done by fcarfing
the one upon the other, as reprefented in fig. I2.)j
but this wattes more timber, and is not fo ftrong, be-
caufe the mutual hooks which this method forms on each
beam are very apt to tear each other up. By one or
other of thefe methods, or fomething fimilar,. ^
compound beam be formed, of any depth, which will
be almoft as ftiff and ttrong as an entire piece. .
On the other hand, we may combine ftrength with
pliablenefs, by compofing our beam of feveral thin pianks
laid on each other, till they make a proper depth, and
leaving them at full liberty to Aide on each other. It
is in this manner that coach-fprings are formed, as is re¬
prefented in fig. 13. In this affemblage there mutt be
no joggles nor bolts of any kind put through the planks
or plates *, for this would hinder their mutual fliaing.
They mutt be kept together by (traps which furround
them, or by fomething equivalent. .
The preceding obfervations (how the propriety of
fome maxims of cOnttruftion, which the artitts have de¬
rived from long experience. .
Thus, if a mortife is to be cut out of a piece which
is expofed to a crofs ftrain, it ftiould be cut out from
, that fide which becomes concave by the ftrain, as in
Fig. 14. ana ^ but bjr n0 means as in fig. 15.
I5’ If a piece is to be ftrengthened by the addition or
another, the added piece mutt be joined to the fide
Fig. 16- and which grows convex by the ftrain, as m fig. 16. and
1
S T B.
85
How
ftrength
may be
combined
blend's.
Fig- iJ-
86
Maxims of
conitruc-
Cion.
*7
17-
Fig. 17.
Before we go any farther, it will be convenient to re-
cal the reader’s attention to the analogy between the
ftrain on a beam projefting from a wall and loaded at
the extremity, and a beam fupported at both ends and
loaded in fome intermediate point. It is fofficient on
this occafion to read attentively what is delivered in the
article Roof, N° 19—We learn there that the ftram
on the middle point C (fig. 17. of the prefent article)
of a reftangular beam AB, lupported on F0PS at A
and B, is the fame as if the part CA projefted from a
wall, and were loaded with the half of the weight W
fufpended at A. The momentum of the ftrain is there¬
fore Wx i AB, = WX7AB = ^/’or^:* The
momentum of cohefion muft be equal to this in every
^Having now confidered in fufticient detal the circum-
ftances which affea the ftrength of any feaion of a fohd
body that is {trained tranfverfely, it is neceffary to take
notice of fome of the chief modifications of the ftrain it-
felf. We {hall confider only thofe that occur moft frew
nuently in our conftruaions.
The ftrain depends on the external force, and alio on
the lever by which it aas. . .
Tbe ftram It is evidently of importance, that fince the ftrain is
depends on exerted in any feaion by means of the cohefion ol the
the ester- ts intervening between the feaion under confidera-
tion and the point of application of the external force,
the body muft be able in al] thefe intervening parts to
propagate or excit* the ftrain in-the remote feaion. In
Dal force.
every part it muft be able to refift the ftrain excited in 1 0l
that part. It ftiould therefore be equally ftrong 5 and ^ ^na s‘
it is ufelefs to have any part ftronger, becaufe the piece
will neverthelefs break where it is not ftronger through¬
out ; and it is ufelefs to make it ftronger (relatively to
its ftrain) in any part, for it will neverthelefs equally
fail in the part that is too weak... , „ . .r
Suppofe then, in the firft place, that the ftram an es
from a weight fufpended at one extremity, while the
other end is firmly fixed in a wall. Suppofing alfo the
crofs fedtions to be all reftangular, there are feveral
ways of {haping the beam fo that it {hall be equally
ftrong throughout. Thus it may be equally deep m
every part, the upper and under lurfaces being horizon¬
tal planes. The condition will be fulfilled by making
all the horizontal fedions triangles, as in fig. 18. I he Fig. 18.
two fides are vertical planes meeting in an edge at the
extremity L. For the equation exprefling the balance
of ftrain and ftrength is p l—fb dx. 1 hei efore fincej/
is the fame throughout, and alfo/>, .we ™uft haycy/b ,
and b (the breadth AD of any feaion ABCD) mutt be
proportional to / (or AL), which it evidently is.
Or, if the beam be of uniform breadth, we mutt have
dx everywhere proportional to /. This will be obtained
by making the depths the ordinates of a common.para-
bola, of which L is the vertex and the length is the
axis. The upper or under fide may be a ftraight line,
as in fig. 19. or the middle line may be ftraight, and Fig. 15*
then both upper and under furlaces will be curved. It is
almoft indifferent what is the (hape of the upper and
under furfaces, provided the diitances between them m
every part be as the ordinates of a.common parabola.
Or, if the fciftions are all fimilar, fuch as circles,
fquares, or any other fimilar polygons, we muft have d*
or proportional to /, and the depths or breadths mult
be as the ordinates of a cubical parabola. r
It is evident that thefe are alfo the proper forms for And on the
a lever moveable round a fulcrum, and afted on by a
force at the extremity. The force comes m the place whjcb it
of the weight fufpended in the cafes already .confidered; a&s,
and as fuch levers always are connefted with another
arm, we readily fee that both arms fhould be faftnoned
in the fame manner. Thus in fig. 18. the piece of tim¬
ber may be fuppofed a kind of fteelyard, moveable
round a horizontal axis OP, in the front of the wall,
and having the two weights P and in eqmlibno. ibe
ftrain occafioned by each at the fecTion m which the
axis OP is placed muft be the fame, and each arm OL
and O A muft be equally ftrong in all its parts. The
longitudinal fedions of each, arm muft be a triangle a
common parabola, or a cubic parabola, according to t .e
conditions previoufly given.
And, moreover, all thefe forms are equally, itrong .
For any one of them is equally ftrong in all Us parts,
and they are all fuppofed to have the fame feaion at the
front of the wall or at the fulcrum. They are not,
however, equally ftiff. The firft, reprefented m fig. 18.
will bend lead upon the whole, and the one formed by
the cubic parabola will bend moft. But their curvature
at the very fulcrum will be the fame in all.
It is alfo plain, that if the lever is of the fecond or
third kind, that is, having the fulcrum at one extremi¬
ty it muft ftill be of the fame {hape ; for m abltratt
mechanics it is indifferent which of the three points is
confidered as the axis of motion. In every lever the
a tw»
T R
89
The eKter-
nal ftrain-
mg torce
Mat!nak0rtr°/0rce?rit *‘lie extremlties in one direaion, and
1. t-- the icrce in the middle a6b in the oppofite direftion, and
the great drain is always at that point. Therefore a
lever fach as fig. 18. moveable round an axis paffing ho¬
rizontally through A, and afting againft an obflacle at
OP, is equally able in all its parts to refill the drains
excited in thofe parts.
The lame principles and the fame condruflion will
apply to beams, fuch as joids, fupported at the ends L
and A (fig. 18.), and loaded at fome intermediate part
OP. . This will appear evident by merely inverting the
diie6lions of the forces at thefe three points, or by re¬
curring to the article Roofs, N° 19.
Hitherto we have fuppofed the external draining
force as aiding only in one point of the beam. But it
ma be d' ^ un^or(niy didributed all over the beam. To
ftnbuted l* a beam in fuch circumdances equally drong in all
over the 1*:s Parts> the diape mud be confiderably different from
beam. the former.
90 Thus fuppofe the beam to projeft from a wall.
beamftroiiP- ^ b,e eclual breadth throughout, its fides being
which pro- v^rtical planes parallel to each other and to the length,
jefts from a the vertical fedtion in the diredlion of its length mud be
wall. a triangle indead of a common parabola ; for the weight
uniformly didributed over the part lying beyond any
fedlion, is as the length beyond that feaion: and fince
it may all be conceived as colleaed at its centre of gra¬
vity, which is the middle of that length, the lever by
which this load aas or drains the feaion is alfo propor¬
tional to the fame length. The drain on the feaion
(or momentum of the load) is as the fquare of that
length.. The feaion mud have drength in the fame
proportion. Its drength being as the breadth and the
fquaie of the depth, and the breadth being conftant,
the fquare of the depth of any leaion mud be as the
fquare of its didance from the end, and the depth mud
be as that didance 5 and therefore the longitudinal ver¬
tical feaion mud be a triangle.
But if all the tranfverfe feaions are circles, fquares,
or any other dmilar figures, the drength of every fec-
tion, or the cube of the diameter, mud be as the fquare
of the lengths beyond that feaion, or the fquare of its
didance from the end ; and the ddes of the beam mud
be a fcmicubical parabola.
. upper and under furfaces are horizontal planes,
it is evident that the breadth mud be as the fquare of
the didance from the end, and the horizontal feaions
may be formed by arches of the common parabola, hav¬
ing the length for their tangent at the vertex.
By recurring to the analogy fo often quoted between
a projeaing beam and a joid, we may determine the
proper form of joids which are uniformly loaded through
their whole length. 6
This is a frequent and important cafe, being the of-
fice of joids, rafters, &c.; and there are fome circum-
dances which mud be particularly noticed, becaufe they
are not fo obvious, and have been mifunderdood. When
a beam .AB (fig. 20.) is fuppoi ted at the ends, and a
wreight is laid on any point P, a drain is excited in
every part of the beam. The load on P caufes the
beam to prefs on A and B, and the props rea6t wdth
iorces equal and oppofite to thefe predures. The load
at P is to the preffures at A and B as AB to PB and
PA, and the preffure at A is to that at B as PB to
lrA; the beam therefore is in the fame date, with re-
[ 772 1
S T R
91
The itrain
upon a
beam lup.
ported at
both ends.
So,
fpe6l to dram in every part of it, as if it were reding Strength
on a prop at P, and were loaded at the ends with Materials,
weights equal to the two predures on the props; and v—
observe, the.e preffures are luch as will balance each
other, being inverfely as their didances from P. Let P
reprefent the weight or load at P. The prefiiire on the
PA
prop P mud be P X
AB
This Is therefore the reac-
tion of the prop B, and is the weight which we may
luppole fufpended at B, when we conceive the beam
reding on a prop at P, and carrying the balancing-
weights at A and B. 6
The drain occadoned at any other point C, by the
load P at P, is the fame with the drain at C, by the
PA J J
weight P X hanging at B, when the beam reds on
P, in the manner now fuppofed j and it is the fame if
the beam, indead of being balanced on a prop at P,
had its part AP fixed in a wall. This is evident. Now
we have diown at length that the drain at C, by the
weight PX ^ hanging at B, is Px-A|xBC. We
defire it to be particularly remarked that the predure at
A has no induence on the drain at C, arifing from the
aftion of any load between A and C 5 for it is indiffer¬
ent how the part AP of the projeaing beam PB is dip-
ported. The weight at A jud performs the fame office
with the wall in which we fuppofe the beam to be fixed-
W e aie thus particular, becaufe we have feen even per-
fons not unaccudomed to difcudions of this kind puzzled
in their conceptions of this drain.
Now let the load P be laid on fome point /> between
C and B. The fame reafoning diows us that the point
is (with refpea to drain) in the fame date as if the
beam were fixed in a wall, embracing the part /> B, and
a weight =Px^-g were hung on at A, and the drain
at C is Px^|x AC.
In general, therefore, the drain on any point C, ari- A general
ling from a load P laid on another point P, is proper- propofi-
tional to the re6tangle of the didances of P and C fromtion-
the ends neared to each. It is P x 0r
Px
/>B x CA
AB
according as the load lies between C
AB
and A or between C and B.
Cor. I. The drains which a load on any point P oc-
cafions on the points C, r, lying on the fame fide of P,
are as the didances of theie points from the end B,
In like manner the drains on E and e are as EA and
e A.
Cor.' 2. The drain which a load occafions in the part
on which it reds is as the re6langle of the parts on each
fide. ’Ihus the drain occafioned at C by a load is to
that at D by the fame load as AC x CB to AD X DB.
It is therefore greated in the middle.
Let us now confider the drain on any point C arifing TbefiLin
from a load uniformly didributed along the beam. Let arifing
AP be reprefen ted by *, and P/> by x, and the whole rT-f ^
weight on the beam by a. Then alwfjh?
The weight on P/> is - — bCari>‘
AB
PrelTure
S T R
Strength of , -i. „ x ^
Materials/ Preiturc on E by the weight on 1 /> —a X
Or - - *
^Pref. on B by whole \vt. on AC zz
Strain at C by the weight on AC
x x
-?AC>
AB1
— a
AC
AC*
a 2AB
1X EC
— a
Strain at C by the weight on BC
Do. by whole weight on AB = a
AC x BC x AC -f CB _ AC x BC
= fl 2AB1 2ab •
2 AB1
BC1 x AC
2 AB1
AC*x BC4-BC1 x AC
2 AB1
Thus we fee that the ftrain is proportional to the reft-
angle of the parts, in the fame manner as if the load a
had been laid direftly on the point C, and is indeed equal
to one-half of the ftrain which would be produced at C
by the load a laid on there.
Miftakes in It was neceffary to be thus particular, becaufe we lee
this fubjedl foitie elementary treatifes of mechanics, publilhed by
committed au^bors of reputation, miftakes which are very plaufible,
ofrepuu-3 and miflead the learner. It is there faid,_ that the pref-
1 fame prin«
. ciples.
tion.
fure at B from a weight uniformly diffufed along AB
is the fame as if it were collefted at its centre of gravity,
which would be the middle of AB ; and then the ftram
at C is faid to be this preffure at B multiplied by BC.
But furely it is not difficult to fee the difference of thefe
llrains. It is plain that the preffure of gravity down-
wards on any point between the end A and the point C
has no tendency to diminiffi the ftrain at C, arifing from
the upward readlion of the prop B ; whereas the preffure
of gravity between C and B is almoft in direft oppofi-
tion to it, and muft diminiffi it. We may however avoid
the fluxionary calculus with fafety by the confideration
of the centre of gravity, by fuppofing the weights of
AC and BC to be colkaed at their refpeftive centres
of gravity *? and the refult of this computation will be
the fame as above : and we may ufe either method, al¬
though the weight is not uniformly diftributed, pro¬
vided only that we know in what manner it is diftnbu-
ted. ' . ,
This inveftigation is evidently of importance in the
praftice of the engineer and architeft, informing^ them
what fupport is neceffary in the different parts of their
conftru&ions. We conlidered fome cales of this kind in
the article Roofs.
T i a It is now eafy to form a fo that it fhall have the
S which fame relative ftrength in all its parts,
may have I. To make it equally able in all its parts to carry a
the fame given weight laid on any point C taken at random, or
uniformly diffufed over the whole length, the ftrength
of the feftion at the point C muft be as AC X CB.
Therefore
1. If the fides are parallel vertical planes, the fquare
of the depth (which is the only variable dimenfion) or
CDZ, muft be as ACxCB, and the depths muft; be or¬
dinates of an ellipfe.
2. If the tranfverfe feftions are fimilar, we muft; make
CD3 as ACxCB.
3. If the upper and under ffiifaces are parallel, the
breadth muft be as AC X CB.
95
relati
ftrength in
ali its parts
773 ] S T U '
' II. If the beam is neceffarily loaded at fome given Strength of
point C, and we would have the beam equally able in ,Matena s',
all its parts to refill the ftrain arifing from the weight
at C, we muft make the ftrength of every tranfverfe lec¬
tion between C and either end as its diftance fiom that
end. Therefore . , , n.
1. If the fides are parallel vertical planes, we mult
make CD*: EF* = AC t AE.
2. If the feFtions are fimilar, then CD* : EF3 — AC :
AE.
3. If the upper and under furfaces are parallel, then,
breadth at C : breadth at E m: AC : AE. . 96
The fame principles enable us to determine the ftram The ftrain
and ftrength of fquare or circular plates, of different ex-and ^
tent, but equal thicknefs. Ihis may be comprehended^^ or
in this general propofition. circular
Similar plates of equal thicknefs fupported all round plates of
will carry the fame abfoliite weight, uniformly diftri-different^^
buted, or refting on fimilar points, whatever is their ex*ofequal
tent. , f .... r thicknefs
Suppofe two fimilar oblong plates of equal thickneis, may be de-
and let their lengths and breadths be L, /, and Z'*™neeA
Let their ftrength or momentum of cohehon be C, c, ^
and the {trains from the weights W, “ui, be S, j.
Suppofe the plates fupported at the ends only, and
refilling frafture tranfverfely. The Arabs, being as the
weights and lengths, are as WL and w /, but their co-
hefions are as the breadths j and fince they are of equal
relative ftrength, we have WL : w /“B : 3, and \\
rrm / B and L : l=w B : W £ : but fince they are of
fimilar ffiapes L : /rrB : b, and therefore u>rr:W.
The lame reafoning holds again when they are alto
fupported along the fides, and therefore holds when they
are fupported all round (in which cafe the ftrength is
doubled). , _ r ,
And if the plates are of any other figure, luch as
circles or ellipfes, we need only conceive fimilar re&angles
inferibed in them. Thefe are fupported all around by
the continuity of the plates, and therefore will fuftam
equal weights; and the fame may be faid of the feg-
ments which lie without them, becaufe the ftrengths of
any fimilar fegments are equal, their lengths being as
their breadths. ,
Therefore the thicknefs of the bottoms of veflels hold¬
ing heavy liquors or grains ftiould be as their diameters,
and as the fquare root of their depths jointly.
Alfo the weight which a fquare plate will bear is to
that which a bar of the fame matter and thicknefs will
bear as twice the length of the bar to its breadth. .
There is yet another modification of the ftrain which ^he mam
tends to break a body tranfverfely, which is of very fre-ari£ng fronB
quent occurrence, and in fome cafes muft be very care-;tsown
fully attended to, viz. the ftrain arifing from its own weight. ^
weight. - r ci- •
When a beam projefts from a wall, every fettion is
drained by the weight of all that projects beyond it.
This may be confidered as all colledled at its centre of
gravity. Therefore the ftrain on any fe&ion is in the
joint ratio of the weight of what projefts beyond it,
and the diftance of its centre of gravity from the iec*
The determination of this ftrain and of the ftrength
neceffavy for withftanding it muft be more complicated
than the former, becaufe the form of the piece which ie-
ffilts from this adjuftment of. ftrain and ftrength mflo-
97
S T R
t 7
98
©eneral
principle
refpedting
it.
Fig. *r.
Maf'-rl°fenCeS t^le ^ra*n# ■^^ie genera^ principle muft evidently
^  ke> that the ftrength or momentum, of cohefion of every
fedfion muft be as the produdt of the weight beyond it
multiplied by the diftance of its centre of gravity. For
example;
Suppofe the beam DLA (fig. 21.) to projedt from
the wall, and that its Tides are parallel vertical planes,
fo that the depth is the only variable dimenfion. Let
LB=r# and B b=y. The element B be C is =yx.
Let G be the centre of gravity of the part lying with¬
out Bb, and ^ be its diftance from the extremity L.
Then «•—g is the arm of the lever by wdiich the ftrain
is excited in the fedlion B b. Let Bb or y be as feme
power m of LB; that is, let y—x™. Then the con-
tents of LBb is — ^The momentum of gravity
round a horizontal axis at L is y x xzzx™*1’*, and the
whole momentum round the axis is - . The diftance
m-\-2
of the centre of gravity from L is had by dividing this
momentum by the whole weight which is
m-\-i
The
• m X X I J
quotient or g is -T_. And the diftance of the centre
m + 2
of gravity from the fedlion B £ is at — --
    /«4"2
xXm + 2—xX 1 x r , . .
 ; , = ——. 1 hereiore the ftram
fn-j-2 m-j-2
on the fedlion B ^ is had by multiplying    by ———.
6 m+l J m-t-2
a-m+s
This muft be as the
99
A conoid
equally
able in eve¬
ry feeflion
to bear
its own
weight.
ICO
The more
a beam
p-rojeefts, the
id's able it
is to bear
its own
weight.
The produft is
m-j-2 X m +1
fquare of the depth, or as y1. But y is as xm, and y* as
x~m. Therefore wre have m-\-2—2m, and m~2\ that
is, the depth muft be as the fquare of the diftance from
the extremity, and the curve L £ A is a parabola touch¬
ing the horizontal line in L.
It is eafy to fee that a conoid formed by the rotation
of this figure round DL will alfo be equally able in
' every feflion to bear its own weight.
We need not profecute this farther. When the figure
of the piece is given, there is no difficulty in finding the
ftrain ; and the circumftance of equal ftrength to refill
this ftrain is chiefly a matter of curiofity.
It is evident, from what has been already faid, that a
proje&ing beam becomes lefs able to bear its own weight,
as it projeds farther. Whatever may be the ftrength of
the feCtion DA, the length may be fuch that it will break
by its own wxight. If we fuppofe two beams A and B
of the fame fubftance and fimilar fhapes, that is, having
their lengths and diameters in the fame proportion j and
farther fuppofe that the ffiorter can juft bear its owm
weight ; then the longer beam will not be able to do
the fame : For the ftrengths of the feCtions are as the
cubes of the diameters, while the ftrains are as the biqua¬
drates of the diameters j becaufe the weights are as the
cubes, and the levers by which thefe weights aCt in pro¬
ducing the ftrain are as the lengths or as the diameters.
Thefe confiderations Ihow us, that in all cafes wffiere
ftrain is affeCted by the weight of the parts of the ma¬
chine or ftruCture of any kind, the fma?!er bodies are
74 1 S t R
more able to withftand it than the greater; and there StreYigA of
leems to be bounds fet by nature to the fize of machines Materials*
conltruCted of any given materials. Even -when the v ~J
weight of the parts of the machine is not taken into thesmainfo.
account, we cannot enlarge them in the fame proportion dies more
in all their parts. 1 hus a Iteam-engine cannot be doubled t0
in all its parts, fo as to be ftill efficient. The preflure on
the pifton is quadrupled. _ If the lift of the pump be alfo
doubled in height while it is doubled in diameter, the by the
load will be increafed eight times, and will therefore ex- weight of
ceed the power. The depth of lift, therefore, muft i e-the ma-
main unchanged ; and in this cafe the machine will beCirnne tha“
of the fame relative ftrength as before, independent ofdies? b°'
its own weight. For the beam being doubled in all its
dimenfions, its momentum of cohefion is eight times
greater, which is again a balance for a quadruple load
a Cling by a double lever.—But if we now confider the
increafe of the weight of the machine itfelf, which muft
be fupported, and which muft be put in motion by the
intervention of its cohefion, we fee that the large ma¬
chine is weaker and lefs efficient than the fmall one.
There is a fimilar limit fet by nature to the fize of
plants and animals formed of the fame matter. The
cohefion of an herb could not fupport it if it were in¬
creafed to the fize of a tree, nor could an oak fupport it¬
felf if 40 or 50 times bigger, nor could an animal of the
make of a long-legged fpider be increafed to the fize of
a man ; the articulations of its legs could not fupport it.
Hence may be underftood the prodigious fuperiority Even imall
of the fmall animals both in ftrength and agility. A animals are
man by falling twice his owm height may break his firm- remarkable
eft bones. A moufe may fall ao times its height withoutfor,ftre-pgtl1
rilk; and even the tender mite or wood-loufe may fall *n asl Ujr’
unhurt from the top of a fteeple. But their greateft
fuperiority is in refpeCl of nimblenefs and agility. A
flea can leap above 500 times its own length, w-hile the
ftrength of the human mufcles could not raife the trunk
from the ground on limbs of the fame conftruCtion.
The angular motions of fmall animals (in which con-
fifts their nimblenefs or agility) muft be greater than
thofe of large animals, fuppofing the force of the muf-
cular fibre to be the fame in both. For fuppofing them
fimilar, the number of equal fibres will be as the Iquare
of their linear dimenfions; and the levers by which they
aCl are as their linear dimenfions. The energy therefore of
the moving force is as the cube of thefe dimenfions. But
the momenturr>of inertia, orfp. ra, is as the 4th power:
Therefore the angular velocity of the greater animals Is
fmaller. The number of ftrokes which a fly makes with
its wings in a fecond is aftoniflungly great; yet, being
voluntary, they are the effeCls of its agility.
We have hitherto confined our attention to the fim-
pleft form in which this tranfverfe ftrain can be produ¬
ced. This was quite fufficient for Ihowing us the me-
chanifm of nature by which the ftrain is refifted ; and a
very flight attention is fufficient for enabling us to re¬
duce to this every other way in which the ftrain can be
produced. We fhall not take up the reader’s time with
the application of the fame principles to other cafes of
this ftrain, but refer him to what has been faid in the
article ReoFS. In that article we have fhown the ana¬
logy between the ftrain on the feftion of a beam projec¬
ting from a wall and loaded at the extremity, and the
ftrain
2
S T R t 775 3
Strength offtrain on the fame feaion of a beam fimply refting on of the column.
Materials. {'Upports at the epds, and loaded at Some intermediate
'“"~v ' point or points. The drain on the middle C of a beam
Fig- 2z. AB (fie. 22.) fo fupported, arifing from a weight laid
on there, is the fame with the Itrain whiqt half that
weight hanging, at B would produce on the fame feftion
C if the other end of the beam were fixed in a wall.
If therefore 1030 pounds hung on the end ot a beam
projefting lO feet from a wall will juft break it at the
wall, it will requite 4600 pounds on its middle to break
the fame beam refting on two props 10 feet afunder.
We have alfo ftiown in that article the additional ftrength
which will be given to this beam by extending both
to. ends beyond the props, and there framing it firmly into
of other pillars or fupports. We can hardly add any thing
the obiiqui- to what has been faid in that article, except a few ob-
ty of the fervations on the effe&s of the obliquity of the external
force. We have hitherto fuppofed it to aft in the di-
refltion BP (fig. 8.) perpendicular to the length of the
beam. Suppofe it to ad in the direftion BP, oblique
to BA. In the article Roof we fuppofed the ftrain to
be the fame as if the force p adfed at the diftance AB',
but ftill perpendicular to AB: fo ft is. But the ftrength
of the feftion A A is not the fame in both cafes ; for by
the obliquity of the a&ion the piece DCKA is preffed
to the other. We are not fufficiently acquainted with
the corpufcular forces to fay precifely what will be the
external
force.
effecl of the preffure arifing from this obliquity j but we
can clearly fee, in general, that the point A, which in
the inftant of frafture is neither ftretched nor compref-
fed, muft now be farther up, or nearer to D j and there¬
fore the number of particles which are exerting cohe-
five forces is fmaller, and therefore the ftrength is dimi-
nifhed. Therefore, when we endeavour to proportion
the ftrength of a beam to the ftrain arifing from an ex¬
ternal force adding obliquely, we make too liberal al¬
lowance by increafing this external force in the ratio of
AB to AB. We acknowledge our inability to affign
the proper corredion. But this circumftance is of very
great influence. In many machines, and many fram¬
ing's of carpentry, this oohque aftion of the braining
force is unavoidable ; and the moft enormous drains to
which materials are expofed are generally of this kind.
In the frames fet up for carrying the ringftones of arch¬
es, it is hardly poflible to avoid them : for although the
judicious engineer difpofes his beams fo as to fuflain only
preffures in the diredion of their lengths, tending either
to cruih them or to tear them afunder, it frequently hap¬
pens that, by the fettling of the work, the pieces come
to check and bear on each other tranfverfely, tending
to break each other acrofs. This we have remarked
upon in the article Roofs, with refped to a trufs by
Mr Price (fee Roofs, N° 40, 41* 45)- Now wlieJ? a
crofs ftrain is thus combined with an enormous preffure
in the diredion of the length of the beam, it is in the
utmoft danger of fnapping luddenly acrofs. Ibis is one
great caufe of the carrying away ©f mafts. 1 hey are
comprefled in the diredion of their length by the united
force of the fhrouds, and in this ftate the tranfverfe ac¬
tion of the wind foon completes the fradure.
The (train When confidering the comprefling drains to which
en column?, materials are expofed, we deferred the dilcuflion of the
ftrain on columns, obferving that it w>as not, in the cafes
which ufually occur, a Ample compreflion, but w as com¬
bined with a tranfverfe ftrain, arifing from the bending
S T R
When the column ACB (fig. 23.) reft-Strength «f
ino- on the ground at B, and loaded at top with a
weight A, adiug in the vertical diredion AB, is bent Fig ^
into a curve ACB, fo that the tangent at C is perpen¬
dicular to the horizon, its condition fomewhat refembles
that of a beam firmly fixed between B and C, and
ftrongly pulled by the end A, fo as to bend it between
C and A. Although we cannot conceive how a force
ading on a ftraight column AB in the diredion AB
can bend it, we may fuppofe that the force aded nrit
in the horizontal diredion A b till it was bent to this
degree, and that the rope was then gradually removed
from the diredion A b to the diredion AB, increafing
the force as much as is neceffary for prefervmg the
fame quantity of flexure. _ , 1 1 • • 1CS
The firft author (we believe) who confidered this im- obferva-
portant fubjed with fcrupulous attention was the ce-domon
fobrated Euler, who publiflied in the Berlin Memons ^
for 1757 his Theory of the Strength of Columns. I he ftrength
general propofilion eltablilhed by this theory is, that coiutU}l5,
the ftrength of prifmatical columns is in the dired qua¬
druplicate ratio of their diameters, and the inverfe du¬
plicate ratio of their lengths. He profecuted this fub¬
jed in the Peterfburgh Commentaries for 177^* coniir-
ming his former theory. We do not find that any other
author has beftowed much attention on it, all ieeming
to acquiefce in the determinations of Euler, and to con-
I04
fider the fubjed as of very great difficulty, requiring the
application of the moft refined mathematics. _ Muichen-
broek has compared the theory with experiment j but
the companion has been very unfatisfadory, the differ¬
ence from the theory being ib enormous as to afford no
argument for its juftnefs. But the experiments do not
contradid it, for they are fo anomalous as to afford no
conclufion or general rule whatever.
To fay the truth, the theory can be confidered m no
other light than as a fpecimen of ingenious and very art¬
ful algebraic analyfis. Euler was unqueftionably the firft
analyft in Europe for refource and addrefs. Pie knew
this, and enjoyed his fuperiority, and without fcruple ad¬
mitted any phyfical affumptions which gave him an op¬
portunity of difplaying his {kill. The inconfiftency of
his affumptions with the knowm laws of mechanifm gave
him no concern ; and when his algebraic proceffes led
him to any conclufion which would make his readei s
flare, being contrary to all our ufual notions, he frankly
owned the paradox, but went on in his analyfis, faying,
“ Sed anahjsi tnagis jidcndum?' Mr Robins has given
fome very rifiblc inttances of this confidence in his ana-
lylis, or rather of his confidence in the indolent fubmif-
fion of his readers. Nay, fo fond was he of this kind
of amufement, that after having publiihed an untenable
Theory of Light and Colours, he publiffied feveral Me¬
moirs, explaining the aberration oi the heavenly bodies,
and deducing fome very wonderful confequences, fully
confirmed by experience, from the Newtonian prin¬
ciples, which were oppofite and totally inconfiftent with
his own theory, merely becaufe the Newtonian theory
gave him “ occa/ionem ana/yseos promovetida:?'1 We
are thus fevere in our obfervations, becaufe his theory
of the ftrength of columns is one of the ftrongeft in-
ftances of this wanton kind of proceeding, and becauie
his followers in the Academy of St. Peterfburgh, fucli
as Mr Fufs, Lexill, and others, adopt his conclufions,
and merely echo his words. Since the death of Daniel
Bernoulli;
S T R
Strength of Bernoulli no member of that academy has controverted
^Materials. any thing advanced by their Profejfor fublimis gcome-
trice, to whom they had been indebted for their places
and for all their knowledge, having been (moft of them)
his amanuenfes, employed by this wonderful man dur¬
ing his blindnefs to make his computations and carry on
his algebraic inveftigations. We are not a little furprif-
ed to fee Mr Emerfon, a confiderable mathematician,
and a man of very independent fpirit, haftily adopting
the fame theory^ of which we doubt not but our readers
will eafily fee the falfity.
Euler confiders the column ACB as in a condition
Fig. 23. precifely fimilar to that of an elaftic rod bent into the
curve by a cord AB connefting its extremities.—In this
he is not miftaken.—But he then draws CD perpendi¬
cular to AB, and confiders the drain on the feftion C
as equal to the momentum or mechanical energy of the
weight A a fling in the direflion DB upon the lever
* c D, moveable round the fulcrum c, and tending to
tear afunder the particles which cohere along the fec-
tion c C x. This is the fame principle (as Euler ad¬
mits) employed by James Bernoulli in his inveftigation
of the elaftic curve ACB. Euler confiders the drain
on the feflion c * as the fame with what it would fu-
dain if the fame power afled in the horizontal direflion
EF on a point E as far removed from C as the point D
is. We reafoned in the fame manner (as has been ob-
ferved) in the article Roofs, where the obliquity of ac¬
tion was ineonfiderable. But in the prefent cafe, this
lubditution leads to the greated midakes, and has ren¬
dered the whole of this theory falfe and ufelefs. It
would be juft if the column were of materials which
are incompredible. But it is evident, by what has been
faid above, that by the compredion of the parts the real
fulcrum of the lever ftiifts away from the point c, fo
much the more as the compredion is greater. In the
great compreftions of loaded columns, and the almoft
unmeafurable compreftions of the trufs beams in the
centres of bridges, and other cafes of chief importance,
the fulcrum is drifted far over towards *, fo that very
few fibres refill the frafture by their cohefion ; and thefe
few have a very feeble energy or momentum, on account
of the ftiort arm of the lever by which they a£l. This is
a moft important confideration in carpentry, yet makes
no element of Euler’s theory. The confequence of this
is, that a very fmall degree of curvature is fufficient to
caufe the column or ftrutt to fnap in an inftant, as is
well known to every experienced carpenter. The expe¬
riment by Mufchenbroek, which Euler makes ufe of in
order to obtain a meafure of ftrength in a particular in-
ftance, from which he might deduce all others by his
theorem, is an inconteftable proof of this. The force
which broke the column is not the twentieth part of
what is necelfary for breaking it by a£ling at E in the
direflion EF. Euler takes no notice of this immenfe dif-
crepancy, becaufe it mull have caufed him to abandon the
ic6 fpeculation with which he was then amufing himfelf.
This theo- ,The limits of this work do not afford room to enter
ry falfe and minutely upon the refutation of this theory } but we can
ufelefs. eafily Ihow its ufelefsnefs, by its total inconfidency with
common obfervation. It refults legitimately from this
theory, that if CD have no magnitude, the weight A
can have no momentum, and the column cannot be broken
—True,-—it cannot be broken in this way, fnapped by a
C 776 1
S T R
tranfverfe fVa&ure, if it do not bend j but we know very Strength of
well that it can be crulhed or crippled, and wc fee this Material,
frequently happen. This circumftance or event does not
enter into Euler’s inveftigation, and therefore the theory
is imperfedl at lead and ufelefs. Had this crippling been
introduced in the form of a phyfical affumption, every
topic of reafoning employed in the procefs muft have
been laid afide, as the intelligent reader will eafily fee.
But the theory is not only imperfedl, but falfe. The or¬
dinary reader will be convinced of this by another le¬
gitimate confequence of it. Fig 24. is the fame Fig. *4.
with fig. 106? of Emerfon'1 s Mechanics, where this fub-
je6l is treated on Euler’s principles, and reprefents a
crooked piece of matter reding on the ground at F, and
loaded at A with a weight adling in the vertical direc¬
tion AF. It refults from Euler’s theory that the drains
at£, B, D, E, &c. are as BC, DI, EK, &c. There¬
fore the drains at G and H are nothing j and this is af-
ferted by Emerfon and Euler as a ferious truth 5 and the
piece may be thinned ad infnitum in thefe two places,
or, even cut through, without any diminution of its
ftrength. The abfurdity of this affertion ftrikes at firft
hearing. Euler afierts the fame thing with refpeft to a
point of contrary dexure. Farther difcudion is (we ap¬
prehend) needlefs. lc^
This theory muft therefore be given up. Yet thefe Yet Euler’s
differtations of Euler in the Peterfburgh Commentaries differttttion»
deferve a perufal, both as very ingenious fpecimens of c5efer1-v?a
analyfis, and becaufe they contain maxims of pra&ice ^erU 1
which are important. Although they give an erroneous
meafure of the comparative ftrength of columns, they
Ihow the immenfe importance of preventing all bend¬
ings, and point out with accuracy where the tendenci&s
to bend are greateft, and how this may be prevented by
very fmall forces, and what a prodigious acceflion of
force this gives the column. There is a valuable paper
in the fame volume by Fufs on the Strains on framed
Carpentry, which may alfo be read with advantage.
It will now be alked, what (hall be fubftituted in place
of this erroneous theory ? what is the true proportion of
the ftrength of columns? We acknowledge our inability I(J8
to give a fatisfattory anfwer. Such can be obtained only a new thetv
by a previous knowledge of the proportion between the ry cannot
extenfions and compredions produced by equal forces,be fubftitu-
by the knowledge of the abfolute compreflions Pr°du-
cible by a given force, and by a knowledge of the de-^n many*
gree of that derangement of parts which is termed crip- experiment*
pling. Thefe circumftances are but imperfedlly knownl»e made,
to us, and there lies before us a wide field of experi¬
mental inquiry. Fortunately the force requifite for crip-
ling a beam is prodigious, and a very fmall lateral fup-
port is fufficient to prevent that bending which puts the
beam in imminent danger. A judicious engineer will
always employ tranfverfe bridles, as they are called, to
day the middle of long beams, which are employed as
pillars, ftrutts, or trufs beams, and are expofed, by their
pofition, to enormous preffures in the direftion of their
lengths. Such days may be obferved, difpofed wuth
great judgement and economy, in the centres employed
by Mr Perronet in the eredlion of his great done arches.
He was obliged to corre£l this omiffion made by his in¬
genious predeceffor ia the beautiful centres of the bridge
of Orleans, which we have no hefitation in affirming to
be the fined piece of carpentry in the world.
It
Z
Strength of
Materials.
i®9
Table of
experi¬
ments made
hy Beiidor.
S T R [ 777
It •nly remains on this head to compare thefe theore¬
tical deductions with experiment.
Experiments on the tranfverfe (trength of bodies are
eafily made, and accordingly are very numerous, espe¬
cially thofe made on timber, which is the cafe moft com¬
mon^ and moft interefting. But in this great number of
experiments there are very few from which we can draw
much practical information. The experiments have in
general been made on fuch fmall fcantlings, that the
unavoidable natural inequalities bear too great a propor¬
tion to the ftrength of the whole piece. Accordingly,
when we compare the experiments of different authors,
we find them differ enormouflv, and even the experi¬
ments by the fame author are very anomalous. The
completed feries that rve have yet feen is that detailed
by Beiidor in his Science des Inge incurs. They are con¬
tained in the following table. The pieces were found,
even-grained oak. The column b contains tne breadths
of the pieces in inches ; the column d contains their
depths^ the column / contains then- lengths •, column
contains the weights (in pounds) which broke them
when hung on their middles j and m is the column of
averages or mediums.
no
Corollaries
deduced
from them.
By comparing Experiments id and 3d, the firength
appears proportional to the breadth.
Experiments 3d and 4th fhew the ftrenglh propor¬
tional to the fquare of the deptu.
Vqi.. XIX. Part II.
] S T R
Experiments I ft and 5 th firew the ftrength nearly in Strength o<
the inverfe proportion of the lengths, but with a fenfible Mat^‘a s'f
deficiency in the longer pieces.
Experiments 5th and 7th fhew the ftrengths propor¬
tional to the breadths and the fquare of the depth.
Experiments ift and 7th ihew the fame thing, com¬
pounded with the inverfe proportion of the length :
the deficiency relative to the length is not fo remarkable
here. .
Experiments ift and 2d, and experiments 5th and
6th {hew the increafe of ftrength, by faftening the ends,
to be in the proportion of 2 to 3. I he theory gives the
proportion of 2 to 4* But a difference m the manner
of fixing may produce this deviation from the theory,
which only fuppofed them to be held down at places
beyond the props, as when a joift is held in the walls,
and alfo refts on two pillars between the walls. (See
what is faid on this fubject in the article Roof, 19-) >
where note, that there is a miftake, when it is laid that
a beam fupported at both ends and loaded in the middle,
will carry twice as much as if one end were fixed in
the wall and the weight fufpended at the other end.
The reafoning employed there fhows that it will carry
four times as much.
The chief fource of irregularity in fuch experiments
is the fibrous, or rather plated texture of timber. It
confifts of annual additions, whofe cohefion with each
other is vaftly weaker than that of their own fibres. Let
fig. 25. reprefent the feiftion of a tree, and ABCT), Fig. 25.
abed the fetftion of two battens that are to be cut out
of it for experiment, and let AD and a dbt the depths,
and DC, dc the breadths. The batten ABCD will be
the ftrongeft, for the fame reafon that an affemblage of
planks fet edgewife will form a ftronger joift than planks
laid above each other like the plates of a coach-fpring.
M. Buffon found by many trials that the ftrength of
ABCD was to that cd abc d (in oak) nearly as 8 to 7.
The authors of the difl'erent experiments were not care¬
ful that their battens had their plates all difpofed fimi-
larly with refpeft to the ftrain. But even with this
precaution they would not have afforded fure grounds
of computation for large works •, for great beams oc¬
cupy much, if not the whole, of the fe£tion of the tree v
and from this it has happened that their ftrength is lets
than in proportion to that of a fmall lath or batten.
In ftiort, we can truft no experiments but fuch as have
been made on large beams. Thefe muft be very rare,
for they are moft expenfive and laborious, and exceed
the abilities of moft of thofe who are difpofed to ftudy
this matter.
But we are not wholly without fuch authority. M.
Buffon and M. Du Hamel, two of the firft philofophers
and mechanicians of the age, were directed by govern¬
ment to make experiments on this fubje£l, and were fup-
plied with ample funds and apparatus. The relation of
their experiments is to be found in the Memoirs of the
French Academy for 1740, 1741, 1742, 1768; as alfo
in Du Hamel’s valuable performances fur l'Exploitation
des Arbres, ct fur la Confervatioti et le Trarfport de
Bois. We earneftly recommend thefe dilfertations to
the perufal of our readers, as containing much ufeful in¬
formation relative to the ftrength of timber, and the belt
methods of employing it. We fliall here give an ab-
ftraft of M. Buffon’s experiments.
F He
Materials,
111
Mr Buf-
f'on’s expe¬
riments on
bars of
found oak.
S T R [ 778
Strength of He relates a great number which he had profecuted
during two years on fmall battens. He fouad that the
odds of a fingle layer, or part of a layer, more or lefs,
or even a different difpofition of them, had fuch in¬
fluence that he was obliged to abandon this method,
and to have recourfe to the larged beams that he
was able to break. The following table exhibits one
feries of experiments on bars of found oak, clear of knots,
and four inches fquare. This is a fpecimen of all the
refl.
Column i ft is the length of the bar in clear feet be¬
tween the fupports.
Column 2d is the weight of the bar (the 2d day after
it was felled) in pounds. Two bars were tried of each
length. Each of the firft three pairs confifted of two
cuts of the fame tree. The one next the root was
always found the heavieft, ftiffeft, and ftrongeft. In¬
deed M. Buffon fays that this was invariably true,
that the heavieft was always the ftrongeft j and he re¬
commends it as certain (or fure) rule for the choice of
timber. He finds that this is always the cafe when the
timber has grorvn vigoroufly, forming very thick annual
layers. But he alfo obferves that this is only during
the advances of the tree to maturity ; for the ftrength of
the different circles approaches gradually to equality
during the tree’s healthy growth, and then it decays in
thefe parts in a contrary order. Our tool-makers affert
the fame thing with refpeft to beech : yet a contrary
opinion is very prevalent 5 and wood with a fine, that is,
a fmall grain, is frequently preferred. Perhaps no per-
fon has ever made the trial with fuch minutenefs as M.
Buffon, and we think that much deference is due to his
S T R
opinion.
Column 3d is the number of pounds neceffary for
breaking the tree in the courfe of a few minutes.
Column 4th is the inches which it bent doivn before
breaking.
Column 5th is the time at which it broke.
10
12
Vs
60
6
68
63
J77
I7i
84
82
xoo
98
5350
5275
4600
4500
4100
3950
3625
3600
3050
2925
3- 5
4- 5
3- 75
4- 7
4- 85
5- 5
5- 83
6- 5
29
22
I3
J4
12
*5
The experiments on. other fizes were made in the
Fame way. A pair at leaft of each length and fize was
taken. The mean refults are contained in the following
table. The beams were all fquare, and their fizes in
inches are placed at the head of the columns, and their
lengths in feet are in the firft column. .
7
8
9
10
12
J4
16
18
20
22
24
28
5312
455°
4025
3612
2987
LI525
9787
8308
7125
6075
53°°
4350
3700
3225
2975
2162
I775
18950
I5525
11250
9100
7475
6362
5562
495°
32200
260 50
22350
J 9475
i6i75
13225
11000
9245
8375
8
47649
3975°
32800
2775°
2345°
I9775
163 7 5
13200
11487
A
11525
10085
8964
8068
6723
5763
5042
4482
4234
3667
3362
2881
Strength o-f
Materials.
M. Buffon had found by numerous trials that oak-
timber loft much of its ftrength in the courfe of dry¬
ing or feafoning j and therefore, in order to fecure uni¬
formity, his trees were all felled in the fame feafon of
the year, were fquared the day after, and tried the third
day. Trying them in this green ftate, gave him an op¬
portunity of obferving a very curious and unaccountable
phenomenon. When the weights were laid brifkly on,
nearly fufficient to break the log, a very fenfible fnoke
was obferved to iffue from the two ends with a fliarp
hi fling noife. This continued all the while the tree was
bending and cracking. This ftiows that the log is af-
fe£ted or ftrained through its whole length; indeed
this muft be inferred from its bending through its whole
length. It alfo fhows us the great effefls of the com-
preflion. It is a pity M. Buffon did not take notice
whether this fmoke iffued from the upper or compreffed
half of the feftion only, or whether it came from the
whole.
We muft now make fome obfervations on thefe expe- Obferva-
riments, in order to compare them with the theory tions or. Mr
which we have endeavoured to eftablifti. Buffon’s
M. Buffon confiders the experiments with the 5-inch
bars as the ftandard of comparifon, having both extend¬
ed thefe to greater lengths, and having tried more pieces
of each length.
Our theory determines the relative ftrength of bars of
the fame feftion to be inverfely as their lengths. But
(if we except the five experiments in the firft column)
we find a very great deviation from this rule. Thus
the 5-inch bar of 28 feet long ftiould have half the
ftrength of that of 14 feet, or 2650 j whereas it is but
1775. The bar of 14 feet (hould have half the ftrength
of that of 7 feet, or 5762 j whereas it is but 5300. In
like manner, the fourth of 11525 is 2881 j but the real
ftrength of the 28 feet bar is 1775. We have added a
column A, which exhibits the ftrength which each of
the 5-inch bars ought to have by the theory. This de¬
viation is moft diftinflly feen in fig. 26. where BK is p;e
the fcale of lengths, B being at the point 7 of the fcale, and
K at 28. The ordinate CB is = 11525, and the other
7 CB
ordinates DE, GK, &c. are refpe&ively =r   —
J Length*
The lines DF, GH, &c. are made =: 4350, 1775, &c.
exprefling the ftrengths given by experiment. The 10
feet bar and the 24 feet bar are remarkably anomalous.
But all are deficient, and the defeft has an evident pro-
greffion from the firft to the laft. The fame thing may
be
T U
l 779 3
S T R
Strength of
Materia s.
*t3
Probable
that the
relative
ftrength of
beams de-
creafes fait
jer than in
the nverfe
ratio of
their
length.
be fttown of the other columns, and even of the fir^»
though it is very fmall in that column. It may alfo be
obferved in the experiments of Belidor, and in all that
we have feen. We cannot doubt therefore ot its being
a law of nature, depending on the true principles ot co-
helion, and the laws of mechanics.
But it is very puzzling, and vve cannot pretend o
give a fatisfa&ory explanation of the difttculty. I he
only effect which we can coaceive the length ot a beam
to have, is to increafe the drain at the fe&ion of fra«ure
by employing the intervening beam as a lever. But we
do not diitinaiy fee what change this can produce m
the mode of aftion of the fibres m this feftion, to as
either to change their cohefion or the place of us centre
of effort : yet fomething of this kind mutt happen. .
We fee indeed fome circumltances which mult contri¬
bute to make a fmaller weight fufficient, m Mr Buffon s
experiments, to break a long beam, than in the exait m-
verfe proportion of its length. . -
In the fir it place, the weight of tlm beam itfe f aug¬
ments the drain as much as if half of it were ad e- m
form of a weight. Mr Buffon has given the weights ot
every beam on which he made experiments, which is
very nearly 74 pounds per cubic foot.. But they are
much too fmall to account for the deviation from t te
theory. The half weights of the 5-mch beams ot 7>
and 28 feet length are only 45, 92, and. 182 pounds*,
which makes the real drains in the experiments 11560,
5390, and 1956 *, which are far from having the pro-
POBuffon fay’s2that healthy trees are univerfally dronged
at the root end ; therefore, when we ufe a longer beam,
its middle point, where it is broken m the experiment, is
in a weaker part of the tree. But the trials of the 4-mch
beams Ihow that the difference from tms caufe is almod
The length mud have fome mechanical influence
which the theorv we have adopted has not yet explained.
It may not however be inadequate to the talk. i he
very ingenious invefligation of the elafhc curve.by James
B-rnoulli and other celebrated mathematicians is perhaps
as refined an application of mathematical analyfis as rye
know. Yet in this invedigation it was neceflary, in
order to avoid almod infuperable difficulties, to take the
fimpled pndible cafe, viz. where the thicknefs is t^xcced-
ingiy fmall in comparifon with the length. If.the thick-
nefs be confiderable, the quantities negleaed m the cal¬
culus are too great to permit the eonclufion to be accu¬
rate, or very nearly ro. Without being able to define
the form into which an eladic body of confiderable
thicknefs will be bent, we can fiy with confidence, that
in an extreme cafe, where the compreffion in the con¬
cave fiie is very great, the curvature differs .conhder-
ablv from the Bernoullian curve. But as our invediga¬
tion is incomplete and very long, we do not offer it to
the reader. The following more familiar confiderations
will, we apprehend, render it highly probable that the
relative drength of beams decree fes fader than m the m-
ve-fr ratio of their length. The curious obfervation by
Mr Buffon of the vapour which iffued with a hiding
noife from the ends of a behm of green oak, while it was
breaking by the load on its middle, IhoWs that the wnole
length of the piece was affected : indeed it mud be,
fince it is bent throughout We have (hown above, that
a certain definite curvature of a beam of a given form is
always accompanied by rupture. Now fcppo* beam
A of 10 feet long, and the beam B ot 20 feet long,
bent to the fame degree, at the place of their fixture in
the wall ) the weight which hangs on A is nearly dou¬
ble of that which mud hang on B. 1 he form ot any
portion, fiippofe 5 feet, of theie two beams, immediately
adjoining to the wall, is confideraoly d.fferent. At the
didance of 5 feet the curvature of A is ^ of Us curva¬
ture at the wall.' The curvature of B in the conetpond-
ing point is |ths of the lame curvature at the wait.
Through the whole of the intermediate 5 feet, therefore,
the curvature of B is greater than that of A. 1 his mud
make it weaker throughout. It mud occafion the bores
to dide more on each other (that it may acquire d
greater curvature), and thus aded their lateral union j
and therefore thofe which are dronger will not affitt
their weaker neighbours. To this we mud add that m
the Ihorter beams the force with which the fibres are
preffed laterally on each other is double.. This mud im¬
pede the mutual Hiding of the fibres winch we mention¬
ed a little ago *, nay, this lateral compreffion may change
the law of fongitudinal cohefion (as will readily appear
to the reader who is acquainted with Bofcovicn s doc¬
trines), and increafe the drength of the very lurface o
fradlure, in the fame way (however inexplicable) as it
does in metals when they are hammered or drawn into
W,The reader mud judge how far thefe remarks are
worthy of his attention. The engineer will carefully
keep in mind the important fa<3, tj131 a be^m of
druple length, indead of having £th of the drength, has
only about £th *, and the philosopher .ffiould endeavour
to difeover the caufe of this diminution, that he may
give the artid a more accurate rule of computation.
g Oar ignore of the law by whrch the cohefion o
the particles changes by a change of didance, hinuers re_
from difeovering the precife relation between the curva- iation be.
ture and the momentum of cohefion *, and all we can dolween the
is to multiply experiments, upon which we may edaoliffi .urvature
fome empirical rules for calculating the drength o folids.
Thofe from which we mud reafon at.preient are too tew of CQhefiaA
and too anomalous to be the foundation of fuch an em¬
pirical formula. We may, however, obferve, that Mr
Buffon’s experiments give us confiderable adiitance m
this particular : For if to each of the numbers of the co¬
lumn for the 5-inch beams, correftecl by adding hah the
weight of the beam, we add the condant number 1245,
we (hall have a fet of numbers which are very nearly re¬
ciprocals of the lengths. Let 1245 be called c and let
the weight which is known by experiment to be necei-
fary for breaking the 5-inch beam of the length a be
114
called P.
P_i_cXfl
We (hall have ^ 
-c~p. Thus the
111:60.
weight neceffary for breaking the 7-foot bar is
This added to 1245, and the fum multiplied .y 7, gives
, 8963 ?
FhpX*=89635- Let / be 18 $ then   1245
zr2’72C —/> which differs rot more than ^ih from
what experiment gives us. This rule holds equally well
in all the other lengths except the 10 and 24 toot beams,
which are verv anomalous Such a formula is abun¬
dantly exaft for pra&ice, and will anfwer through a
much greater variety of length, though *1 cannot be ad¬
mitted as a true one j becauTe, in a certain very great
5 F 2 length.
'Surens?!', i
ATsteriaij.
«. , -
,M5
^ dation
between
the ftrengll
and the
iquare of
the dc ptli
"f the Sec¬
tion.
t
i r6
Prr.jjortion
betveen
tlie abf lute
CoheOan
and the re-
1 itive
fti'ttwth.
.S T E.
length, the ftrength tvill.be nothing. For other fizes
the contlant number mull change in the proportion of
or perhaps of/>.
i'he next comparifon which we have to make with
the theory is the relation between the ilrength and the
fquare of the depth of the feclion. This is made by
comparing with each other the numbers in any horizon¬
tal line of the table. In making this companion we
find the numbers of the five-inch bars uniformly greater
man the retl. h v e imagine that there is fomethiog pe¬
culiar to thefe bars: They are in general heavier than
in the proportion of their ledion, but not fo much fo as
to account lor all their fuperiority. We imagine that
this fet of experiments, intended as a ftandard for the
re!l, has been made at one time, and that the feafon has
had a confiderable influence. The faft however is, that
it this column be kept out, or uniformly dimi;diked
about one-fixteenth in their Ilrength, the different fizes
will deviate very little from the ratio of the fquare of
the depth, as determined by theory. There is however
a (mail deficiency in the bigger beams.
We have been thus anxious in the examination of
thefe experiments, becaufe they are the only ones which
have been related in fufficient detail, and made on a
proper fcale for giving us data from which we can de¬
duce confidential maxims for praclice. They are fo
trcublefome and expenfive that we have little hopes of
feeing their number greatly increafed ; yet furely our
r.avy board would do an unfpeakable fervice to the pub¬
lic by appropriating a fund lor fuch experiments under
the management of fome man of fcience.
There remains another companion which is of chief
importance, namely, the proportion between the abso¬
lute cohesion and the relative strength. It may
be gueffed, from the very nature of the thing, that this
mult be very uncertain. Experiments on the abfolute
Ilrength mull be confined to very fniall pieces, by reafon
ot the very great forces which are required for tearing
them afunder. The values therefore deduced from them
mull be fubjeft to great inequalities. Unfortunately we
have got no detail of any experiments; all that we have
to depend on is two paffages of Mufchenbroek’s EJJhis
de Phyfique; in one of which he fays that a piece of
found oak -j^g-ths of an inch Iquare is torn afunder by
5° pounds; and in the other, that an oak plank 12
inches broad and one thick will juft fufpend 189163
pounds. Thefe give for the cohefion of an inch Iquare
1 ^ and 1 pounds. Bouguer, in his Trade du
Navire, lays that it is very well known that a rod of
found oak one ‘ourth of an inch fquare will be torn
amnder by 1000 pounds. This gives 16000 for the
cohefion of a fquare inch. We (hall take this as a
round number, eafily ufed in our computations. Let us
compare this with M. Buffon’s trials of beams four inches
fquare.
1 he abfolute cohelion of this ftftion is 16,000x16
=-256 000. Did every fibre exert its whole force in
the inftant of fra&ure, *he momentum of cohefion would
be the fame as if it had all a61ed at the centre of gravity
of the fedlion at 2 inches from the axis of frafture, and
is therefore 512000. The 4-inch beam, 7 feet long,
was broken by 5312 pounds hung on its middle. The
half of this, or 2656 pounds, wTould have broken it, if
fufpended at. its extremity, projefling ^ feet or 42
inches from a wall. The momentum, cf this ftrain 15
So I 8 T it
therefore 2656x42, =UIJJ2. Now this Is in tq.ji.Strr
Jioiio with the adtual momentum of cohefion, which is
therefore 111552, inftead of 51 2000. The ftrength is
therefore diminiftied in the proportion ot 512000 to
11 or very nearly of 4,59 to 1.
As we are quite uncertain as to the place of the cen-
tie of effort, it is needlefs to confider the full cohefion as
a cling at the centre of gravity, and producing the mo¬
mentum 512,000; and we may convert the whole into
a fimple multiplier m of the length, and fay, as m times
the length is to the depth, fo is the abfolute cohefion of the
feclion to the relative Jirength. Therefore let” the abfo¬
lute cohefion of a fquare inch be called/, the breadth b
the depth / and the length / (all in inches), the rela!
live ftrength, or the external force />, which balances
. . fbd% . fbji
it, is ;., or in round numbers^-——
for m — 2
9.1 8 /
X4>5?-
'I his great diminution of ftrength cannot be wholly-
accounted for by the inequality of the cohefive forces
exerted in the inftant of frafture; for in this cafe we
know that the centre of effort is at -^d of the height in a
rectangular leCtion (becaufe the forces really exerted are
as the extenfions of the fibres). The relative ftrenoth
fb d1
——;—, and p would have been 8127 inftead
would be
of 2656.
Yv e muft aferibe this diminution (which is three times
greater than that produced by the inequality of the co¬
hefive forces) to the compreftion of the under part of
the beam ; and we muft endeavour to explain in what
manner this compreflion produces an effed which feems
fo little explicable by fuch means.
As we have repeatedly obferved, it is a matter of
nearly univerfal experience that the forces aBually ex¬
erted by the particles of bodies, when ftrctched or com-
preffed, are very nearly in the proportion of the diftan-
ces. to which the particles are drawn from their natural
pofitions. Now, although we are certain that, in enor¬
mous compreftions, the forces increafe fafter than in this
proportion, this makes no fenfible change in the prefent
quel lion, becaufe the body is broken before the com-
preftions have gone fo far; nay, we imagine that the
compreffed parts are crippled in moft cafes even before
the extended parts are torn afunder. Mufchenbroek af-
ferts this with great confidence with refpedl to oak, on
the authority ot his ow-n experiments. Lie fays, that al¬
though oak will fufpend half as much again as fir, it
will not fupport, as a pillar, two-third's of the load
which fir will fupport in that form.
Yv e imagine therefore that the mechanifm in the pre¬
fent cafe is nearly as follows :
Let the beam DCK A (fig. 27.) be loaded at its ex-r;^
tremity with the weight P, ading in the diredion KP '
perpendicular to DC. Let DA be.the fedion of frac¬
ture. Let DA be about one-third of D A. A will be
the particle or fibre which is neither extended nor ccm-
preffed. Make A 5 : D </~DA : A A. i he triangles
DA</, A A 2, will reprefent the accumulated attrading
and repelling forces. Make AI and A f—^DA and
-f A A. The point I will be that to which the full co¬
hefion D d or/of the particles in AD muft be applied,
fo as to produce the fame momentum which the variable
fprees at I, D, &c. really produce at their feveral poinjs
S T R
[ 7«
Strength of of application. In like manner, i is tke centie of fimi-
M iteria's. idr effort of the repulfive forces excited by the compief-
  v ' fion between A and A, and it is the real fulcrum of a
bended lever I / K, by which the whole effed is produ¬
ced. The effed is the fame as if the full cohefion of
the ftretched fibres in AD were accumulated in I, and
the full repulfion of all the compreffed fibres in A A
•were accumulated in t. The forces which are balanced
in the operation are the weight P, ading by the arm
l /, and the full cohefion of AD ading by the arm I z.
The forces exerted by the comprefied fibres between A
and A only ferve to give fupport to the lever, that it
may exert its drain.
We imagine that this does not differ much from the
teal procedure of nature. 1 he pofition of the point A
may be different from what we have deduced from Mr
Buffon’s experiments, compared with Mufchenbroek’s
value of the abfolute cohefion of a fquare inch. II this
lafl thouid be only 12000, DA muff be greater than we
have here made it, in the proportion of 12000 to
16000. For I i muff ftill be made A A, fuppofing
the forces to be proportional to the extenffons and com-
preffions. There can be no doubt that a part only of
the cohefion of D A operates in refilling the fradure in
all fubffances which have any compreffibility 5 and itps
confirmed by the experiments of Mr Du Hamel on wil¬
low, and the inferences are by no means confined to that
fpecies of timber. We fay therefore, that when the
beam is broken, the cohefion of AD alone is exerted,
and that each fibre exerts a force proportional to its ex-
tenfion •, and the accumulated momentum is the fame as
if the full cohefion of AD were ading by the lever I i
—yd of D A.
It may be faid, that if only one-third of the cohefion
of oak be exerted, it may be cut two-thirds through
without weakening it. But this cannot be, becaufe the
cohefion of the whole is employed in preventing the la¬
teral Hide fo often ’.entioned. We have no experiments
to determine that it may not be cut through one-third
without lofs of its ftrength.
This muff not be confidered as a fubjed of mere fpe-
culative curiofity. It is intimately conneded with all
the pradical ufes which we can make of this knowledge j
for it is almoff the only way that we can learn the com¬
preffibility of timber. Experiments on the dired cohe¬
fion are indeed difficult, and exceedingly expenfive if
we attempt them in large pieces. But experiments on
compreflion are almoft impradicable. 'J he moft in-
ftrudive experiments would be, firft to eftablifii, by a
great number of trials, the tranfverfe force of a modern
batten ; and then to make a great number of trials of
the diminution of its ftrength, by cutting it through on
the concave fide. This would very nearly give us the
proportion of the cohefion which.really operates in refill¬
ing fradures. Thus if it be found that one-half of the
beam may he cut on the under fide without diminution
of its ftrength (taking care to drive in a flice of harder
wood), we may conclude that the point A is at the
middle, or fomewhat above it.
. Much lies before the curious mechanician, and we
are as yet very far from a fcientific knowledge of the
ftrength of timber.
In the mean time, we may derive from thefe experi¬
ments of Buffon a very ufeful pradical rule, without re*
lying on any value of the abfolute cohefionof oak. We
1 ] s t n
fee that the ftrength is nearly as the breadth, as the Strength of
fquare of the depth, and as the inverfe of the length. /vtatfJia ",
It is moft convenient to meafure the breadth and depth
of the beam in inches, and its length in feet. Since, \ ufefut
then, a beam four inches fquare and feven feet between pradical
the fupports is broken by 5312 pounds, we muft eon-be
elude that a batten one inch fquare and one foot between IW1 VIr
the fupports will be broken by 581 pounds. I hen the guflfon»s
ftrength of any other beam of oak, or the weight which expert-
will juft break it when hung on its middle, is 5S1 meiits.
bJl
/ *
But we have feen that there is a very confiderable de¬
viation from the inverfe proportion of the lengths, and
we muft endeavour to accommodate our rule to this de¬
viation. We found, that by adding 1245 to each cl
the ordinates or numbers in the column of the five-inch
bars, we had a fet of numbeis very nearly reciprocal of
the lengths ■, and if we make a fimilar addition to the
other columns in the proportion of the cubes of the fixes,
we have nearly the fame refult. The greateft error (ex¬
cept in the cafe of experiments which are very irregu¬
lar) does not exceed -frTth of the whole. Therefore,
for a radical number, add to the 5312 the number 640,
which is to 1 245 very nearly as 4s to 5s. This givea
5952. The 641b of this is 93, which correfponds to a
bar of one inch fquare and (even feet long. rl herefore
93X7 wiff be the reciprocal correfponding to a bar of
one foot. This is 651. Take from this the prefent
empirical correflion, which is or I0> an^ there
remains 641 for the ftrength of the bar. This gives us
b dx
for a general rule  10b a*.
Example. Required the weight neceffary to break an
oak beam eight inches fquare and 20 feet between the
8 x 82 ^
props, p — 651 X —— 10X8x8*. This is 11545,
whereas the experiment gives 11487. The error is very
fmall indeed. The rule is moft deficient in comparifon
with the five-inch bars, which we have already faid ap¬
pear ftrenger than the reft.
The following procefs is eafily remembered by- fuch<
as are not algebraifts.
Multiply the breadth in inches twice by the depth,
and call this produft f Multiply/by 651, and divide
by the length in feet. From the quotient take 10 times
f The remainder is the number of pounds which will
break the beam.
We are not fufficienily fenfible of our principles to be
confident that the correftion 10/ ftiould be in the pro¬
portion of the feflion, although we think it rnoft pro¬
bable. It is quite empirical, founded on Buffon’s expe¬
riments. Therefore the fafe way of ufing this rule is to
fuppofe the beam fquare,- by increafiug or diminifhing.
its breadth till equal to the depth. _ Then find the.
ftrength by this rule, and diminifti or increafe it for the
change which has been made in its breadth. 1 hus,
there can be no doubt that the ftrength of the beam gi¬
ven as an example is double of that of a beam of the
fame depth and half the breadth.
The reader cannot but obferve that all this calcula-,
"tion relates to the very greateft weight which a bean\.}
will bear for a very few minutes. Mr Buffon uniformly
found -
s T ft [ 78
StreEigth offpund tliat two-thirds of this weight fenfibly impaired
.■'Materials jts ftrcngth, and frequently broke it at the end of two
v~~"" or three months. One-half of this weight brought the
beam to a certain bend, which did not increafe after
the firft minute or two, and may be borne by the beam
for any length of time. But the beam contracted a
bend, of which it did not recover any confideiable por¬
tion. One-third feemed to have no permanent effeft on
the beam j but it recovered its rectilineal (hape com¬
pletely, even after having been loaded feveral months,
provided that the timber was feafoned when firft loaded ;
that is to fay, one-third of the weight which would
quickly break a feafoned beam, or one-fourth of what
would break one juft felled, may lie on it for ever with¬
out giving the beam a fett.
We have no detail of experiments on the ftrength of
other kinds of timber : only Mr Buffon fays, that fir
has about -rg-ths of the ftrength ot oak ; Mr parent
makes it -J-S-ths j Emerfon, -yds, &c.
We have been thus minute in our examination of the
meebanifm of this tranfverfe ftrain, becaufe it is the
greateft to which the parts of our machines are expofed.
We wifli to imprefs on the minds of artifts the neceffity
of avoiding this as much as poffible. They are improv¬
ing in this refpeft, as may be feen by comparing the
centres on which ftone arches of great fpan are new
turned with thofe of former times. They were formerly
a load of mere joifts refting on a multitude of polls,
which obftrufted the navigation, and were frequently
lofing their fliape by fome of the polls finking into the
ground. Now they are more generally trufles, where
the beams abutt on each other, and are relieved firm
tranfverfe (bains. But many performances ®f eminent
artifts are ftill very injudicioufly expofed ;o crofs drains.
We may inftance one which is confidered as a fine work,
viz. the bridge at Walton on Thames. Here every
beam of the great arch is a joift, and it hangs together
by framing. The fineft piece of carpentry that we have
feen is the centre employed in turning the arches of the
bridge at Orleans, deferibed by Perronet. In the whole
there is not one crofs ftrain. The beam, too, of Horn-
blower’s fteam-engine, deferibed in that article, is very
u8 fcientifically conftrufted.
IV. The laft fpecies of ftrain which we are to exa¬
mine is that produced by twilling. This takes place in
all axles which conned the working parts of machines.
Although we cannot pretend to have a very di'iinft
muft conception of that modification of the cohefion of a bo-
be proper- jy by which it refills this kind of ftrain, we can have
the number no doul:,t w^en a11 t'le Part5c]es alik-e» tlie re‘
efparticles, fiftance muft be proportional to the number, 'there¬
fore if we fuppofe the two parts ABCD, ABFE
(fig. 28.), of the body EFCD to be of infuperable
ftrength, but cohering more weekly in the common fur-
face AB, and that one part ABCD is pulhed laterally
in the diredion AB, <here can be no doubt that it will
yield only there, and that the refillance will be propor¬
tional to the furface.
In like manner, we can conceive a thin cylindrical
tube, of which KAH (fig. 29.) is the fedion, as coher¬
ing more weakly in that (edion than anywhere elfc.
Suppof it to be gvafped in both hands, and the two
parts twilled round the axis in oopcfiie diredions, as we
would twift the two joints of a flute, it is plain that it
will firft fail in this fedion, which is the circumference
4
Strain pro¬
duced by
twilling.
119
The refift-
Fig. 28.
Fig. 25.
2 ] S T ft
of a circle, and the particles of the two parts which are Strength ef
contiguous to this circumference will be drawn from Materials^
each other laterally. The total refiftance will be as the
number of equally refilling particles, that is, as the cir¬
cumference (for the tube being fuppoied very thin,
there can be no fenfible difference between the dilata¬
tion of the external and internal particles). We can
now fuppole another tube within this, and a third with¬
in the lecond, and fo on till we reach the centre. If
the particles of each ring exerted the fame force (by
fuffering the fame dilatation in the diredion of the cir¬
cumference), the refiftance of each ring of the fedion
would be as its circumference and its breadth (fuppofed
indefinitely fmall, and the whole rtfiftance would be as
the furface ; and this would reprefent the refiltance of
a folid cylinder. But when a cylinder is twilled in thifr
manner by an external force applied to its circumference,
the external parts will fuffer a greater circular extenfion
than the internal $ and it appears that this extenfion
(like the extenfion of a beam (trained tranfverfely) will
be proportional to the diftance of the particles from the
axis. We cannot fay that this is demonftrable, but we
can aflign no proportion that is more probable. This
being the cafe, the forces fimultaneoufly exerted by each
particle will be as its diftance from the axis. There¬
fore the whole force exerted by each ting will be as the
fquare of its radius, and the accumulated force pduafty
exerted will be as the cube of the radius ; that is, the
accumulated force exerted by the whole cylinder, whofe
radius is CA, is to the accumulated force exerted at the
fame time by the part whofe radius is CE, as CAJ to CES.
The whole cohefion now exerted is juft two-thirds of
whal it would be if all the particles were exerting the
fame attraftive forces which are juft now exerted by the
particles in the external circumference. This is plain
to any perfon in the lead familiar with the fluxionary cal¬
culus. But fuch as are not may eafily fee it in this way.
Let the re61angle AC c a be fet upright on the fur¬
face of the circle along the line CA, and revolve round
the axis Cc It will generate a cylinder whofe height
is C e or A <7, and having the circle KAH for its bafe.
If the diagonal C 0 be fuppoied alfo to revolve, it is
plain that the triangle cC a will generate a cone of the
fame height, and having for its hale the circle deferibed
by the revolution of c a, and ihe point C for its apex.
The cylindrical furface generated by A 0 will exprels
the whole cohefion exerted by the circumference AHK,
and the cylindrical iurface generated by E e will repre¬
fent the cohefion exerted by the circumference ELM,
and the folid generated by the triangle CA 0 will re¬
prefent the cohefion exerted by the whole circle AHK,
and the cylinder generated by the reftangle AC c a will
reprefent (he cohefion exerted by the fame furface it each
particle had fuffered the extenfion A 0.
Now it is plain, in the firft place, that the folid gene¬
rated by the triangle^ EC is to that generated by 0 AC
as EC3 to ACJ. In the next place, the folid generated
by 0 AC is two-thirds of the cylinder, becaufe the cone
generated by r C 0 is one-third of it.
We may now fuppofe the cylinder twilled till the par¬
ticles in the external circumference lofe their cohefion.
There can be no doubt that it will now be wrenched
afunder, all the inner circles yielding in fucceflion.
Thus we obtain one ufeful information, viz. that a body
of homogeneous texture refills a Jimple Vwifi with two-
ihird?
S T R
[ 783 ]
S T R
Strength of thirds of the force with which it refills sn cittenipt to
Materials. force one part laterally from the other, or with one-third
’ v   part of.the force which will cut it afunder by a fquare-
Wuh what edged tool. For to drive a fquare-edged tool through
force a bo- a piece of lead, for inliance, is the fame as forcing a
piece of the lead as. thick as the tool laterally away from
the two pieces on each fide of the tool. Experiments
of this kind do not feem difficult, and they would give
us very ufeful information.
When two cylinders AHK and BNO are wrenched
afunder, we muft conclude that the external particles of
each are juft put beyond their limits of cohefion, are
equally extended, and are exerting equal forces. Hence
it follows, that in the inftant of frafture the'fum total
dy of a ho¬
mogeneous
texture re-
fifts a Am¬
ple twift.
121
The forces
exerted in
breaking
two cylin¬
ders are as     
the fquares 0f the forces actually exerted are as the fquares of the
of the dia¬
meters.
diameters.
For drawing the diagonal C f, it is plain that E <?, rr
A expreffes the diftenfion of the circumference ELM,
and that the folid generated by the triangle CE ex-
preffes the cohefion exerted by the furface of the circle
ELM, when the particles in the circumference fuffer
the extenfion Ee equal to A. Now7 the folids gene¬
rated by CAa and CE<? being refpeftively two-thirds
of the correfponding cylinders, are as the fquares of the
122 diameters.
Relative Having thus afeertained the real ftrength of the fec-
ftnength of tion, and its relation to its abfolute lateral ftrength, let
the fedtion us eXamine its ftrength relative to the external force
to the ex- empi0yec[ to break. it. This examination is very fimple
employed06 the cafe under confideration. The ftraining force
to break it. muft a£l by fome lever, and the cohefion muft oppofe it
by a£ling on fome other lever. The centre of the fec-
tion may be the neutral point, whofe pofition is not di-
llurbed.
Let F be the force exerted laterally by an exterior
particle. Let a be the radius of the cylinder, and x the
indeterminate diftance of any circumference, and x the
indefinitely fmall interval between the concentric arches j
that is, let x be the breath of a ring and x its radius.
The forces being as the extenfions, and the extenfions
as the diftances from the axis, the cohefion a&ually ex¬
erted at any part of any ring will be/ The force
exerted by the whole ring (being as the circumference-
or as the radius) will be / . The momentum of co-
a
liefion of a ring, being as the force multiplied by its le¬
ver, will be f -
The accumulated momentum will
be the fum or fluent of f that is, when x — a, it
a '
will be
The refift- Hence we learn that the ftrength of an axle, by which
ance of the it refifts being wrenched afunder by a force afting at a
axle is as given diftance from the axis, is as the cube of its dia-
the cube of meter<
1 s lame- ^ farther, ^ /<j3 is sr/tf1 X t ^ow fal re*
prefents the full lateral cohefion of the feftion. The
momentum therefore is the fame as if the full lateral co¬
hefion were accumulated at a point diftant from the axis
ter.
y one-fourth of the radius or one-eighth of the diameter Strength of
of the cylinder. Man uals»
Therefore let F be the number of pounds which mea-
hires the lateral cohefion of a circular inch, d the dia¬
meter of the cylinder in inches, and / the length of the
lever by which the ftraining force /> is fuppoi’ed to aft,
d 3
we fliall have F X # J = /> 4 an^ j-Ty —A
We fee in general that the ftrength of an axle, by
which it refifts being wrenched afunder by twilling, is
as the cube of its diameter.
We fee alfo that the internal parts are not afting fo
powerfully as the external. If a hole be bored out of
the axle of half its diameter, the fti ength is diminilhed
only one-eighth, while the quantity of matter is diminilh¬
ed one-fourth. Therefore hollow axles are ftronger than
folid ones containing the fame quantity of matter. Thus 114
let the diameter be 5 ar)Cl that of the hollow 4 • then Hollow
the diameter of another folid cylinder having the fame ^an
quantity of matter with the tube is 3. The ftrength of {oij^ oneS}
the folid cylinder of the diameter 5 may be expreffed by
or 125. Of this the internal part (of the diameter
4) exerts 64; therefore the ftrength of the tube is 125
 64, ~ 61. But the ftrength of the folid axle of the
fame quantity of matter and diameter 3 is 33, or 27, which -
is not half of that of the tube. I2^
Engineers, therefore, have of late introduced this im- and now
provement in their machines, and the axles of call iron generally.
are all made hollow when their fize will admit it. They ufed-
have the additional advantage of being much iliffer, and
of affording much better fixture for the flanches, which
are ufed for connefting them with the wheels or levers
by which they are turned and llrained. The fuperio-
rity of ftrength of hollow tubes over folid cylinders is
much greater in this kind of ftrain than in the former or
tranfverfe. In this lalt cafe the llrength of this tube
would be to that of the folid cylinder of equal weight as
61 to 32 and a half nearly.
The apparatus which we mentioned on a former oc-
caffon for trying the lateral llrength of a fquare inch of
folid matter, enabled us to try this theory of twift with
all deftrable accuracy. The bar which hung down
from the pin in the former trials was now placed in a
horizontal pofition, and loaded with a weight at the ex- X2£
tremify. Thus it afted as a powerful lever, and enabled The ratie
us to wrench afunder fpecimens of the ftrongeft mate-ofrefift*
rials. We found the refults perfeftly conformable to^^A
the theory, in as far as it determhied the proportional t0
ftfength of different fizes and forms: but we found the pie lateral
ratio of the reftftance to twilling to the fimple lateral re-reIiftance
fiftance confiderably different; and it was fome time be- j?i-ear,\
fore we difeovered the caufe.
We had here taken the fimpleft view that is poffible
of the aftion of cohefion in refilling a twift. It is fre¬
quently exerted in a very different way. When, for in-
ftance, an iron axle is joined to a wooden one by being
driven into one end of it, the extenfions of the different
circles of particles are in a very different proportion. A
little confideration will (how that the particles in imme¬
diate contaft with the iron axle are in a Hate of violent
extenfion •, fo are the particles of the exterior furface of -
the wooden part, and the intermediate parts are lefs
ftrained. It is almoft impoffible to afiign the exaft pro¬
portion of the cohefive forces exerted in the different
parts. -
s T R [ 78+ 3 S T 11
12S
Experi¬
ments on
fatisfaelo.
rj ; but
thofe on
timber ir¬
regular.
Sn-ength of parts. Numberlefs cafes can be pointed out where parts
. ..uenais. axje ar£ jn a ^ate 0f comprefl*10rij an^ where it is
itirl more difficult to determine the ftate of the other
particles. We mud content ourfelves with the deduc¬
tions made from this fimple cafe, which is fortunately
the mod common. In the experiments jud now men¬
tioned the centre of the circle is by no means the neu¬
tral point, and it is very didicult to afcertain its place :
but when this copdderation occurred to us, we eafily
freed the experiments from this uncertainty, by extend¬
ing the lever to both fides, and by means of a pulley ap¬
plied equal force to each arm, adling in oppodte direc¬
tions. Thus the centre became the neutral point, and
the refidance to twid was found to be two-thirds of the
limple lateral drength.
We beg leave to mention here that our fuccefs in thefe
chalk, clay exPeriments encouraged us to extend them much farther,
and wax, ^'e hoped by thefe means to difeover the abfolute co-
hefion of many fubftances, which would have required
an enormous apparatus and a mod unmanageable force
to tear them afunder diredlly. But we could reafon with
confidence from the reddance to twid (which w'e could
eafily meafure), provided that we could afcertain the
proportion of the diredf and the lateral drengths. Our
experiments on chalk, finely prepared clay, and white
bees-wax (of one melting and one temperature), were
very confident and fatisfa&ory. But w^e have hitherto
found great irregularities in this proportion in bodies of
a fibrous texture like timber. Thefe are the mod im¬
portant cafes, and we dill hope to be able to accomplifh
our project, and to give the public fome valuable infor¬
mation. This being our foie objeid, it was our duty to
mention the method which promifes fuccefs, and thus
excite others to the talk ; and it will be no mortifica¬
tion to us to be deprived of the honour of being the fii d
who thus adds to the dock of experimental knowledge.
When the matter of the axle is of the mod fimple
texture, fuch as that of metals, we do not conceive that
the length of the axle has any influence on the fraflure.
It is otherwife if it be of a fibrous texture like timber :
the fibres are bent before breaking, being twilled into
fpirals like a cork-fcrew. The length of the axle has
fiomewhat of the influence of a lever in this cafe, and it
is eafier wrenched afunder if long. Accordingly we
have found it fo ; but we have not been able to reduce
this influence to calculation.
Our readers are requeded to accept of thefe endea¬
vours to communicate information on this important and
difficult fubjefl. We are duly fenlible of their imper-
feflion, but flatter ourfelves that we have in many in¬
dances pointed cut the method which mud be purfued
for improving our knowledge on this fubjeft ; and we
have given the Bnglilh reader a more copious lid of ex¬
periments on the drength of materials than he will meet
with in our language. Many ufeful deduflions might
be made from thefe premifes refpe&ing the manner of
difpofing and combining the drengfh of materials in our
druflures. The bed form of joints, mortifes, tenons,
fcarphs •, the rules for joggling, tabling, faying, fidiing,
&c. praidifed in the delicate art of mad-making, are all
founded on this do&rine : but the difcuffion of thefe
would be equivalent to writing a complete treatife of
carpentry. We hope that this will be executed by fome
intelligent mechanician, for there is nothing in our lan¬
guage on this fubjeft but what is alinoft contemptible $
119
ISoncluding
remarks.
yet there is no mechanic art that is more fufceptible of Strength-
fcientific treatment. Such a treatife, if well executed, eners
could not fail of being well received by the public in s
this age of mechanical improvement. , Mrokmg-f
. SIHENGIHENEHS, or Corroborants, fuch me¬
dicines as are fuppofed to add to the firmnefs of the fo-
lids. See Materia Medica Index.
SBREICHING, in Navigation, is generally under-
dood to imply the progreffion of a diip under a great
fuiface of lari, when cloie-hauled. Ike dideience be¬
tween this term and Jlan ding, confids apparently in the
quantity of fail j wffiich in the latter may be very mo¬
derate 5 but dretching generally fignifies excefs -t as, we
faw the enemy at daybreak dretching to the fouthward
under a croud of fail, &c. Falconer.
STRETTO, in Italian mufic, is fometimes ufed to
fignify that the meafure is to be fhort and concife, and
confequently quick. In this fenfe it dands eppofed to
Largo.
STRIATED leaf, among botanids, one that has a
number of longitudinal furrows on its furface.
S1RIKE, a meafure of capacity, containing four bu-
fhels. Alfo an indrument ufed in meafuring corn.
STRIX, the owe j a genus of birds belonging to the
order of accipitres. See Ornithology Index.
The bubo, or great-eared owl inhabits inaccefTible
rocks and defert places, and preys on hares and feather¬
ed game. Its appearance in cities was deemed an un- __
lucky omen ; Rome itlelf once underwent a ludration
becaufe one of them drayed into the capitol. The an¬
cients had them in the utmod abhorrence; and thought
them, like the fcreech-owls, the meffengers of death.
Phny dyles it bubo funebris, and nodi is monfirum.
Solaque culminibus feral! carmine bubo
Hcepe quen ct longas in Jleturn ducere voces. VlRClE.
Perch’d on the roof, the bird of night complains,
In lengthen’d dirieks and dire funereal drains.
S'! ROBILUS, in Botany, a pericarp formed from
an amentum by the hardening of the feales.
STROKING, or rubbing gently with the hand, a
method which has been employed by fome perfons fur
curing difeafes.
Mr Greatrukes or Greatrix, the famous Irifh droker,
is faid to have performed many wonderful cures. He
gives the following account of his difeovery of this art,
and of the fuccefs w ith which he praftifed it. “ About See Brief
1662 I had an impuife (fays he), or a drange perfuafion■iyr
in my own mind (of which I am not able to give any
rational account to another), which did very frequently
fugged to me, that there was bedowed on me the gift Lord. 1666,
of curing the king’s evil; which, for the extraordinari-4to*
nefs of it, I thought fit to conceal for fome time 5 but at
length I communicated this to my wife, and told her,
that I did verily believe that God had given me the
bleffing of curing the king’s evil j for whether I were
in piivate or public, fleeping or waking, dill I had the
fame impuife. But her reply to me was, that fhe con¬
ceived this was a dra-nge imagination 5 yet, to prove the
contrary, a few days after there was one William Ma¬
ther of Salterbridge in* the parifli of Lifmore, who
brought his fon William to my houfe, defiring my wdfe
to cure him, who was a perfon ready to afford her cha¬
rity to her neighbours, according to her fmall /kill in
chiiurgery.
* V ■" ; : . •
*
H' /Vntn
& w
>
S T R
Striking chirurgeiy. On which my wife told me, there w7as one
. H . that had the king’s evil very grievoufly in the eyes,
Stroa)l)oii. an(i throat •, whereupon I told her, that Ihe
(hould now fee w7hether this was a bare fancy or imagi¬
nation, as (he thought it, or the diftates ot God s Spirit
On my heart, i hen I laid my hands on the places af¬
fected, and prayed to God for Jefus fake to heal him j
and bid the parent two or three days afterwards to bring
the child to me again, which accordingly he did } and I
then faw the eye was almoft quite whole ; and the node,
which was almoft as big as a pullet’s egg, was fuppu-
rated •, and the throat ftrangely amended j and, to be
brief (to God’s glory I fpeak it) within a month dif-
«harged itfelf quite, and was perfectly healed, and fo
continues, God be praifed.^’
Then there came to him one Margaret Mackfhane of
Ballinecly, in the parilh of Lifmore, who had been af¬
flicted with the evil above feven years, in a much more
violent degree j and foon after, his fame increafing, he
cured the fame difeafe in many other perfons for three
years. He did not meddle all this time with any other
diftemper *, till about the end of thefe three years, the
ague growing epidemical, he found, as formerly, that
there was beftowed on him the gift of curing that di¬
feafe. He cured Colonel Phaire, of Cahirmony in the
county of Corke, of an ague, and afterwards many other
perfons of different diftempers, by ftroking ; fo that his
name was wonderfully cried up, as if fome divine per-
fon had been fent from above. January 1665-6, he
came over to England, at the requeft of the earl of Or¬
rery $ in order to cure the lady of the lord-vifcount
Conway, of Ragley in Warwickthire, who had for many
vears laboured under a moft violent headache. Pie
ftaid at Ragley three weeks or a month j and though
he failed in his endeavours to relieve that lady, he
cured vaft numbers of people in thofe parts and at Wor-
cefter.
Though we are no friends to the marvellous, nor be¬
lieve it potlible that either the king’s evil or ague can be
cured by ftroking or friftion of any kind, whether gentle
or fevere, we-have no hefitation to acknowledge that
many cures might be performed by Mr Greatrakes.
Every reileCIing perfon who reads the foregoing account
which he gives of himfelf will fee that he was an enthu-
ftaft, and believed himfelf guided by a particular revela¬
tion ; and fuch is the credulity of mankind, that his pre-
tenfions were readily admitted, and men crouded with
eagernefs to be relieved of their difeafes. But it is well
known to phyficians, that in many cafes the imagination
has accomplifhed cures as wonderful as the force of me¬
dicine. It is owing chiefly to the influence of imagina¬
tion that we have fo many accounts from people of ve¬
racity of the wonderful effe&s of quack medicines. We
are perfe<ftly affured that thefe medicines, by their, na¬
tural operation, can never produce the effe£ls afcribed
to them •, for there is no kind of proportion between
the medicine and the effecl produced, and often no con¬
nexion between the medicine and the dffeafe.
STROMATEUS, a genus of fifties belonging to the
order of apodes. See ICHTHYOLOGY Index.
STROMBOLT, the moft northern of the Lipari
iflands. It is a volcano, which conftantly difcharges
much fire and fmoke. It rifes in a conical form above
the furface of the fea. On the eaft fide it has three or
four little craters ranged near each other, not at the
VOL. XIX, Part II,
Strype.
785 ]- S T It
fummit, but on the declivity, nearly at two-thirds of its StromboH
height. But as the furface of the volcano is very rug- »
ged and interfeXed with hollow ways, it may be natu-
rally concluded, that at the time of fome great eruption,
the fummit and a part of this fide fell in, as muft have
happened alfo to Vefuvius 5 confequently, the common
chimney is at this day on the declivity, although, al¬
ways in the centre of the whole bafe. It is inhabited
notwitbftanding its fires 5 but care is taken to avoid the
proximity of the crater, which is yet much to be feared.
“ I was affured (fays M. de Luc) by an Engliftiman,
who, like me, had the curiofity to vifit theie ifles, that
the fine w'eather having invited him and his company
to land at Stromboli, they afcended a volcano, whofe
craters at that time threw out nothing } but that while
they were attentively viewing them, unapprehenfive of
any danger, they were iuddenly faluted by fuch a fu¬
rious difcharge, as to be obliged to retreat with pieci-
pitation, and not without one of the company being
wounded by a piece of fcoria.” Of all the volcanoes
recorded in hiftcry, Stromboli feems to be the only one
that burns without ceafing. Etna and Vefuvius. often
lie quiet for many months, and even years., without
the leaft appearance of fire 5 but Stromboli is ever at
work, and for ages paid has been looked upon as the
great lighthoufe of thefe feas. E. Long. 15. 45* N.
Lat. 30. o.
STROMBUS, a genus of ihell-fifli. See Cokcho-
LOGY Index.
STRONGOLI, a town of the kingdom of Naples,
with a bifhop’s fee. It is fituated on a rugged moun¬
tain, is about three miles from the fea, and feven north
from St Severlno. It is fuppofed to be the ancient Pn-
te/ia, which made a confpicuous figure in the fecond
Punic war by its obftinate refiftance ngainid Hannibal.
Near its walls Marcellus the rival of Hannibal was flain
in a Ikirmifh. E. Long. 17. 26. N. Lat. 39. 20.
STRONTITES, or Strontian earth, fo called
from having been difeovered at Strontian in Scotland.
See Chemistry Index.
STROPHE, in ancient poetry, a certain number of
verfe.s, including a perfc-X fenfe, and making the firft
part of an ode. See Poetry, N° 130.
STRUMPE, fcrophulous tumours arifing on the neck
and throat, conftituting what is commonly called the
king's evil. See Medicine Index.
STRUMPFIA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs fyngenefia. See Botany Index.
STRUTHIO, a genus of birds belonging to the or¬
der of grallse. See Ornithology Index.
STRUTHIOLA, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs of tetrandria. See Botany Index.
STRYCHNOS, a genus of plants belonging to the
clafs pentandria, and in the natural fyftem ranging un¬
der the 28th order, luridee. See Botany' Index.
STRYMON, in Ancient Geography, formerly Cono-
%us ; a river conftituting the ancient limits of Macedo--
uia and Thrace ; riling in Mount Scombrus ( Ariftotle),'
Authors differ as to the modern name of this river.
STRYPE, John, was defeended from a German fa¬
mily, bor.: at London, and educated at Cambridge. He
was vicar of Low Layton in Effex, and diftinguilhed
himfelf by his compilations of Ifives and Memoirs j in
which, as Dr Birch remarks, his fidelity and induftry
will always give a value to his writings, however deft'i-
r G tutc
Stuart.
S T U
tute they may be of the graces of ftyle.
ahcr having enjoyed his vicarage near 68 years.
STUART, Dr Gilbert, was born at Edinburgh
in the year 1742. His father Mr George Stuart was
profelTbr of humanity in the univerfity, and a man of
confiderable eminence for his claffical tafte and litera¬
ture. For thefe accomplilhments he was probably in¬
debted in no fmall degree to his relation the celebrated
K-uddiman, with whom both he and his fon converfed
familiarly, though they afterwards united to injure his
fame.
Gilbert having finhhed his claffical and philofophical
fludies in the grammar-fchool and univerfity, applied
himfelf to jurifprudence, without following, or probably
intending to follow, the profeffion of the law. For that
profeffion he has been reprefented as unqualified by in¬
dolence j by a paffion which at a very early period of
life he difplayed for general literature \ or by boundlefs
diffipation :—and all thefe circumftances may have con¬
tributed to make him relinquifh purfuits in "which he
could hope to iucceed only by patient perfeverance and
flridl decorum of manners. That he did not w7afte his
youth in idlenefs, is, however, evident from An Hiflori-
cal Differtation concerning the Antiquity of the Britifh
Conflitution, which he publilhed before he had com¬
pleted his twenty-fecond year, and which had fo much
merit as to induce the univerfity of Edinburgh to confer
upon the author, though fo young a man, the degree of
After a ftudious interval of fome years, he produced
a valuable work, under the title of A View of Society
in Europe, in its Progrefs from Rudenefs to Refinement j
or, Inquiries concerning the Hiftory of Laws, Govern¬
ment, and Manners. He had read and meditated with
patience on the moft important monuments of the mid¬
dle ages 5 and in this volume (which fpeedily reached a
fecond edition) he aimed chiefly at the praife of origina¬
lity and invention, and difcovered an induflry that is fel-
dom conneffed with ability and difcernment. About
the time of the publication of the firft edition of this
performance, having turned his thoughts to an acade¬
mical life, he afked for the profefforfhip of public law
in the univerfity of Edinburgh. According to his own
account he had been promifed that place by the mini-
fler, but had the mortification to fee the profefforfhip
beftowed on another, and all his hopes blafled by the in¬
fluence of Dr Robertfon, whom he reprefented as under
obligations to him.
To the writer of this article, who was a flranger to
thefe rival candidates for hiftorical fame, this part of the
llory feems very incredible 5 as it is not eafy to conceive
how it ever could be in the power of Dr Stuart to ren¬
der to the learned Principal any effential fervice. It
was believed indeed by the earl of Buchan, and by
others, who obferved that the illiberal jealoufy not un¬
frequent in the world of letters, was probably the fburce
of this oppofition •, which entirely broke the intimacy of
two perfons who, before that time, were unde:flood to
be on the moft friendly footing with each other. In¬
gratitude, however, is as likely to have been the vice of
Dr Stuart as of Dr Robertfon •, for we have been told
* Chalmers by a writer *, who, at leaft in one inftance, has com-
m his Life pjetely pro- ed what he affirms, that “ fuch was Gilbert
ruin'11 ^ Stuart’s laxity of principle as a man, that he confidered
ingratitude as one of the moft venial finsfuch was his
[ 786 ] s t u
He died in conceit as a writer, that he regarded no one’s merits but
his own ; fuch were his difappointments, both as a writer
and a man, that he allowed his peevithnefs to four into
malice, and indulged his malevolence till it fettled in
corruption.”
Soon after this difappointment, Dr Stuart went to
London, where he became from 1768 to 1774 one of
the writers of the Monthly Review. In 1772 Dr Adam,
reftor of the high-fchool at Edinburgh, publifhed a La¬
tin Grammar, which he intended as an improvement of
the famous Ruddiman’s. Stuart attacked him in a pam¬
phlet under the name of Bujhby, and treated him with
much feverity. In doing this, he was probably a&uated
more by fome perfonal diflike of Dr Adam than by re¬
gard for the memory of his learned relation ; for on
other occafions he ftiowed fufficiently that he had no re¬
gard to Ruddiman’s honour as a grammarian, editor, or
critic.
In 1774 he returned to his native city, and began the
Edinburgh Magazine and Review, in which he difeuffed
the liberty and conftituticn of England, and diftinguifh-
ed himfelf by an inquiry into the charafter of John Knox
the reformer, whofe principles he reprobated in the
fevereft terms. About this time he revifed and publifh¬
ed Sullivan’s Leblures on the Conftitution of England.
Soon after he turned his thoughts to the hiftory of Scot¬
land, and publilhed Obfervations concerning its Public
Law and Conftitutional Hiftory ; in which he examined
with a critical care the preliminary book to Dr Robert-
fon’s Hiftory. His next work was The Hiftory of the
Reformation ; a book which deferves praife for the eafy
dignity of the narrative, and for ftridl impartiality. His
laft great work, The Hiftory of Scotland from the Efta-
blifhment of the Reformation to the Death of Queen
Mary, which appeared in 1782, has been very gene¬
rally read and admired. His purpofe was to vindicate
the character of the injured queen, and expofe the weak-
nefs of the aiguments by which Dr Robertfon had en¬
deavoured to prove her guilty : but though the ftyle of
this work is his own, it contains very little matter which
was not furnifhed by Goodall and Tytler; and it is with
the arms which thefe two writers put into his hands that
Dr Stuart attacked his great antagonift.
In 1782 he once more vifited London, and engaged
in the Political Herald and Englifh Review ; but the
jaundice and dropfy increafing on him, he returned by
lea to his native country, where he died in the houfe of
his father on the 13th of Auguft 1786.
In his perfon Dr Stuart was about the middle fize and
juftly proportioned. Flis countenance u'as modeft and
expreffive, fometimes glowing with fentiments of friend-
ftiip, of which he was truly fufceptible, and at others
darting that fatire and indignation at folly and vice which
appear in fome of his writings. He wTas a boon com¬
panion y and, with a conftitution that might have flood
the fhock of ages, he fell a premature martyr to intem¬
perance. His talents were certainly great, and his wri¬
tings are ufeful $ but he feems to have been influenced
more by paffion than prejudice, and in his charafler
there was not much to be imitated.
STUCCO, in building, a compofition of white mar¬
ble pulverifed, and mixed with plafter of lime ; and the
whole being lifted and wrought up with w'ater, is to be
ufed like common plafter : this is called by Pliny mcr-
Thoratum opus, and albarium opus.
A
Stuart,
Stucco.
S T U
f 7S7 1
S T U
Stucco. A patent has been granted to Mr B. Higgins for in-
—v ' venting a new kind of ftucco, or water-cement, more
firm and durable than any heretofore. Its compofitton,
as extra&ed from the fpecification figned by himielf, is
as follows: “ Drift-fand, or quarry (a) land, which
confifts chiefly of hard quartofe flat-faced grains with
(harp angles ; which is the freeft, or may be moft eafily
freed by^walhing, from clay, falls, and calcareous, gyp-
feous, or other grains lefs hard and durable than quartz j
which contains the fmalleft quantity of pyrites or heavy
metallic matter infeparable by walhing *, and which luf-
fers the fmalleft diminution of its bulk in walhing in the
following manner—is to be preferred before any other.
And where a coarfe and a fine fand of this k.nd, snd
correfponding in the fize of their grains with the coane
and fine fands hereafter defcribed, cannot_ be eafiiy
procured, let fuch fand of the foregoing quality be cho-
fen as may be forted and cleanfed in the following man-^
ner :
“ Let the fand be fifted in ftreaming clear water,
through a lieve which {hall give paflage to^ all fuch
grains as do not exceed one-fixteenth of an inch in dia-
mete' •, and let the ftream of water and the fifting be re¬
gulated fo that all the fand, which is much finer than
the Lynn-fand commonly ufed in the London glafs-
houfcs, together with clay and every other matter fpeci-
fically lighter than fand, may be waflied away with the
ftream, whUft the purer and coavfer fand, which paffes
through the fieve, fubfides in a convenient receptacle,
and whilft the coarfe rubbifli and rubble remain on the
fleve to be re^ecled.
“ Let the fand which thus fubfides in the receptacle
be waftted in clean ftreaming water through a finer
fieve fo as to be further cleanfed and forled into two
parcels •, a coarfer, which will remain in the fieve which ^
is to give paffage to fuch grains of land only as are lets
than one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and which is
to be faved apart under the name of coarfe fand; and a
finer, which will pafs through the neve and fubfide
in the water, and which is to be faved apart under the
name of fine fand.—Ltl the coarfe and the fine fand be
dried feparately, either in the fun or on a clean iron-
plate, let on a convenient furface, in the manner or a
fand-heat (b). . ...
“ Let lime be chofen (c) which is ftone-hme, which
heats the moft; in flaking, and flakes the quickefi when
duly watered \ which is the fretheft made and deleft
kept j which diffolves in diftilled vinegar with the leaft
elfervelcence, and leaves the fmalleft refidue inlolubie,
and in this refidue the fmalleft quantity of clay, gypium,
or martial mattei. #
“ Let the lime chofen according to theie important
rules be put in a brafs-wired fieve to the quantity ol 14
pounds. Let the fieve be finer than either of the fore¬
going ; the finer, the better it will be : let the lime be
flaked (d) by plunging it in a butt filled with loft wa¬
ter, and raifing it out quickly and fuftering it to heat
and fume, and by repeating this plunging and raifing
alternately, and agitating the lime, until it be made to
pafs through the fieve into the water 5 and let the part
of the lime which does not eafily pafs through the fieve
be rejedted : and let frefli portions of the lime be thus
ufed, until as many (e) ounces of lime have pafled
through the fieve as there are quarts of water in the
butt. b Let the water thus impregnated Hand in the butt
clofely covered (f) until it becomes clear; and through
wooden (g) cocks placed at different heights in the
butt') Lt the clear liquor be drawn off as fall (h) and
c G 2 as
Stucco.
un,n it«
tile evaporation will be very flow, and the fand which lies next the iron plate, by bemg overheated, will be d.fco-
'“fcV* The preference given to Hone-lime is founded on the prefent praaice in the burning of lime, and on the
clofer tex ure of it, whicS prevents it from being fo foon injured by expofure to the art as the more fpongy chalk-
lime is not on the popular notion that ftone-lime has fomething in it whereby it excels the bet chalk ,n the c=-
mentineproperties? The Eypfum contained in lime-flone remains unaltered or very little altered in the tale,
X" the buniil i but it is not to be expefled that clay or martial matter fliould be tound m them native Hate m
well-burned lime ; for thev concrete or vitrify with a part of the calcaieous earth and conftltute the hard grains
or lumps which remain undiffolved in weak acids, or are Separable from the flaked lime by lifting it immediate y
‘^.^Imethod of impregnating the water with lime is not the only one which may be adopted It is how-
evir preferred before others, becaufe the water clears the fooner in confequence of its being warmed by the flaking
lime’- Pand the gypfeous part of the lime does not diffufe itfelf in the water lo freely in this way as it does when the
lime is flaked togfine powder in the common method, and is then blended with the water-, for the gypfeous part of
the lime flakes at firlHnto grains rather than into fine powder, and will remain on the fieve after the pure hme as
paffed th ough long enough to admit of the intended fePamtion but when the hme is otherwife flaked the gyp-
feous grains have time to flake to a finer powder, and palling through the fieve, diffolve in the water along with
the lime. I have imagined that other advantages attended this method of preparing the hme-watei, but I cannot
y Ct( e)C ^ If he "wat ei-t c on tains no move acidulous gas than is ufually found in river or rain water, a fourth part of
this quantity^ o^iciPjous cml\ whlch forms on tpe furface of the water ought not to be broken for it aflifts in ex¬
cluding the air, and preventing the abforption of acidulous gas whereby the lime-water is fponed.
fG'1 “ Rrafs-cocks are apt*to colour a part of the liquor. ^ , r ai • 1 . if
(H) « Lime-water cannot be kept many days unimpaired, in any veffels that are not perfeaiy air-tight. If
the liquor be drawn off before it clears, it will contain whiting, which is injurious*, and if it be no. mftant^y
StlKCO
r
s t u
^ as low as the lime fubfides, for ufe. This clear liquor
1 call the cementing liquor (i). The freer the water is
irom fa line matter, the better will be the cementing li¬
quor made with it.
Let 56 pounds of the aforefaid chofen lime be fia-
ked, by gradually fprinkling on it, and efpecially on
the unflaked pieces, the cementing liquor, in a clofe
(K) clea» pLce. Let the flaked part be immediately
(rV through the laft-mentioned fine brafs-wired
fieve : Let the lime which pafi'es be ufed inftantly, or
kept in air-tight veffels, and let the par,t of tlm lime
which does not pafs through the fieve be rejected (m). 
This finer richer part of the lime which paifes through
the fieve I call purified lime.
Let bone-afh be prepared in the ufual manner, by
grinding the whiteft burnt bones, but let it be lifted, to
oe much finer than the bone-afli commonly fold for ma¬
king cupels.
1 lie mod eligible materials for making my cement
being thus prepared, take j6 pounds of the coarfe ('and
and 42 pounds of the fine find ; mix them on a large
plank, of hard wood placed horizontally j then fpread
the find fo that it may ftand to the height of fix iriches,
with a flat furface on the plank; wet it with the ce¬
menting liquor ; and let any fuperfluous quantity of the
liquor, which the fand in the condition deferibed cannot
retain, flow away off the plank. To the wetteft find
add 14 pounds of the putrefied lime in fcveral fucceflive
portions, mixing and beating them up together in the
rnean time with the inflruments generally ufed in mak¬
ing fine mortar: then add 14 pounds of the bone-afli in
fucceflive portions, mixing and beating all together.
The quicker and the more perfe&ly thefe materials are
mixed and beaten together, and the fooner the cement
thus formed is ufed, the better (n) it will be. This I
call the water-cement coarfe-grainedt which is to be ap-
788 ] S T U
plied in building, pointing, plaftering, rtueeoing, or Stucco.
other wonv, as mortar and itucco now are: with this' v—
cuherence chiefly, that as this cement is fhortcr than
mortar or common ftucco, and dries looner, it ought to
be worked expeditioufly in all cafes ; and in fluccoing,
it ought to be laid on by Hiding the trowel upwards on
it; that the materials ufed along with this cement in
building, or the ground on which it is to be laid in fluc-
coing, ought to be well wetted with the cementing ]i«
quor in the inftant of laying on the cement; and°that
the cementing liquor is to be ufed when it is neceflary
to moiften the cement, or when a liquid is required to
facilitate the floating of the cement.
“ When fuch cement is required to be of a finer tex-
tuie, take 98 pounds of the fine fand, wet it with the
cementing liquor, and mix it with the purified lime and
the bone-afh in the quantities and in the manner above
defenbed ; with this difference only, that 15 pounds of
lime, or (o) thereabouts, are to be ufed inltead of 14
pounds, if the greater part of the fand be as fine as
Lynn-fand. T his I call water-cementJine-grained. It
is to be ufed in giving the lafl coating, or the finiflj to
any work intended to imitate the finer-grained ftones or
flucco. But it may be applied to all the ufes of the
water-cement coarfe-grained, and in the fame man¬
ner.
. “ When for any of the foregoing purpofes of point¬
ing, building, &c. fuch a cement is required much
cheaper and coarfer-grained, then much coarfer dean
fand than the foregoing coarfe fand, or well-wafhed fine
rubble, is to be provided. Of this coarfe fand or rubble
take 56 pounds, of the foregoing coarfe fand 28 pounds,
and of the fine fand 34 pounds; and after mixing thefe,'
and wetting them with the cementing liquor in the fore¬
going manner, add 14 pounds, or fomewhat lefs, of
the (p) purified lime, and then 14 pounds or fomewhat
lefs
uf-d after it is drawn limpid from the butt-into open veffels, it will grow turbid again, and depofit the lime
changed to whiting by the gas abforbed from the air. The calcareous matter which fubfides in the butt refembles
v: itmg the more neady as the lime has been more fparingly employed; in the contrary circumftances, it ap-
~ for^je ^1!)natUre °f ltne 5 and in the intermediate ft ate, it is fit for the common compofition of the plaftcrers
T U fV m e- lT °f Wr.ltin,g tills fPec‘ficati°n5 * preferred this term before that of lime-water, on grounds which
1 had not lufhciently examined. 6
. v,aPour ^'kioh anfes in the flaking of lime contributes greatly to the flaking of thefe pieces which lie
in its way ; and an unneceffaiy wafle of the liquor is prevented, by applying it to the i'me heaped in a pit or in a
veiTl, which may reflram the affue of the vapour, and direa it through the mafs. If more of the liquor be ufed
t ran is neceffary to flake the lime, it will create error in weighing the flaked powder, and will prevent a part of it
10m pa fling freely through the fieve. 1 he liquid is therefore to be tifed fparingly, and the lime which has efcaped
its action is to be fprinKled apart with frefh liquor. *
(L) “ When the aggregation of the lumps of lime is thus broken, it is impaired much fooner than it is in the
former Itate, becaute the air more freely pervades it.
(M) “ Becaufe it confifls of heterogeneous matter or of ill-burnt lime ; which laft will flake and pafs through the
fieve, it tlie lime be not immediately lifted after the flaking, agreeable to the text. ^
(n) “ Thefe proportions are intended for a cement made with fliarp fand, for incruftation in expofed fituations
where it is n-ceffiry to guard agamft the effefts of hot weather and rain. In general, half this quantity of bone-
ahies will be found fufficient; and although the incruftation in tins latter cafe will not harden deeply fo foon it
will be ultimately ftronger, provided the weather be favourable. ’
The injuries which lime and mortar fuflain by expofure to the air, before the cement is finally placed in a qui-
efeeut ftate, are great; and therefore our cement is the worfe for being long beaten, but the better as it is quickly
beaten untl the mixture is effe&ed, and no longer. 'i /
(o) “ The quantity of bone-afties is not to be increafed with that of the lime ; but it is to be leffened as the
exp-'fiire and purpofes of the work will admit.
(p) “ Becaufe lefs lime is neceffary, as the fand i$ coarfcr.
S T U [ 789 1 S T V
Smcfo. lefs of the bone-a(h, mixing them together in the man-
—^v—ner already defcribed. When my cement is required to
be white, white fand, white liifte, and the whiteft bone-
a(h are to be chofen. Gray fand, and gray bone-afh
formed of half-burnt bones, are to be chofen to make
the cement gray ; and any other colour of the cement
is obtained, either by choofing coloured fand, or by the
admixture of* the neceffary quantity of coloured talc in
powder, or of coloured, vitreous, or metallic powders,
or other durable colouring ingredients commonly ufed in
paint.
“ To the end that fuch a water-cement as I have de¬
fcribed may be made as ufeful as it is poffible in ail cir-
cumdances ; and that no perfon may imagine that my
claim and right under thefe letters-patent may be eluded
by divers variations, which may be made in the forego¬
ing procefs without producing any notable defeft in the
cement j and to the end that the principles of this art,
as well as the art itfelf, of making my cement, may be
gathered from this fpecification and perpetuated to the
public ; I fhall add the following obfervations :
“ This my water-cement, whether the coarfe or fine
grained, is applicable in forming artificial ftone, by ma¬
king alternate layers of the cement and of flint, hard
ftone, or brick, in moulds of the figure of the intended
ftone, and by expofing the maffes fo formed to the open
(q^) air to harden.
“ When fuch cement is required for water (r) fences,
two-thirds of the prefcribed quantity of bone-afhes are
to be omitted j and in the place thereof an equal tnea-
fure of powdered terras is to be uled } and if the fand
employed be not of the coarfeft fort, more terras muft
be added, fo that the terras fliall be by weight one-fixth
part of the weight of the fand.
“ When fuch a cement is required of the fineft grain
(s) or in a fluid form, fo that it may be applied with a
brufh, flint powder, or the powder of any quartofe or
hard earthy fubftance, may be ufed in the place of Stuce®.
fand ; but in a quantity fmaller, as the flint or other ‘'■—'V—'
powder is finer j fo that the flint-powder, or other fuch
powder, fliall not be more than fix times the weight of
the lime, nor lefs than four times its weight. The
greater the quantity of lime within thefe limits, the
more will the cement be liable to crack by quick drying,
and vice verfa.
“ Where fuch fand as I prefer cannot be convenient¬
ly procured, or where the fand cannot be conveniently
waflied and forted, that land which mod refembles the
mixture of coarfe and fine fand above prefcribed, may
be ufed as 1 have direfted, provided due attention is
paid to the quantity of the lime, which is to be great¬
er (t) as the quantity is finer, and vice verfa.
“ Where fand cannot be eafily procured, any durable
ftony body, or baked earth grofsly powdered (u), and
forted nearly to the fizes above prefcribed for fand, may
be ufed in the place of fand, meafure for meafure, but
not weight for weight, unlefs fuch grofs powder be as .
heavy fpecifically as fand.
“ Sand may be cleanfed from every fofter, lighter,
and lefs durable matter, and from that part of the fand
which is too fine, by various methods preferable (x),
in certain circumftances, to that which I have de¬
fcribed.
“ Water may be found naturally free from fixable gas,
felenite, or clay \ fuch water may, without any notable
inconvenience, be ufed in the place of the cementing li¬
quor ; and water approaching this fiate will not require
fo much lime as I have ordered to make the cementing
liquor ; and a cementing liquor fufficiently ufeful may
be made by various methods of mixing lime and water
in the defcribed proportions, or nearly fo.
“ When ftone-lime cannot be procured, chalk-lime,
or {hell-lime, which beft refembles ftone-lime, in the
characters above written of lime, may be ufed in the
manner
(q3 “ But they muft not be expofed to the rain until they are almoft as ftrong as frefh Portland ftone.; and
even then they'ought to be fheltered from it as much as the circumftances will admit. Thefe ftones may be made
very hard and beautiful, with a fmall expence of bone-afti, by foaking them, after they have dried thoroughly and'i
hardened, in the lime liquor, and repeating this procefs twice or thrice, at diftant intervals of time. The like ef¬
fect was experienced in incruft aliens.
(r) “ In my experiments, mortar made with terras-powder, in the ufual method, does not appear to form fo 1
ftrong a cement for water-fences as that made, according to the fpecification, with coarfe fand ; and I fee no more
realhn for avoiding the ufe of fand in terras-mortar, than there would be for reje&ing ftone from the embankment.
The bone-aihes meant in this place are the dark gray or black fort. I am not yet fully fatisfied about the opera¬
tion of them in this inftance.
(s) “ The qualities and ufes of fuch fine calcareous cement are recommended chiefly for the purpofe of fmooth-
ing and finifhing the ftronger cruftaceous works, or for walking walls to a lively and uniform colour. For this laft
intention, the mixture muft he as thin as new cream, and laid on bnfkly with a brufh, in dry weather ; and a
thick and durable coat is to be made by repeated wafhing ; but is not to be attempted by ufing a thicker liquor;
for the coat made with this laft is apt to fcale, whilft the former endures the weather much longer than any other
thin calcareous covering that has been apnlied in this w^ay. Fine yellow-ochre is the cheapeft colouring ingredient
for fuch wadi, when it is required to imitate Bath-ftone, or the warm-white ftones.
(t) “ If fea-fand be well wafhed in frefti water, it is as good as any other round fand.
(u) “ The cement made with thefe and the proper quantities of purified lime and lime-water, are inferior to the
beft, as the grains of thefe powders are more periftiable and brittle than thofe of fand. They will not therefore b#
employed, unlefs for the fake of evafion, or for want of fand : in this latter cafe, the finer powder ought to be
vvaflied away.
(x) “ This and the next paragraph is inferted with a view to evafions, as well as to fuggeft the eafier and cheap-'!.,
er methods which may be adopted in certain circumftances, by artifts who underftand the principles which I eudea-. -
vqured to teach.
S T U
Stucco
il
Stukely.
manner defcribed, except that fourteen pounds and a
half of chalk-lime will be required in the place of four¬
teen pounds of Hone-lime. The proportion of lime which
I have preicribed above may be increafed without incon¬
venience, when the cement or itucco is to be applied
where it is not liable to dry quickly 5 and in the con¬
trary circumitance, this proportion may be diminifhed ;
and the deleft of lime in quantity or quality may be
very advantageoufly fupplied (y), by caufing a confi-
denable quantity of the cementing liquor to foak into
the work, in fucceflive portions, and at diftant intervals
of time, fo that the calcareous matter of the cementing
liquor, and the matter attracted from the open air, may
fid and ftrengthen the work.
“ fhe powder of almoft every well-dried or burnt ani¬
mal fubftance may be ufed initead of bone-afh j and feve-
ral earthy powders, efpecially the micaceous and the me¬
tallic ; and the elixated allies of divers vegetables whofe
earth will not burn to lime 5 and the afhes of mineral
fuel, which are of the calcareous kind, but will not
burn to lime, vs'ill anfwer the ends of bone-afh in fotne
degree.
“ Ihe quantity of bone-afh defcribed may be leffened
vvithout injuring the cement, in thofe circumtlances efpe-
cially which admit the quantity of lime to be leffened,
and in thofe wherein the cement is not liable to dry
quickly. And the art of remedying the defeats of lime
may be advantageoufly praflifed to fupply the deficiency
of bone afh, efpecially in building, and in making arti¬
ficial Hone with this cement.”
STUD, in the manege, a collection of breeding horfes
and mares.
SJ UDDING-sails, certain light fails extended, in
moderate and Heady breezes, beyond the Hurts of the
principal fails, where they appear as wings upon the
yard arms.
STUFF, in Commerce, a general name for all kinds
of fabrics of gold, filver, {ilk, wool, hair, cotton, or
thread, manufadtured on the loom ; of which number
are velvets, brocades, mohairs, fatins, taffetas, cloths,
ferges, &c.
S1UKELY, Dr William, a celebrated antiqua¬
rian, dcfcended from an ancient family in Lincolnfhire,
was born at Hoibech in 1687, and educated in Bennet
college, Cambridge. While an under graduate, he often
indulged a ffrong propenfity to drawing and defigning ;
but made pbyfic his principal Hudy, and firff began to
pradlife at Bolfon in his native country. In 1717 he
removed to London, where, on the recommendation of
Dr Mead, he was foon after eledied a fellow of the
Royal Society ; he was one of the firff who revived that
of the antiquarians in 1718, and was their fecretary for
many years during hisrefidence in town. In 1729 he took
holy orders by the encouragement of Archbifliop Wake 5
and was foon after prefented by Lord-chancellor King
with the living of All-Saints in Stamford. In 1741 he
became one of the founders of the Egyptian fociety,
which Brought him acquainted with the benevolent duke
of Montague, one of the members; who prevailed on
him to leave Stamford, and prefented him to the living
r 76° i
s t a
of St George the Martyr, Queen Square. He died of a Stukely
itroke of the palfy in 1765. In his phyfical capacity, II
his Differtation on the" Spleen was well received j and his , ^urmilis-
Ltinerarium Cunqfum, the firff fruit of his juvenile ex- v
curfions, was a good ipecimen of what was to be ex-
pedled from his riper age. His great learning, and pro¬
found icfearches into the dark remains of antiquity, ena-
bled him to publifh many elaborate and curious works : *
his friends uied to call him the arch-druid of his age.
His difeourfes, intitled Paleeographia Sacra, on the vege¬
table creation, belpeak him a botaniff, philolopher, and
divine.
SI UM, in the wine-trade, denotes the unfermented
juice of the grape after it has been feveral times racked
off and feparated from its fediment, The calks are for
this purpofe well matched or fumigated with brimftone
every time, to prevent the liquor from fermenting, as it
would otherwife readily do, and become wine. See
Must.
oi UPIDIIY. Ihe Greek word corre-
fponds moft with our Englifh word Jhipidny ot f00Hjh-
nefs,' when ufed to exprefs that ftate of mind in which
the intelle&s are defective. The immediate caufes are
faid to be, a deficiency of vital heat, or a deleft in the
brain. Stupid children iometimes become fprightly youths;
but if ftupidity continues to the age of puberty, it is hardly
ever removed. If ftupidity follows upon a violent paf-
fion, an injury done to the head, or other evident caufe,
and if it continues long, it becomes incurable. But the
ftupidity which confifts in a lots of memory, and fuc-
ceeds a lethargy, fpontaneoufly ceafes when the lethargy
is cured.
S TUPOR, a numbnefs in any part of the body, whe¬
ther occafioned by ligatures obftrufting the blood’s mo¬
tion, by the palfy, or the like.
_ S TUPPA, or Stupe, in Medicine, is a piece of cloth
dipped in fome proper liquor, and applied to an affefted
part.
STURDY, a diftemper to which cattle are fubjeft,
called alfo the turning evil. See Farriery Index.
STURGEON. See Accipenser, Ichthyology
Index.
SI URMIUS, John, a learned philologer and rhe¬
torician, was born at Sleida in Eifel near Cologne in
1507. He fludied at firit in his native country with the
fons of Count de Manderfcheid, whofe receiver his fa¬
ther was. He afterwards purfued his ftudy at Liege in
the college of St Jerom, and then went to Louvain in
1524. Five years he fpent there, three in learning and
two in teaching. He fet up a printing-prefs with Rudger
Refcius profeffor of the Greek tongue, and printed feve¬
ral Greek authors. He went to Paris in 1529, where
he was highly efteemed, and read public leftures on the
Greek and Latin writers, and on logic. He married
there, and kept a great number of boarders : but as he
liked what were called the new opinions, he was more
than once in danger j and this undoubtedly was the rea-
fon why he removed to Strafburg in 1537, in order to
take poffeffion of the place offered him by the magi-
ftrates. The year following he opened a fchcol, which
became
(Y) This praftice is noticed, as the remedy which may be ufed for the defefts arifing from evafive meafures,
pnd as the method of giving fpongy incruftations containing bone-afhes the greateft degree of hardnefs.”
4
STY r 79
Sturrnius' became famous, and by his means obtained of Maximi¬
lian II. the title of an univerfity in 1566. He was very
well {killed in polite literature, wrote Latin with great
purity, and was a good teacher. His talents were not con¬
fined to the fchool 5 for he was frequently intrufted with
deputations in Germany and foreign countries, and dif-
charged thefe employments with great honour and dili¬
gence. He (howed extreme charity to the refugees on
account of religion : He not only laboured to affift them
by his advice and recommendations 5 but he even im-
poverifhed himfelf for them. He died in his 8 2d year,
after he had been for fome time blind. He publithed
many books •, the principal of which are, 1. Parhtiones
DialeBica. 2. De Educatione Principum. 3. De No-
bilitate Anglicana. 4. Lingua Latina refolvenda Ratio.
5. Excellent Notes on Ariftotle’s and Hermogenes’s Rhe¬
toric, &c.
He ought not to be confounded with John Sturmius,
a native of Mechlin, and phyfician and profeffor of ma¬
thematics at Louvain, who alfo wrote feveral works.
STURNUS, the Starling; a genus of birds be¬
longing to the order of pafferes. See Ornithology
Index.
STYE, or Stythe, in the eye. See Crithe. _
STYLE, a word of various fignifications, originally
deduced from Jlylos, a kind of bodkin wherewith the
ancients wrote on plates of lead, or on wax, &c. and
which is ftill ufed to write on ivory-leaves and paper
prepared for that purpofe, &c.
Style, in dialling, denotes the gnomon or cock of a
dial raifed on the plane thereof to project a flradow.
Style, in Botany. See Botany.
Style, in language, is the peculiar manner in which
a man expreffes his conceptions. It is a pi£!ure of the
ideas which rife in his mind, and of the order in which
they are there produced.
The qualities of a good ftyle may be ranked under
two heads ; perfpicuity and ornament. It will readily
be admitted, that perfpicuity ought to be effendally
connedted with every kind of writing ; and to attain it,
attention muft be paid, firit to Angle words and phrafes,
and then to the conftrudlion of fentences. When con-
fidered with refpedl to words and phrafes, it requires
thefe three qualities ; purity, propriety, and precifion.
When confidered with regard to fentences, it requires a
clear arrangement of the words and unity in the fenfe ;
to which, if {Length and harmony be added, the ftyle
will become ornamented.
One of the moft important direftions to be obferved
by him who wifhes to form a good ftyle, is to acquire
clear and precife ideas on the fubjeft concerning which
he is to write or fpeak. To this muft be added fre¬
quency of compofition, and an acquaintance with the
ftyle of the beft authors. A fervile imitation, how’ever,
of any author is carefully to be avoided ; for he who
copies, can hardly avoid copying faults as well as beau¬
ties. A ftyle cannot be proper unlefs it be adapted to
the fubjeft, and likewife to the capacity of our hearers,
if we are to fpeak in public. A fimple, clear, and una¬
dorned ftyle, fuch as that of Swift, is fitteft for intricate
difquifition ; a ftyle elegant as Addifon’s, or impetuous
like Johnfon’s, is moft proper for fixing the attention on
truths, which, though known, are too much neglected.
We muft not be inattentive to the ornaments of ftyle, if
we wifti that our labours fhould be read and aduured ;
i ] STY
but he is a contemptible -writer, who looks not beyond
the drefs of language, who lays not the chief ftrefs upon
his matter, and who does not regard ornament as a fe-
condary and inferior recommendation. For further ob-
fervations on the different kinds of ftyle, fee Oratory,
N® 99, &c.
Style, in Jurifprudence, the particular form or man¬
ner of proceeding in each court of jurifdiftion, agreeable
to the rules and orders eftablifhed therein : thus we fay,
the ftyle of the court of Rome, of chancery, of parlia¬
ment, of the privy-council, &c.
Style, in Mujic, denotes a peculiar manner of fing-
ing, playing, or compofing ; being properly the manner
that each perfon has of playing, finging, or teaching ;
which is very different both in refpeft of different ge-
niufes, of countries, nations, and of the different matters,
places, times, fubjedls, paffions, expreflions, &c. Thus
we fay, the ftyle of Paleftrina, of Lully, of Corelli, of
Handel, &c. ; the ftyle of the Italians, French, Spa¬
niards, &c.
Old STTLE, the Julian method of computing time, as
the
New STTLE is the Gregorian method of computation.
'See Kalendar.
STYLEPHORUSchordatus, a genus of fifties be¬
longing to the order of apodes. See Ichthyology In¬
dex, and Tranfa&ions of the Linnaean Society, vol. i.
STYLET, a fmall dangerous kind of poniard which
may be concealed in the hand, chiefly ufed in treacher¬
ous affaflinations. The blade is ufually triangular, and
fo fmall that the wound it makes is almoft imper¬
ceptible.
STYLITES, Pillar Saints, in ecclefiaftical hifto-
ry, an appellation given to a kind of folitaries, who-
ftood motionlefs upon the tops of pillars, raifed for this
exercife of their patience, and remained there for feveral
years, amidft the admiration and applaufe of the ftupid
populace. Of thefe we find feveral mentioned in an¬
cient writers, and even as low as the twelfth century,
when they were totally fuppreffed.
The founder of the order was St Simeon Stylites, a
famous anchoret in the fifth century, who firft took up
his abode on a column fix cubits high ; then on a fe-
cond of twelve cubits, a third of twenty-two, a fourth
of thirty-fix, and on another of forty cubits, where he
thus paffed thirty-feven years of his life. The tops of
thefe columns were only three feet in diameter, and
were defended by a rail that reached almoft to the gir¬
dle, fomewhat refembling a pulpit. There was no ly¬
ing down in it. The faquirs, or devout people of the
Eaft, imitate this extraordinary kind of life to this day.
STYLOCERALOIDES, “
STYLO-Glossus,
STYLO-Hyoidaus,
S'TYLO-P haryngaus,
STYLOIDES,
STY LOS ANTHES, a genus of plants belonging
to the diadelphia clafs, and in the natural method rank¬
ing under the 32d order, Papi/ionacea. See Botany
Index.
STYPTIC, in Pharmacy, a medicine which by its
aftringency flops hsemorrhagies, &.c. See Materia
Medica Index.
STYRAX, the Storax-tree, a genus of plants be-
longing to the clafs decandriar and in the natural fyftem
ranging
Style
H
Styrax.
The names of differ-
| ent mufcles in the hu-
j> man body. See Table
I of the Mufcles under
J Anatomy.
S 0 A [ 792 ] SUB
Etrs, ranging under the 18th order, bicornes. See Botany
t.Suabia- and Materia Medica Index.
STYX, in Fabulous Hijlory, a celebrated river of hell,'
round which it flows nine times. The gods held the
waters of the Styx in fuch veneration, that to fwear by
them was reckoned an oath altogether inviolable. If
any of the gods had perjured themfelves, Jupiter oblig¬
ed them to drink, the waters of the Styx, which lulled
them for one whole year into a fenfelefs ftupidity, for
the nine following years they were deprived of the am-
brofia and the neftar of the gods, and after the expira¬
tion of the years of their punilhment, they were reftored
to the affembly of the deities, and to all their original
privileges. It is faid that this veneration was fliown to
the Styx, becaufe it received its name from the nymph
Styx, who with her three daughters aflifted Jupiter in
his war againft the Titans.
Styx was a river w’hich it was neceffary for departed
fhades to pafs before they could enter the infernal re¬
gions ; and it was the office of Charon to ferry them
Tranfac- over *n a b°at which ws^ kept for that purpofe. The
t-ions of the ghofts of thofe who had not been honoured with the
Jioyal So- rites of fepulture were obliged to wander an hundred
if a years before Charon could admit them into his boat to
vot d.^ ' convey them before the judges of Hades. What could
have given rife to this fable of Charon and his boat, it
is not very material to inquire. Mythological writers
have faid, that the Greeks learned it from the Egyp¬
tians, which is indeed probable enough *, that the Egyp¬
tians framed both this, and fome other fables relating to
the dead, from certain cuftoms peculiar to their country j
that in particular there wras, not far from Memphis, a
famous burying-place, to which the dead bodies were
conveyed in a boat acrofs the lake Acherufia ; and that
Charon W'as a boatman who had long officiated in that
fervice. The learned Dr Blackwell fays, in his life of
Homer, that, in the old1 Egyptian language, Charoni
fignified “ ferryman.”
SUABIA, a circle of Germany, bounded on the
north by the circle of Franconia and that of the Lower
Rhine; on the weft by the circle of the Lower Rhine
and Alface j on the fouth by Switzerland ; and on the
eaft by the circle of Bavaria. Of all the circles of the
empire, Suabia is the moft divided *, it contains four ec-
clefiaftic and thirteen lay principalities, nineteen inde¬
pendent prelacies and abbeys, twenty-fix earldoms and
lordfhips, and thirty-one free cities. The prime direc¬
tors of the circle, as they are termed, were formerly the
bilhop of Conftance and the duke of Wirtemberg. But this
circle has fuffered fimilar changes withneighbouring ftates.
The mixture of the various forms of government and
religious fefts j the oppreflion exercifed by the great on
the poor •, the game conftantly played by the emperor,
who pofieffes many pieces of detached country in Suabia,
which depend not on the circle, and can, in confequence
of his privileges as archduke of Auftria, extend his pof-
k’ fefli°ns *n lt by var‘ous ways ; are circumftances (fays
{Travels ^ Baron Rielbeck) wdiich give the cultivation of the coun-
through try* an<i the charafter of the inhabitants, a moft extra-
Sermany, ordinary call. In feveral of the poll towns where you
voki. ft0pt you fee the higheft degree of cultivation in the
midft of the moft favage wdldnefs $ a great degree of
knowledge and polilh of manners, mixed with the grof-
feft ignorance and fuperftition 5 traces of liberty, under
the deepeft oppreflion j national pride, together with
3
the contempt and negledl of the native country j in Suabia
ftiort, all the focial qualities in ftriking con trail and op- jl
pofition to each other. Thofe parts of Suabia which Rat^C
belong to the great potentates, fuch as Wirtemberg,
Auftria, and Baden, are certainly the moft improved.
The whole of Suabia may comprehend about nine hun¬
dred German fquare miles, and two millions of people.
More than half of thefe are fubjefls of the three above
mentioned princes, though they are not proprietors of
near one half of the lands.
SUARES, Francis, a Jefuit, w’as born in Granada
on the 5th of January 1548. He was a profeffor of
theology at Alcala, Salamanca, Rome, and Coimbra
in Portugal. He died at Lilbon in 1617 with the great-
eft refignation ; “ I never thought (faid he) that it was
fo eafy to die.” His memory was aftoniftiing, he could
repeat the wdiole of his voluminous works by heart.
His writings fill 23 folio volumes, and are moftly on
theological and moral fubje£ls. His Treatife of Laws
has been reprinted in this country. His Defence of the
Catholic Faith again!! the Errors qf England was writ¬
ten at the requeft of Pope Paul V. This book was
publicly burnt at London by order of James I. When
Suares heard it, he is faid to have exclaimed, “ O that
I too could feal with my blood the truths which I have
defended w ith my pen 1”
SUBAH, the general name of the viceroy flu ps, of
greater governments, into which the Mogul empire was
divided, confifting of feveral provinces. The jurifdic-
tion of a fubahdar, the fame as fubahlhip, fubaedaree,
or nizamut.
SUBAHDAR, the viceroy, lord-lieutenant, or go¬
vernor, holding a fubah ; the fame as nabob or nazim.
Alfo the black coihmander of a company of feapoys.
SUBALTERN, a fubordinate officer, or one who
difeharges his poll under the command and fubjetft to
the direftion of another j fuch are lieutenants, fub-
lieutenants, cornets, and enfigns, who ferve under the
captain.
SUBCLAVIAN, in Anatomy, is applied to any
thing under the armpit or Ihoulder, whether artery,
nerve, vein, or mufcle.
SUBDEACON, an inferior minifter, who anciently
attended at the altar, prepared the facred veffels, deli¬
vered them to the deacons in time of divine fervice, at¬
tended the doors of the church during communion-fer-
vice, went on the bifhop’s embaflies with his letters or
meffages to foreign churches, and was invefted with the
firft of the holy orders. They were fo lubordinate to
the fuperior rulers of the church, that, by a canon of
the council of Laodicea, they were forbidden to fit in
the prefence of a deacon without his leave. According
to the canons, a perfon mull be twrenty-two years of
age to be promoted to the order of fubdeacon. See
Deacon.
SUBDOMINANT, in Mujic, a name given by M.
Rameau to the fourth note of the tone, which of confe¬
quence is the fame interval from the tonic when def-
cending as the dominant in riling. This denomination
arifes from the affinity which this author finds by inver-
fion between the minor mode of the fubdominant and
the major mode of the tonic.
SUBDUPLE ratio, is w'hen any number or quan¬
tity is contained in another tw'ice. Thus 3 is faid to b©
fubduple of 6, as 6 is duple of 3. See Ratio.
SUBDUPLICATE
Subdupli¬
cate
il
Suborna¬
tion.
Rlackfl.
Commen¬
tary,
vol. ii.
SUB [ 793 3 SUB
SUBDUPLICATE ratio of any two quantities,
is the ratio of their fquare roots.
SUBER, the Cork-tree. See Quercus, Botany
Index.
SUBJECT, a perfon under the rule and dominion of
a fovereign prince or ftate.
Subject is alio ufed for the matter of an art or fci-
ence, or that which it confiders, or whereon it is em¬
ployed : thus the human body is the fubjeft of medi¬
cine.
SUBINFEUDATION, was where the inferior lords,
in imitation of their fuperiors, began to carve out and
grant to others minuter eftates than their own, to be held
of themfelves j and w^ere fo proceeding downwards in
infinitum, till the fuperior lords obferved, that by this
method of fubinfeudation they loft all their feodal pro¬
fits, of wardihips, marriages, and efcheats, which fell
into the hands of thefe mefne or middle lords, who were
the immediate fuperiors of the terre-tenant, or him who
occupied the land. This occafioned the flat, of Weftm.
3. or quia emptores, 18. Edw. I. to be made ; which
directs, that, upon all fales or feoffments of lands, the
feoffee (hall hold the fame, not of his immediate feoffer,
but of the chief lord of the fee of whom fuch feoffer
himfelf held it. And from hence it is held, that all
manors exifting at this day muft have exifted by imme¬
morial prefcription ; or at leaft ever fince the 18 Edw. I.
when the ftatute of quia emptores was made.
SUBITO, in the Italian mufic, is ufed to fignify that
a thing is to be performed quickly and haftily : thus we
meet with voidfubito, turn over the leaf quickly.
SUBJUNCTIVE, in Grammar. See Grammar.
SUBLIMATE, a chemical preparation, confitting
of quickfilver united with muriatic acid. See Mer¬
cury, Chemistry Index.
SUBLIMATION, in Chemiftry, the condcnfing and
collefting, in a folid form, by means of veffels aptly con-
ftrufled, the fumes of bodies raifed from them by the
application of a proper heat.
SUBLIME, or Sublimity. See the article Gran¬
deur and Sublimity.
SUBLINGUAL artery. See Anatomy.
SUBLINGUAL Glands, in Anatomy, two glands under
the tongue, placed one on each fide thereof.
SUBMULTIPLE, in Geometry, &c. A fubmul-
tiple number, or quantity, is that which is contained a
certain number of times in another, and which, there¬
fore, repeated a certain number of times, becomes exadfly
equal thereto. Thus 3 is a fubmultiple of 21. In
which fenfe a fubmultiple coincides with an aliquot
part.
SuBMULTIPLE Ratio, is that between the quantity
contained and the quantity containing. Thus the ratio
of 3 to 21 is fubmultiple. In both cafes fubmultiple is
the reverfe of multiple : 21, e. gr. being a multiple of 3,
and the ratio of 21 to 3 a multiple ratio.
SUBORDINARIES. See Heraldry, Chap. III.
Se£l. II.
SUBORDINATION, a relative term, exprefling an
inferiority betwixt one perfon and another.
SUBORNATION, in Law, a fecret, underhand,
preparing, inftru&ing, or bringing in a falfe witnefs j and
from hence fubornation of perjury is the preparing or
corrupt alluring to perjury. The punifhment for this
cHme was formerly death, then banilhment or cutting
Vol. XIX. Part II.
out the tongue, afterwards forfeitures of goods; and it is
now a fine and imprifonment, and never more to be re¬
ceived as evidence. The ftatute 2 Geo. II. c. 25. fu-
peradded a powrer for the court to order the offender to
be fent to the houfe of correftion for a term not ex-1-
ceeding feven years, or be tranfported for the fame pe*
riod.
SUBPOENA, in Law, a writ whereby common
perfons are called into chancery, in fuch cafes where the
common law hath provided an ordinary remedy ; and
the name of it proceeds from the words therein, which
charge the party called to appear at the day and place
affirmed, fib pcena centum librarutn, &c. The fub-
poena is the leading procefs in the courts of equity 5 and
by ftatute, when a bill is filed againlt any perfon, pro¬
cefs of fubpoena (hall be taken out to oblige the defen¬
dant to appear and anfwer the bill, &c.
Subpoena ad tef if candutn, a writ or procefs to bring
in wntneffes to give their teftimony. If a witnefs on
being ferved with this procefs does not appear, the court
will iffue an attachment againft him •, or a party, plain¬
tiff or defendant, injured by his non-attendance, may
maintain an aflion againft the witnefs. See BlackJL
Com. vol. viii. p. 369.
SUBPOENA, in Equity, a procefs in equity, calling on
a defendant to appear and anfwer to the complainant’s
bill. See ftatute 5th Geo. II. c. 25. wdiich enaffs,
that where the party cannot be found to be ferved with
a fubpoena, and abfconds (as is believed) to avoid being
ferved, a day {hall be appointed him to appear to the
bill of the plaintiff \ which is to be inferted in the Lon¬
don Gazette, read in the parilh church where the defen¬
dant laft lived, and fixed up at the Royal Exchange :
and if the defendant doth not appear upon that day, the
bill fhall be taken pro confeffb.
SURREPTITIOUS, a term applied to a letter, li¬
cence, patent, or other aft, fraudulently obtained of a
fuperior, by concealing fome truth which, had it been
known, would have prevented the conceflion or grant.
SUBROGATION, or Surrogation, in the civil
law, the aft of fubftituting a perfon in the place, and in-
titling him to the rights, of another. In its general
fenfe, fubrogation implies a fucceflion of any kind, whe¬
ther of a perfon to a perfon, or of a perfon to a thing.
There are two kinds of fubrogation : the one conven¬
tional, the other legal. Conventional fubrogation is a
contraft whereby a creditor transfers his debt, with all
appurtenances thereof, to the profit of a third perfon.
Legal fubrogation is that w'hich the law makes in favour
of a perfon who difcharges an antecedent creditor ; in
which cafe there is a legal tranflation of all rights of the
ancient creditor to the perfon of the new one.
SUBSCRIPTION, in general, fignifies the fignature
put at the bottom of a letter, writing, or inftrument.
In commerce, it is ufed for the {hare or intereft which
particular perfons take in a public flock or a trading
company, by writing their names, and the {hares they re¬
quire, in the books or regifter thereof.
Subscription to articles of faith is required of the
clergy of every eftablilhed church, and of fome churches
not eftabliftied. Whether fuch fubfcription ferves any
good purpofe, in a religious or theological view, is a very
doubtful queltion. It may be neceffary in an eftablifti-
ment, as a teft of loyalty to the prince, and of attachment
to the conftitution, civil and ecclefiaftical, but it cannot
3 H produce
Suhorn 4-
tion
II .
Subfcrip-
tion.
SUB [ 7Q4 1 SUC
,$ubfciip produce uniformity of opinion. As all language is more
tion or ieps ambiguous, it becomes difficult, if not impoffible,
Subulated. lo determine in what fenfe tlie words of long eltabliffied
' creeds are to be interpreted ; and we believe that the
clergy of the churches of England and Scotland feldom
confider themfelves as fettered by the Thirty-nine Arti¬
cles, or the Confeffion of Faith, when compofing inltruc-
tions either for their refpeftive pariffies or for the public
at large. See Independents.
Subscription, in the commerce of books, fignifies an
engagement to take a certain number of copies of a
book, intended to be printed, and a reciprocal obligation
of the bookfeller or publifher to deliver the faid copies,
on certain terms. Thefe fubferiptions, which had their
rife in England about the middle of the 17th century,
were lately very frequent in France and Holland, and
are now very common among ourfelves.
SUBSEQUENT, fomething that comes after an¬
other, particularly with regard to the order of time.
SUBSIDY, in Law, lignifies an aid or tax granted
to the king by parliament, tor the neceflary occaiions of
the kingdom ; and is to be levied on every fubjeft of
ability, according to the rate or value of his lands or
goods: but this word, in fome of our ftatutes, is con¬
founded with that of cuftoms. See Tax.
SUBSTANCE, the fubjc&s to which we fuppofe
qualities belong. Thus gold is the fubftance to which
the qualities of ductility, yellownefs, denfity, &c. belong.
See Metaphysics, n° 145.
SUBSTANTIAL, In the fchools, fomething belong¬
ing to the nature of fubftance.
SUBSTANTIVE, in Grammar. See Grammar.
SUBSTITUTE, a perfon who officiates for another
in his abfence.
SUBSTITUTION, in the Civil Law, a difpofition
of a teftament, whereby the teftator fubftitutes one heir
for another, who has only the ufufruct, and not the pro¬
perty or the thing, left him.
SUBSTRACTION, or Subtraction, in Arithme¬
tic, the fecond rule, or rather operation, in arithmetic,
whereby we deduft a lefs number from a greater, to
learn their precife difference. See Arithmetic and
Algebra.
SUBTANGENT of a Curve, the line that deter¬
mines the interfeftion of a tangent with the axis 5 or that
determines the point wherein the tangent cuts the axis
prolonged.
•SUBTENSE, formed fromfub “ under,” and tendo
“ I ftretch,” in Geometry, a right line which is oppofite
to an angle, and drawn between the two extremities of
the arch which meafures that angle.
SUBTERRANEOUS, whatever is under ground :
thus naturalifts fpeak of fubterraneous fires, fubterraneous
damps, &c.
Subterraneous Cavern. See Quarries.
SUBTILE, in Phyjics, an appellation given to what¬
ever is extremely fmall, fine, and delicate1, fuch as the
animal fpirits, the effluvia of odorous bodfes, &c. are
fuppofed to be.
SUBULARIA, Rough-leaved Alysson, or sJwl-
%oort, a genus of plants belonging to the clafs tetrady-
iiamia, and in the natural order ranging under the 39th
ov^tr,Jiliquofw. See Botany Index.
SUBULATED, fomething fhaped like an awl.
SUCCEDANEUM, in Pharmacy, denotes a drug Sr.crtda-
fubftituted in the place of another. " ° neum,
SUCCESSION, in Metaphyjics, the idea which we ^lKC^1Mn'
get by refie£ting on the ideas that follow one another in
our mind 5 and from the fucceflion of ideas we get the
idea oitime. See Metaphysics, N° 93. and 209.
Succession, in Law. See Descent.
Succession to the Crown. See Hereeitart
Eight.—From the days of Egbert, the firft foie monarch
of England, even to the prefent, the four cardinal ma¬
xims mentioned in that article have ever been held con-
ftitutional canons of fucceffion. It is true, as Sir Wil¬
liam Blacklione obferves, this fucceffion, through fraud
or force, or fometimes through neceffity, when in hoitiie
times the crown defeended on a minor or the like, has
been very frequently fufpended •, but has generally at laft
returned back into the old hereditary channel, though
fbmetimes a very confiderable period has intervened.
And even in thole inftances where this fucceffion has
been violated, the crown has ever been looked upon as
hereditary in the wearer of it. Of which the ulurpers
themfelves were fo fenfible, that they for the molt part
endeavoured to vamp up fome feeble ftiow of a title by
defeent, in order to amufe the people, while they gained
the pofleffion of the kingdom. And, when poffeffion
was once gained, they confidered it as the purchafe or
acquifition of a new eilate of inheritance, and tranfmit-
ted, or endeavoured to tranfmit it, to their own pofterity
by a kind of hereditary right of ufurpation. (See
Black. Com. vol. i. 197—217.). From the hiftorical
view there given, it appears fehat the title to the ciown
is at prefent hereditary, though not quite fo abfolutely
hereditary as formerly : and the common ftock or ances¬
tor, from whom the defeent muft be derived, is alfo dif¬
ferent. Formerly the common ftock was King Egbert j
then William the Conqueror ; afterwards, in James I.’s
time, the two common flocks united ; "and fo continued
till the vacancy of the throne in 1688 : now it is the
Princefs Sophia in whom the inheritance was veiled by
the new king and parliament. Formerly, the defeent
was abfolute, and the crown went to the heir'without any
reftridtion : but now, upon the new fettlement, the inhe¬
ritance is conditional : being limited to fuch heirs only,
of the body of the Princefs Sophia, as are Proteftant
members of the church of England, and are married to
none but Proteftants.
And in this due medium confifts the true conftitu-
tional notion of the right of fucceffion to the imperial
crown of thefe kingdoms. The extremes between which
it lleers are each of them equally deftruflive of thofe
ends for which focieties were formed and kept on foot.
Where the magiftrate, upon every fucceflion, is elefted
by the people, and may by the exprefs provifion of the
laws be depofed (if not punilhed) by his fubjebls, this
may found like the perfedlion of liberty, and look well
enough when delineated on paper 5 but in prabtice will
be ever produbtive of tumult, contention, and anarchy.
And, on the other hand, divine indefeafible hereditary
right, when coupled with the doblrine of unlimited paf-
five obedience, is furely of all conftitutions the moll tho¬
roughly ftavifti and dreadful. But when fuch an here¬
ditary right as our laws have created and veiled in the
royal flock, is clofely interwoven with thofe liberties
which are equally the inheritance of the fubjebl; this
unioi>
sue [ 795 ]
Succefiion union will form a conftitution, in theory the mofl beauti- age
SUE
ful of any, in pra&ice the molt approved, and, we truft,
.Suckling. jn ciuration t{le moft permanent.
v In France the fucceffion to the monarchy was limited
to heirs male (fee Salic) j but in Navarre the crown
was inherited by the heir of line, whether male or fe¬
male. The cafe Hands thus : Philip the Fourth, king
of France, furnamed t/ie Fair, in the year I 285 efpoufed
Jane queen of Navarre in her own right-, and as king
confort of this latter kingdom added the title of Navarre
to his former one of France. Louis X. fon and herr of
Philip and Jane (furnamed Hutin or the Boi/lerous'), fuc-
ceeded to both crowns. By Margaret his firfl wife, w’ho
had been crowned queen of Navarre, he left one daugh¬
ter, Joan or Jane. His lecond wife Clementina was
pregnant at the time of his deceafe, and was delivered of
a pofthumous Ion, whom moft of the French annaliffs
recognise as John I. of France, though he lived no
longer than three wreeks. On his death the kingdom of
France paffed to Philip V. (furnamed the Long), and
that of Navarre (to wrhich the Salic law could by no
conffrucUon extend) to Joanna the only child and heir
of Louis and Margaret. From Joanna, in lineal fuccef¬
fion, the kingdom of Navarre paffed to Jane d’Al-
bret, mother of Henry IV. of France, and wife of An¬
thony of Vendofmc, who as king confort wmre the crown
of Navarre. On the acceffion of Henry to the kingdom
of France, the twro monarchies were united, and the four
fucceeding princes affumed the joint titles.
SUCCINIC acid, an acid extra&ed from amber by
fublimation in a gentle heat, and which riles in a concrete
form into the neck of the fubliming veffel. See Che¬
mistry Index.
SUCCINUM, Amber, in Mineralogy, a fpecies of
bitumen claffed under the inflammable fubftances. See
Mineralogy Index.
SUCCORY. See Cichorium, Botany Index.
SUCCOTH, in Ancient Geography, a town which
lay between the brook Jabbok and the river Jordan,
where Jacob fixed his tents. There was another Suc-
coth, where the Ifraelites firrt encamped after their de¬
parture from Ramefes towards the Red fca. Succoth
fignifies tents.
SUCCUBUS, a term ufed by fome writers for a dae¬
mon who affumes the fhape of a woman, and as fuch lies
with a man ; in which fenfe it Hands oppofed to incubus,
which was a daemon in form of a man, that lies with a
woman. But the truth is, the fuccubus is only a fpecies
of the nightmare. See MEDICINE, N° 329*
SUCCULA, in Mechanics, an axis or cylinder, with
Haves in it to move it round -, but without any tympa¬
num or peritrochium.
SUCCULENT plants, among botaniHs, fuch whofe
leaves are thick and full of juice.
SUCKER. See Cyclopterus, Ichthyology In¬
dex.
SUCKERS, in Gardening, the fame with Offsets.
SUCKING-fish. See Echenets, Ichthyology In¬
dex.
SUCKLING, Sir John, an Englifli poet and dra¬
matic writer, was the fon of Sir John Suckling, comp¬
troller of the houfehold to King Charles I. and born at
Witham in Effex in 1613. He difeovered an uncom¬
mon propenfity to the acquiring of languages, infomuch
that he is reported to have fpoken Latin at five years of
and to have written it at nine. When he grew
up, he travelled ; but feems to have affedted nothing
more than the charadter of a courtier and fine gentle- _
man ; which he fo far attained, that he was allowed to
have the peculiar happinefs of making every thing.he
did become him. In his travels he made a campaign
under the great Guffavus Adolphus and his loyalty,
if not his valour, appeared in the beginning of our civil
wars 5 for, after his return to England, he raifed a troop
of horfe for the king’s fervice entirely at his own charge^
and mounted them io completely and richly, that they
are faid to have coH him 12,oool. 1 his troop, with.
Sir John at its head, behaved fo ill in the engagement
with the Scots, upon the Englifli borders, in 1639, as to
occafion the famous lampoon compofed by Sir John
Mennis ; “ Sir John he got him an ambling nag,” &c.
This ballad, which was fet to a brilk tune, was much
fung by the parliamentarians, and continues to be fung
to this day. This difaflrous expedition, and the ridicule
that attended it, was fuppofed to have haflened his death 5
being feized by a fever, of which he died, at 28 years of
age. He was a fprightly wit, and an eafy veriifier, but
no great poet. His works, confiding of a few poems,
letters, and plays, have neverthelefs gone through feve-
ral editions. _ . ,
SUCTION, the aft of fucking or drawing up a fluid,
as air, water, milk, or the like, by means of the mouth
and lungs •, or, in a fimilar manner, by artificial means.
See Pneumatics and Hydrodynamics.
SUDATORY, a name given by the ancient Ro¬
mans to their hot or fweating rooms j fometimes alfo
called Laconica.
SUDEROE. See FERRO-IJlands.
SUDORIFIC, an appellation given to any medicine
that caufes or promotes fweat.
SUESSIONES, a branch of the Remi, a people of
Gallia Belgica (Pliny) ; called fometimes SueJ/bnes, in
the lower age SurJ/i; litnated between the Remi to the
eafl, the Nervii to the north, the Veromandui to the
wrefl, and the Meldae to the fouth, in the traft now call¬
ed le SoiJJbnois.—SueJJiones, Suejfones, and Suejfonce, the
name of their city in the lower age ; thought to have
been formerly called Noviodunum (Caefar), is now call¬
ed Soijfons.
SUET, Sevum, or Sebum, in Anatomy, the folid fat
found in feveral animals, as iheep, oxen, &c. but not in
the human fpecies. See the article Fat..—It is of the
fevum that tallow is made.
SUETONIUS Tranquillus, Caius, a famous La¬
tin hiflorian, was bom at Rome, and became fecretary
to the emperor Adrian, about the 118th year of the
Chriflian era ; but that pod was taken from him three
years after, when feveral perfons fell under that prince’s
difpleafure for not fliowin^ the emprefs Sabina all the
refpeft Ihe deferved. During his difgrace he compofed
many works, which are lofl. Thofe now extant are his
Hiflory of the XII firfl Emperors, and a part of his
treatife of the Illuftrious Grammarians and Rhetoricians.
Pliny the Younger was his intimate friend, and per-
fuaded him to publifli his books. His Hiflory of the
XII Roman Emperors has been much commended by
moft of our polite fcholars. He reprefents, in a conti¬
nued feries of curious and interefting particulars, without
any digreflions or refleftions, the aftions of the emperors,
without omitting their vices, which he expofes with all
5 H 2 their
Sucklir,|f
li .
Suetonius.
SUE 796 J SUE
Suetonius tkeir deformity, and with the fame freedom mentions
il the good qualities of the very fame perfons ; but the
, , horrid diffolutenefs and obfcene aftions he relates of Ti¬
berius, Caligula, Nero, &.c. have made fome fay, that
he wrote the lives of the emperors with the fame licen-
tioufnefs with which they lived. The edition of this
hiftory procured by Graevius at Utrecht in 1672, with
the excellent Commentaries of Torrentius and Cafaubon,
and the notes of lome other learned critics, is much ef-
teemed. Burman alfo publiihed an edition in 2 vols.
4to, with notes.
SUEVI, the Catti or Chatti of Cmfar (Strabo), placed
* on the Rhine : the reafon of Ctefars calling them thus
does not appear, though conhderably diilant from the
pi*oper Suevi or Alemanni.
SueVI, (Tacitus), a common name of the people fitua-
ted between the Elbe and the Viftula, dillinguilhed
otherwdfe by particular names j as in Ptolemy, Suevi
Angeh, Suevi Sennones.
SUEVUS, in Ancient Geography, a river of Ger¬
many, thought to be the fame with the Viadrus or Oder,
emptying itfelf at three mouths into the Baltic, the mid-
dlemoft ot which is called Swine or Swene ; wdiich lalt
comes nearer the name Suevus.
SUEZ, a fmall fea-port town, fituated near the nor¬
thern extremity of the Red fea, and about 30 hours jour¬
ney eait from Cairo. The country around it is a fandy
plain, without the fmalleft fpot of verdure. The only
water which can be drunk is brought from El-Naba, or
the fpring, at the diftance of three hours journey ; and
it is fo brackifh, that without a mixture of rum it is in-
fupportable to Europeans. The town itfelf is a collec¬
tion of miferable ruins, the khans being the only folid
buildings; yet from March till June, the feafon when
the Jidda and Yambo fleet arrives, the town becomes
crowded 5 but, after its departure nobody remains ex-
Travels ceP*; ^ie governor> who is a Mamlouk, 12 or 14 per-
vo]. i. ’ fons who form his houfehold, and the garrifon. The
fortrefs is a defencelefs heap of ruins, which the Arabs
confider as a citadel, becaufe it contains fix brafs four-
pounders, and two Greek gunners, who turn their heads
afide when they fire. The harbour is a wretched quay,
where the fmalleft boats are unable to reach the fhore,
except at the highefi: tides. There, however, the mer-
chandife is embarked, to convey it over the banks of
land to the veflels which anchor in the road. This road,
lituated a league from the town, is feparated from it by
a fliore which is left dry at low water j it has no works
for its defence, fo that the veffels which M. Volney tells
us he has feen there, to the number of 28 at a time,
might be attacked without oppofition j for the fliips
themfelves are incapable of refiftance, none having any
other artillery than four rufly fwivels.
Suez has always been, notwithftanding its local difad-
vantages, a place of great trade, on account of its geo¬
graphical fituation. It was by the gulf of Suez that the
commodities of India were formerly conveyed to Eu¬
rope, till the difeovery of the paffage by the Cape of
Good Plope converted that trade into a new channel.
As the ilthmus of Suez, which feparates the Red fea
from the Mediterranean, is not more than 57 miles, it
has been frequently propofed to join thefe two feas to¬
gether by a canal. As there are no mountains nor re¬
markable inequalities of furface, this plan would at firfi:
view appear eafy to be executed. But though the dif¬
ference of levels wmuld not prevent a jun&ion, the great
difficulty arifes from the nature of the correfponding
coafts of the Mediterranean and the Red fea, which are
of a low7 and landy foil, where the waters form lakes,
flroals, and morafles, fo that velfels cannot approach
within a confiderable diftance. It wall therefore be
found fcarcely poffible to dig a permanent canal amid
thefe flufting lands : not to mention, that the Ihore is
deftitute of harbours, which muft be entirely the work
of art. The country befides has not a drop of frefli wa¬
ter. and to fupply the inhabitants, it mull be brought as
far as from the Nile.
The belt and only method therefore of effe&ing this
junction, is that which has been already fuccefsfully
pradtifed at different times 3 which is, by making the
river itlelf the medium of communication, for which the
ground is perfedlly well calculated 3 for Mount Mokat-
tum fuddenly terminating in the latitude of Cairo, forms
only a low and femicircular mound, round which is a
continued plain from the banks of the Nile as far as the
point of the Red fea. The ancients, who early under-
ftood the advantage to be derived from this fituation,
adopted the idea of joining the two feas by a canal con-
nedted with the river. Strabo * obferves, that this was
firft executed under Sefoftris, wffio reigned about the
time of the Trojan war 3 and this tvork w7as fo confide¬
rable as to occafion it to be remarked, “ that it wras 100
cubits (or 170 feet) wTide, and deep enough for large
veffels.” After the Greeks conquered the country, it
w'as reftored by the Ptolemies, and again renewed by
Trajan. In fliort, even the Arabs themfelves followed
thefe examples. “ In the time of Omar cbn-el-Kattab
(fays the hifiorian El Makin), the cities of Mecca and
Medina fuffering from famine, the caliph ordered Amrou
governor of Egypt to cut a canal from the Nile to Kol-
zoum, that the contributions of corn and barley appoint¬
ed for Arabia might be conveyed that way.”
This canal is the fame which runs at prefent to Cairo,
and lofes itfelf in the country to the north-eaft of Ber-
ket-el-Hadj, or the Lake of the Pilgrims.
The place on the weft coaft of the gulf of Suez,
wffiere the children of Ifrael are fuppofed to have enter¬
ed it, is called Badea, about fix miles to the north of
Cape Korondel, on the other fide of the gulf, as we are
informed in a letter from the ingenious Edward Wort-
ley Montague, F. R. S. to Dr Watfon, containing an
account of his journey from Cairo to the Written Moun¬
tains in the defert of Sinai. Oppofite to Badea is a
ftrong current which fets to the oppofite fhore, about
fouth-eaft, with a whirlpool called Birque Bharaone, the
well or pool of Pharaoh, being the place where his hoft
is faid to have been deftroyed. We are told by the
fame gentleman, that the Egyptian fhore from Suez to
Badea is fo rocky and fteep, that there was no entering
upon the gulf but at one of thefe two places.
The Britifh nation, we believe, never attempted to
carry on commerce with any of the ports of the Red fea
beyond Jidda, till, on the fuggeftion of Mr Bruce, in
1776, fome Britifh merchants at Bengal equipped two
or three veflels for Suez, laden with piece-goods of Ben¬
gal and coaft manufaftures. The command of the vef¬
fels was committed to Captain Greig, a meritorious fea-
man ; and the management of the goods was entrufted
to Mr Straw, a gentleman diftinguifhed for his mercan¬
tile knowledge. The fale turned out to advantage 3 but
fuch
Suez.
* Lib. xviL
S U F
[ 797 ]
S U G
Gough's
edition cf
t'amdcn's
Britannia.
fuch great expences were Incurred in making pieients
to the bev of Cairo and Suez, as to confume the whole
profits gained by the fale of the caigo. "Xhe great pui-
pofe of the expedition was, however, accomplilhed, as a
firman was obtained from the government of Cairo to
trade by the way of Suez. In confequence of this, three
ihips went to Suez the following year, and as many in
I^7g> 'fhe opening of this trade alarmed the jealoufy
of the Eaft India Company j they applied to our go¬
vernment, and orders were given to relinquilh this pro-
mifing commerce. I hefe orders reached Egypt- fooner
than Bengal, and the conlequence was fatal to the un¬
fortunate adventurers who vifited Suez that year (17 79^‘
By a plan concerted between the beys, a large body ot
Bedouin Arabs attacked the caravan palling trom Suez
to Cairo with goods valued at 12 lacks of rupees. I he
goods were plundered, the Europeans were dripped and
left naked in the defert, expofed to the burning rays of
the fun, without a drop of water to quench their thirft,
or food to fupport life. Pyloft of them died, and fome
of their bodies were afterwards found mangled and dit-
fio-ured by wolves. We have been favoured with a par¬
ticular account of the fufferings of our countrymen by a
correfpondent, which, we are forry, we have not room
to infert. Thofe who with to obtain a more full ac¬
count may confult the Annual Regifter for 1781 or
1782.
SUFFETULA, in Ancient Geography, a town ot
Africa, in the dominions of Carthage } probably fo call¬
ed from Suffetes, the title of the magiftrates of that
city. It is now called Spaitla, in the kingdom of Funis,
and has many elegant remains of antiquity. I here are
three temples in a great meafure entire *, one of them of
the Compofite order, the other two Corinthian. “ A
beautiful and perfed capital of the Compofite order
(fays Mr Bruce), the only perfed one that now exifts,
is defigned in all its parts in a very large fize •, and with
the detail of the reft of the ruin, is a precious monument
of what that order was, now in the colledion of the
king.” The town itfelf (he fays) is fituated in the moft
beautiful fpot in Barbary, furrounded by great numbers
of juniper-trees, and watered by a pleafant ftream, which
finks under the earth at that place, without appearing
any more.
SUFFOCATION, the privation of the fundion of
refpiration or breathing. See the articles Drowning,
Hanging, &c.
SUFFOLK, a county of England. Its name is con-
traded from Southfolk, fo called from its fituation in re¬
gard to Norfolk. It is bounded on the weft by Cam-
bridge-ftiire 5 on the fouth by Eflfex, from which it is
parted by the river Stour ; on the eaft by the German
ocean •, and on the north by Norfolk, feparated from it
by the Lefier Oufe and the Waveney. From weft to
eaft it is <J2 miles in length, about 20 at a medium in
breadth, and 196 in circumference. It contains 22
hundreds, 29 market-towns, 575 parilhes, upwards of
34,000 houles, and 210,431 inhabitants. The whole
is divided into two parts, viz. the Liberty of St Ed¬
mund, and the Geldable ; the former of which contains
the w7eft parts of the county, and the other the eaft •,
and there is a grand jury for each at the affizes. . The
air is reckoned as wholefome and pleafant as any in the
kingdom, nor is it otherwife upon the fea coaft, wdiich
is dry and fandy, and free from fait marlhes. The. foil,
Suffolk:
except to the weft and upon the fea-coaft,- is X'ery rich,
being a compound of clay and marie. Towards the fea c "ar
there are large heaths and tratfts of fand } but thefe pro-1 ^ *
duce hemp, rye, and peafe, and feed great flocks of
{beep. About Newmarket the foil is much the fame 4
but in high Suffolk or the woodlands, befides wood,
there are very rich paftuves, where abundance of cattle
are fed. In other parts of the county, as about Bury,
there is plenty of corn. As this county is noted for the
richnefs of its paftures, fo is it for butter and cheefe, el-
pecially the iormer, which is faid to be remarkably good j
lo that being packed up in firkins, it is fold for all ules
both by fea and land, and conveyed to many parts of
England, efpecially to London. The inland parts of
the county are well fupplied wdth wood for fuel, and
thofe upon the fea-coaft with coals from Newcaftle.
The manufadlures of the county are chiefly rvoollen and
linen cloth. It lies in the diocefe of Norwich, has two
archdeacons, viz. of Sedbury and Suffolk ; gives title of
earl to a branch of the Howards j fends twro members
to parliament for the county, and two for each of the
following places, Ipfwich,DunwTich, Orford, Aldborough,
Sudbury, Eye, and St Edmund’s-Bury. The county is
extremely wxll watered by the following rivers, which-
either traverfe its borders, or run acrofs into the German
ocean, viz. the Leffer Oufe, the Waveney, the Blithe,
the Deben, the Orwell or Gipping, and the Stour.
SUFFRAGAN, an appellation given to fimple bi-
fhops with regard to archbilhops, on whom they depend,
and to whom appeals lie from the bifhops courts.
Suffragan is likewife the appellation given to a bithop,
who is occafionally appointed to refide in a town or vil¬
lage, and aflift the diocefan.
SUFFRAGE, denotes a vote given in an affembly,
where fomething is deliberated on, or where a perfon is-
elefted to an office or benefice.
SUFFRUTEX, among botanifts, denotes an under-
fhrub, or the loweft kind of woody plants, as lavender.
SUGAR, a folid fweet fubftance obtained from the
juice of the fugar-cane *, or, according to chemifts, an
effential fait, capable of cryftallization, of a fweet and
agreeable flavour, and contained in a greater or lels quan¬
tity in almoft every fpecies of vegetables, but moft
abundant in the fugar-cane. _ r
As the fugar-cane is the principal production of the Value c4
Weft Indies, and the great fource of their riches; as itfugar.
is fo important in a commercial view, from the employ¬
ment which it gives to feamen, and the wealth which it
opens for merchants ; and befides now is become a ne-
ceffary of life—it may juftly be efteemed one of the molF
valuable plants in the world. The quantity confumed
in Europe is eftimated at nine millions fterling, and the
demand would probably be greater if it could be fold at
a reduced price. Since fugarthen is reckoned fo pre¬
cious a commodity, it muft be an objeCt of defire to ail
perfons of curiofity and refearch, to obtain fome general
knowledge of the hiftory and nature of the plant by
which it is produced, as well as to underftand the pro-
cefs by which the juice is extracted and refined. . We
will therefore firft inquire in what countries it originally
flouriftied, and when it was brought into general ufe,
and became an article of commerce.
From the few remains of the Grecian and Roman au¬
thors which have furvived the ravages of time, we can
find no proofs that the juice of the fug^r-cane was known
at-.
thors.
S U G T 79g
i. Sll^nr' a vfeTy early period. There can be no doubt, how-
ever, that in thofe countries where it was indigenous its
was proba- va"ue. was no^ concealed. It is not improbable
Liy known that it wras known to the ancient Jews ; for thdre is fome
to the an- reafon to fuppcfe, that the Hebrew word rr3p, which oc-
cient jews. curs frequently in the Old Teftament, and is by our
trandators rendered fometimes calamus and fometimes
fwect-cajie, does in fa ft mean the fugar-cane. The firlt
paffage in which w*e have obferved it mentioned is Exod.
xxx. 23. where Mofes is commanded to make an oint¬
ment with myrrh, cinnamon, kene, and caffia. Now the
kene does not appear to have been a native of Egypt
nor of Judea ; for in Jeremiah vi. 20. it is mentioned
as coming from a far country. “ To what purpofe
cometh there to me incenfe from Sheba and the fweet-
cane from a far country ?” This is not true of the ca-
3 lamus aromaticus, which growx fpontaneoufly in the Le-
ofuTy1 vant» as wel1. as Jn.many parts of Europe. If the cin-
Greek and namon mentioned in the paflage of Exodus quoted above
Roman au- was true cinnamon, it mull have come from the Eall
Indies, the only country in the world from which cinna¬
mon is obtained. There is no difficulty therefore in
fuppofing, that the fugar-cane was exported from the
fame country. If any credit be due to etymology, it
confirms the opinion that kene denotes the fugar-cane j
for the Latin word canna and the Englifh word cane are
evidently derived from it. It is alfo a curious faft, that
fflchar ot Jheker *, in Hebrew, fignifies inebriation, from
which the Greek w7ord “ fugar,” is undoubted¬
ly to be traced.
The fugar-cane was firfl made know n to the weftern
parts of the world by the conquefts of Alexander the
j Lib. xv. Great. Strabo j relates that Nearchus his admiral found
it in the Eaft Indies in the year before Cbrift 325. It
is evidently alluded to in a fragment of Theophraftus,
preferved in Photius. Varro, who lived A. C. 68, de-
icribes it in a fragment quoted by Ifidorus J as a fluid
preffed from reeds of a large fize, which was fweeter
Dio^cdn. ' ^)an. honey Diolcorides, about, the year 3-5 before
Axv. Chrifl, fays “ that there is a kind of honey called faccha-
ron, which is found in India and Arabia Felix. It has
the appearance of fait, and is brittle wffien chewed. If
diffolved in w’ater, it is beneficial to the bowHs and flo-
mach, is ufeful in difeafes of the bladder and kidneys,
and, when fprinkled on the eye, removes thofe fub-
ftances that obfcure the fight.” This is the firft account
we have of its medical qualities. Galen often prefcribed
it as a medicine. Lucan relates, that an oriental nation
in alliance with Pompey ufed the juice of .the cane as a
common drink.
I Lib. xvii
cap. 3
Qiiique bibunt tenera dukes ah arundine fuccos.
Lib. iii. 237.
Pliny fays it w7as produced in Arabia and India, but
that the heft came from the latter country. It is alfo
mentioned by Arrian, in his Periplus of the Red fea, by
the name of (fachar) as an article of commerce
*Nat. WJl- from IncIia to the Red fea. jElian *, Tertullian f, and
t De Judi- .Alexander Aphrodifseus mention it as a fpeciesof hc-
cio Dei.   —1 c  / . \
1 Lib. jj
Prob.'y;)
ney procured from canes (a).
1 S U G
rJ hat the lUgar-cane is an indigenous plant in fome Surar.
parts of the Eatl Indies, we havre the ftrongefl reafen to 1 v—
believe; for i hunberg found it in Japan, and has ac-T 4 ■
cordingly mentioned it as a native of that country in his of
Flora Japomca, publiffied in 1784. Offieck alfo found Indies."
it in China in I751' -^t may indeed have been tranf-
planted from fome other country ; but as it does not ap¬
pear from hiftory that the inhabitants of Japan or China
ever carried on any commerce with remote nations, it
coulu only be conveyed from fome neighbouring coun¬
try. Marco Polo, a noble Venetian, who travelled in¬
to the call about the year 1250, found fugar in abun¬
dance in Bengal. Vafco de Gama, who doubled the
Cape of Good Hope in 1497, relates, that a confiderable
trade in fugar was then carried on in the kingdom of
Calicut. On the authority of Diofcorides and Pliny,
too, we ffiould be djfpofed to admit, that it is a native
or Arabia, did we not find, on confuiting Niebuhr’s
I ravels, that that botaniil has omitted it when enume¬
rating the mofl valuable plants of that country. If it
be a fpontanecus produftion of Arabia, it muft Hill flou-
rifh in its native loil. Mr Bruce found it in Upper
Egypt. If we may believe the relation of Giovan
Lioni, a confiderable trade W’as carried on in fugar in
Nubia in 1500 ; it abounded alfo at Thebes, on the
Nile, and in the northern parts of Africa, about the
fame period.
There js reafon to believe that the fugar-cane was in-Introduced
troduced into Europe during the crufades ; expeditions into Europe
which however romantic in their plan, and unfuccefsfuHrobab,y
in their execution, were certainly produftive of many ^ufade^6*
advantages to the nations of Europe. Albertus Aquen-C‘ 3 6 *'
fis, a monkifli writer, obferves, that the Chriflian fol-
diers in the Ploly Land frequently derived refrefliment
and fupport during a fcarcity of proyifions by fucking
the canes. This plant flouriflied alfo in the Morea, and
in the iflands of Rhodes and Malta ; from which it was
tranfported into Sicily. The date of this tranfaftion it
is not eafy to afeertain ; but we are fure that fugar was
cultivated in that iiland previous to the year 1166; for
Lafitau the Jefuit, who wrote a hiftory of the Portu-
guefe difeoveries, mentions a donation made that year to
the monaftery of St Bennet, by William the fecond, king
of Sicily, of a mill for grinding fugar-canes, with all its
rights, members, and appurtenances.
Jrom Sicily, where the fugar-cane ftill ffouriffies on
the fides of Mount Hybla, it was conveyed to Spain,
Madeira, the Canary and Cape de Verd iflands, f®on
alter they were difeovered in the 13th century. '“‘‘I
An opinion has prevailed, that the fugar-cane is not Supplied
a native of the weftern continent, or its adjacent iflands by fonie
the Weft Indies, but was conveyed thither by the Spa- a
niards or Portuguefe foon after the difeovery of America or*
by Columbus. From the teflimony of Peter Martyr, in the Weft
the third book of his firft decade, compofed during Co-Indies.,!
lumbus’s fecond voyage, which commenced in 1493 and
ended in 1495, it appears, that the fugar-cane was
known at that time in Hifpaniola. It may be faid, that
it was brought thither by Columbus ; but for this affer-
tion wTe have found no direft evidence ; and though we
had
(a) For a more minute account of the hiftory of fugar in the early and middle ages, a paper of the Manchefter
Tranfaftions, in Volume IV. by Dr Falconer, may be confulted.
2
# Tom. iii.
C. XV.
7
This opi¬
nion op-
pofed by
Lab at.
s U G ,[ 7S9 ]
Sun;ar. liad dirccl evidence, this would not pvove that the fugai-
—v~—1 cane was not an indigenous plant of the Weft Indies.
There are authors of learning who, after inveftigatnig
this fubjecl with attention, do not hefitate to maintain,
that it is a native both of the iflands and of the oonti-
nent of America.
P. Labat has fupported this opinion with much ap¬
pearance of truth * •, and, in particular, he appeals to
the teftimony of Thomas Gage, an Englilhman, who
vilited New Spain in 1625. Gage enumerates fugar-
canes among the provifions with which tne Charaibes of
Guaaaloupe fupplied his fhip. “ Now (fays Labat) it
is a faft that the Spaniards had ne%'er cultivated an inch
of ground in the hnaller Antilles. 1 heir fhips com¬
monly touched at thofe iflands indeed for wood and wa¬
ter •, and they left fwine in the view7 of fupplying with
frelh provifions fuch of their countrymen as might call
there in future ; but it would be abfurd in the higheft
degree to fuppofe, that they wTould plant fugar-canes,
and at the fame time put hogs alhore to deftroy them.
“ Neither had the Spaniards any motive for beftow7-
ing this plant on iflands w7hich they confldered as of no
kind of importance, except for the purpofe that has been
mentioned } and to fuppofe that the Charaihes might
have cultivated, after their departure, a production of
which they knew nothing, betrays a total ignorance of
s the Indian difpofition and character.
Fromtefti- “ But (continues Labat) we have hirer teftimony,
many. and fuch as proves, beyond all contradiction, that the
fugar-cane is the natural production of America. lor,
beftdes the evidence of Francis Ximenes, w7ho, in a
Trcatife on American Plants, printed at Mexico, aflerts,
that the fugar-cane grows without cultivation, and to
an extraordinary fize, on the banks of the river Plate,
we are allured by Jean de Lery, a Proteftant minifter,
who was chaplain in 1556 to the Dutch garrifon in the
fort of Coligny, on the river Janeiro, that he himfelf
found fugar-canes in great abundance in many places on
the banks of that river, and in fituations never viflted by
the Portuguefe. Father Hennepen and other voyagers
bear teftimony in like manner to the growth of the cane
near the mouth of the Mifliflippi ; and Jean de Laet to
its fpontaneous produdion in the ifland of St Vincent.
It is not for the plant itfelf, therefore, but for the fecret
of making fugar from it, that the Weft Indies are in¬
debted to the Spaniards and Portuguefe ) and thefe to
the nations of the eaft.”
Such is the reafoning of Labat, which the learned
Lafitau has pronounced incontrovertible } and it is
greatly ftrengthened by recent difeoveries, the fugar-
cane having been found in many of the iflands of the
S U G
Siwar.
Pacific ocean by oar late illuftrious navigator Captain
Cook. _ ^
The fugar-cane, or faccharum officinarum of botanifts, Def..r;,n;on
is a jointed reed, commonly meafuring (the flag part notot tiie fu.
included) from three feet and a half to feven feet in gar cane,
height, but fometimes rifmg to 12 feet. When ripe it
is of a fine ftraw colour inclining to yellow7, producing
leaves or blades, the edges of wftiich are finely and
{barply ferrated, and terminating in an arrow7 decorated
with a panicle. The joints in one ftalk are from 40 to
60 in number, and the ftalks rifing from one root aie
fometimes very numerous. The young ftioot afeends
from the earth like the point of an arrow j the {haft of
which foon breaks, and the two firft leaves, which had
been inclofed within a quadruple fheath of feminal leaves,
rife to a confiderable height (b). _ _ io
As the cane is a rank fucculent plant, it muft require Soil moil
a ftrong deep foil to bring it to perfedion, perhaps in-favourable
deed no foil can be too rich for this purpofe. The foil
which experience has found to be moft favourable to the
cultivation of it in the Weft Indies is the dark gray
loam of St Chriftopher’s, which is fo light and porous as
to be penetrable by the flighteft application of the hoe.
The under ftratum is gravel from 8 to. 12 inches deep.
Canes planted in particular fpots in this ifland have been
knowm to yield 8000 pounds of Mufcovado fugar from
a Angle acre. The average produce of the iiland for a
feries of years has been 16,000 hogftieads of 16 cwt.
w7hich is one-half only of the whole cane-land, or 8500
acres. When annually cut, it gives nearly two hogs¬
heads of 16 cwt. per acre for the whole of the land in
ripe canes.
Next to the aftry loam of St Chriftopher’s is the foil
which in Jamaica is called brick-mould; not as refem-
bling a brick in colour, but as containing fuch a due
mixture of clay and fand as is fuppofed to render it w7ell
adapted for the ufe of the kiln. It is a deep, warm, and
mellow, hazel earth, eafily wrorked} and though its fur-
face foon grows dry after rain, the under ftratum retains
a confiderable degree of moifture in the drieft weather j
with this advantage too, that even in the wetteft feafon
it feldom requires trenching. Plant-canes, by which is
meant canes of the firft growth, have been known in
very fine feafons to yield two tons and a half of lugar
per acre. After this may be reckoned the black mould
of feveral varieties. The heft is the deep black earth of Edward's
Barbadoes, Antigua, and fome other of the. windward °f
ifiands; but there is a fpecies of this mould in Jamaica
that is but little, if any thing inferior to it, which voLli/
abounds with limeftone and flint on a fubftratum of
foapy marie. Black mould on clay is more common ;.
(b) “ A*field of canes, when (landing, in the month of November, wftien it is in arrow or full blofiom (fays Mr
Beckford in his deferiptive Account of the Ifland of Jamaica), is one of the moft beautiful productions that the Per(
or pencil can poflibly deferibe. It in common rifes from three to eight feet or more. in height 5 a difference of
growth that very ftrongly marks the difference of foil or the varieties of culture. It is when ripe of a ought and
golden yellow } and rvbere obvious to the fun, is in many parts very beautifully (Leaked with red : the top is of a
darkifh green j but the more dry it becomes, from either an ex efs of ripenefs or a continuance of drought, of a
ruffet yellow, with long and narrow leaves depending •, from the centre of which (hoots up an arrow like a
wand from two to fix feet in height} and from the fummit of which grows out a piume of white feathers, which
are delicately fringed with a lilac dye j and indeed is, in its appearance, not much unlike the tuft that adorns this
particular and elegant tree.”
S U G
‘Sfigar.
ii
Proper fea-
Ton for
J ^ut 35 aiould is generally (hallow, and the clay ftifF
and retentive of water, this laft fort of land requires
great labour, both in ploughing and trenching, to ren¬
der it profitable. When manured and properly pulve¬
rized, it becomes very produftive. It is unneceffary to
attempt a minute defcription of all the other foils which
are found in thefe iflands. There is, however, a pecu-
_ ^ar of land on the north fide of Jamaica, chiefly in
' the parifh of Trelawney, that cannot be paffed over un¬
noticed, not only on account of its fcarcity but its value ;
few foils producing finer fugars, or fuch as aufwer fo
’well in the pan ; an expreflion fignifying a greater re¬
turn of refined fugar than common. The land alluded
to is generally of a red colour; the (hades of which,
however, vary confiderably from a deep chocolate to a
rich fcarlet; in fome places it approaches to a bright
yellow, but it is everywhere remarkable, when firft
turned up, for a glofly or (hining furface, and if wetted
(lains the fingers like paint.
As in every climate there is a feafon more favourable
plantain- it. ^°r vegetataon than others, it is of great importance that
’ plants for feed be committed to the ground at the com¬
mencement of this fealon. As the cane requires a great
deal of moifture to bring it to maturity, the propereft
feafon for planting it is in the months of September and
Oflober, when the autumnal rains commence, that it
may be fufficiently luxuriant to (hade the ground before
the dry weather fets in. Thus the root is kept moift,
and the crop is ripe for the mill in the beginning of the
enfuing year. Canes planted in the month of Novem¬
ber, or later in the feafon, lofe the advantage of the au¬
tumnal rains j and it often happens that dry wTeather in
the beginning of the enfuing year retards their vegeta¬
tion until the vernal or May rains fet in, when they
fprout both at the roots and the joints; fo that by the
time they are cut the field is loaded with unripe fuckers
inftead of fugar-canes. A January plant, however, com¬
monly turns out well ; but canes planted very late in the
Spring, though they have the benefit of the May rains,
ieldom anfwer expectation j for they generally come in
unfeafonabiy, and throw the enfuing crops out of regular
rotation. They are therefore frequently cut before^they
me ripe ^ or if the autumnal feafon fets in early, are cut
in wet weather, which has probably occafioned them to
fpring afrefli 5 in either cafe the effea is the fame : The
juice is unconcofted, and all the fap being in motion,
the root is deprived of its natural nourilkment, to the
great injury of the ratoon. The chief objeaion to a
fall plant is tnis, that the canes become rank and top-
heavy, at a period when violent rains and high winds
are expefted, and are therefore frequently lodged be¬
fore they are fit to be cut.
The fugar-cane is propagated by the top-flioots, which
are cut from the tops of the old canes. The ufual me¬
thod of planting in the Weft Indies is this : The quan¬
tity of land intended to be planted, being cleared of
[ 800 ]
S U G
ia
Method of
^planting
W'eeds and other incumbrances, is firft divided into feve- Sugar,
ral plats of certain dimenfions, commonly from 15 to
20 acies each j the (paces between each plat or divifion
are left wide enough tor roads, for the conveniency of
carting, and are called intervals. Each plat is then
fubdivided, by means of a line and wooden pegs, into
(mail (quares of about three feet and a half. Sometimes
indeed the fquares are a foot larger j but this circum-
Itance makes but little difterence. ft he negroes are
then placed in a row in the firft line, one to a fquare,
and dire&ed to dig out with their hoes the feveral
fquares, commonly to the depth of five or fix inches.
'The mould which is dug up being formed into a bank
at the lower fide, the excavation or cane-hole feldom
exceeds 15 inches in width at the bottom, and two feet
and a half at the top. The negroes then fall back to
the next line, and proceed as before. Thus the feveral
fquares between each line are formed into a trench of
much the fame dimenfions with that which is made by
the plough. An able negro will dig from 100 to 12®
of thefe holes for his day’s work of ten hours; but if the
land has been previoufly ploughed and lain fallow, the
fame negro will dig nearly double the number in the
fame time (c).
ft'he cane-holes or trench being now completed, whe¬
ther by the plough or by the hoe, and the cuttings (e-
ledled for planting, which are commonly the tops of the
canes that have been ground for fugar (each cutting
containing five or fix gems), two of them are fufficient
for a cane hole of the dimenfions defcribed. Thefe, be¬
ing placed longitudinally in the bottom of the hole, are
covered with mould about two inches deep ; the reft of
the bank being intended for future ufe. In 12 or 14
days the young fprouts begin to appear ; and as foon as ,J.3
they rife a few inches above the ground, they are, or it.™1*
ought to be, carefully cleared of weeds, and furnifhed °
with an addition of mould from the banks. This is
ufually performed by the hand. At the end of four or
five months the banks are wholly levelled, and the fpaces
between the rows carefully hoe-ploughed. Frequent
cleanings, while the canes are young, are indeed fo effen-
tially neceffary, that no other merit in an overfeer can
compenfate for the want of attention in this particular.
A careful manager will remove at the fame time all the
lateral (hoots or fuckers that fpring up after the canes
begin to joint, as they feldom come to maturity, and
draw nourifhment from the original plants.
_ “ In the cultivation of other lands, in Jamaica efpe-The ptougfc
daily (fays Mr Edwards, the elegant hiftorian of the might be
Weft Indies, whofe fuperior excellence has induced usu^e(lwitb
frequently to refer to him in the courfe of this article), a^vantage'
the plough has been introduced of late years, and in
fome few cafes to great advantage j but it is not every
foil or fituation that will admit the ufe of the plough j
fome lands being much too ftony, and others too deep ;
and I am forry I have occafion to remark, that a prac¬
tice
. ,(c) As the negroes work at this bufinefs very unequally, according to their different degrees of bodily ftrength,
it is fometimes the praftice to put two negroes to a Angle fquare ; but if the land has not had the previous aflift-
ance 01 the plough, it commonly requires the labour of 50 able negroes for 13 days to hole 20 acres. In Jamaica,
fome gentlemen, to cafe their own (laves, have this laborious part of the planting-bufinefs performed by job-work,
ft he ufual price for holing and planting is 61. currency per acre (equal to 4I. 7$, fterling). 'The coft of falling and
'clearing heavy wood-land is commonly as much more. > *
1
S U G
[ 80
Sug:at.
Edwards's
Hijlory of
the Wejt
Indies,
vol. ii.
13
Canes na¬
med ac¬
cording to
the age of
their roots.
16
Manures
employed.
tlce commonly prevails In Jamaica) on properties where
this auxiliary is ufed, which would exhauft the fineft
lands in the world. It is that of ploughing, then crofs-
ploughing, round-ridging, and harrowing the fame lands
from year to year, or at leaft every other year, without
affording manure : accordingly it is found that this me¬
thod is utterly deftruflive of the ratoon or fecond growth,
and altogether ruinous. It is indeed aftoniftiing that
any planter of common reading or obfervation fliould
be paffive under fo pernicious a fyftem. Some gentle¬
men, however, of late manage better : their praftice is
to break up ftiff and clayey land, by one or two plough-
ings, early in the fpring, and give it a fummer’s fallow.
In the autumn following, being then mellow and more
ealily worked, it is holed and planted by manual labour
after the old method, which has been already defcribed.
But in truth, the only advantageous fyftem of plough¬
ing in the Weft Indies is to confine it to the fimple ope¬
ration of holing, which may certainly be performed with
much greater facility and difpatch by the plough than
by the hoe ; and the relief which, in the cafe of ftiff
and dry foils, is thus given to the negroes, exceeds all
eftimation, in the mind of a humane and provident own¬
er. On this fubjefl; I fpeak from praftical knowledge.
At a plantation of my own, the greateft part^ of the
land which is annually planted is neatly and fufficiently
laid into cane-holes, by the labour of one able man,
three boys, and eight oxen, with the common fingle-
wheeled plough. I he ploughlhare indeed is fomewhat
wider than ufual ; but this is the only difference, and
the method of ploughing is the fimpleft poflible. B.y
returning the plough back along the furrow, the turf is
alternately thrown to the right and to tne left, forming
a trench feven inches deep, about two feet and a half
wide at the top, and one foot wide at the bottom. A
fpace of 18 or 20 inches is left between each trench, on
which the mould being thrown by the (hare, the banks
are properly formed, and the holing is complete. Thus
the land is not exhaufted by being too much expofed
to the fun •, and in this manner a field of 20 acres
is holed with one plough, and with great eafe, in 13
days. The plants are afterwards placed in the trench as
in the common method, where manual labour alone is
employed.
In moft parts of the Weft Indies it is ufual to hole
and plant a certain proportion of the cane-land, com¬
monly one-third, in annual rotation. Canes of the firft
year’s growth are called plant canes, as has been alrea¬
dy obferved. The fpouts that fpring from the roots of
the canes that have been previoufly cut for fugar are
called ratoons; the firft yearly returns from their roots
are calledJirJl ratoons; the fecond year’s growth
ratoons.
Mr Edwards informs us, that the manure generally
ufed is a compoft formed, ift, Of the vegetable allies
drawn from the fires of the boiling and ftill houfes.
2dly, Feculencies difeharged from the ftill houfe, mixed
up with rubbifti of buildings, white-lime, &c. 3dly,
Refufe, or field-trafti (2. el), the decayed leaves and Hems
of the canes-, fo called in contradiftinftion to cane-tralh,
referved for fuel. 4thly, Dung, obtained from the
horfe and mule ftables, and from moveable pens, or fmall
inclofures made by polls and rails, occafionally ftiifted
upon the lands intended to be planted, and into wdiich
the cattle are turned at night, fthly, Good mould, cob
Vol. XIX. Part II.
Sum.
1 ] s U G
lefted from gullies and other wafte places, and thrown
into the cattle-pens; '
The fugar-cane is liable to be deftroyed by monkeys, The (-’gar-
rats, and infefts. The upland plantations fuffer greatly cane de-
from monkeys 5 thefe creatures, which now abound in ftroyed by
the mountainous parts of St Chriftopher’s, were firft monkeys,
brought thither by the French, when they poffeffed half
that ifland 3 they come down from the rocks in. filent
parties by night, and having polled centinels to give the
alarm if any thing approaches, they deftroy incredible
quantities of the cane, by their gambols as well as then
greedinefs. It is in vain to fet traps for thele creatures,
however baited 3 and the only way to protefi the plan¬
tation, and deftroy them, is to fet a numerous, watch,
well armed with fowling-pieces, and furnithed with dogs.
The negroes will perform this fervice cheerfully, for
they are*very fond of monkeys as food. The celebrated Grainger's
Father Labat fays, they are very delicious, but the
white inhabitants of St Kitt’s never eat them. canJe &
The low-land plantations fuffer as much by rats as l8
thofe on the mountains do from monkeys 3 but the rats, rats,
no more than the monkeys, are natives of the place. 3
they came with the Hupping from Europe, and bleed m
the ground under loofe rocks and bullies: the field ne¬
groes eat them greedily, and they are faid to be publicly
fold in the markets at Jamaica. To free the plantations,
from thefe vermin, the breed of wild cats Ihould be en¬
couraged, and fnakes fullered to multiply unmolefted 3
they may alfo be poifoned with arfenic, and the ra;ped
root of the caffava made into pellets, and plentifully
fcattered over the grounds. This practice, howevei, is
dangerous 3 for as the rats when thus poifoned become
exceeding thirfty, they run in droves to the neighbour¬
ing ftreams, which they poifon as they drink, and the
cattle grazing on the banks of thefe polluted wTaters
have frequently peri Hied by drinking after them : It is
fafer therefore to make the pellets ot flour, kneaded wit'i
the juice of the nightfhade, the feent of which ■will-
drive them away though they will not eat it. There is
an Eaft Indian animal called mungoes, which bears a
natural antipathy to rats 3 if this animal wras introduced
into our fugar iflands, it would probably extirpate the
wFole race of thefe noxious vermin. The formica om-
nivora of Linnaeus, the carnivorous ant, which is called
in Jamaica the raffle's ant, would foon clear a fugar
plantation of rats. _ 1$
The fugar-cane is alfo fubjecl to a difeafe which no and in-
forefight can obviate, and for which human wifdom Ivgs ft*-
• hitherto in vain attempted to find a remedy. This dif¬
eafe is called the blafl, and is occafipned by a fpecies
of aphis. When this happens, the fine, broad, green
blades become fickly, dry, and withered 3 foon after they
appear ftained in fpots 3 and if thefe fpots are carefully
examined, they will be found to contain innumerable
eggs of an infedl like a bug, which are foon quickened,
and cover the plants with the vermin : the juice of the
canes thus affebled becomes four, and no future (hoot .
iffues from the joints. Ants alfo concur with the bugs
to fpoil the plantation, and againft thefe evils it is hard
to find a remedy. - ; > 20
The crops of fugar-canes do not ripen precifely at the T,me af-
fame period in all the colonies. In the Danifty, Spanifti,
and Dutch feltlements, they begin in January, and con- p
tinue till Odlober. This method does not imply ary
fixed feafon for the maturity of the fugar-cane. The
c I riant.
s u 0 4 l S02 ] SVG
SagaA plant, however, like others, muft have Its progrefs j and
h hath been juftly obferved to be in dower in the months
H'/icry of of November and I December. It mud ncceffarily follow,
tie Fa ft from the cuftom thefe nations have adopted of continu-
and lVrjl jng to gather their crops for 10 months without inter-
; i’ miiTion, that they cut fome canes which are not ripe
enough, and others that.are too ripe, and then the fruit
hath not the requidte qualities. The time of gathering
them fliould be at a fixed feafon, and probably the
months of March and April are the fitted for it ; be-
caufe all the fweet fruits are ripe at that time, while the
four ones do not arrive at a date of maturity till the
months of July and Augud.
The Englidi cut their canes in March and April j
.-but they are not induced to do this on account of their
ripenefs. The drought that prevails in their iflands ren¬
ders the rains which fall in September neceflary to their
planting ; and as the canes are 18 months in growing,
this period always brings them to the precife point pf
aI maturity (p).
a frafon of “ 1 he time of crop in the fugar iflands (fays Mr Ed-
f-'rvitv. wards) is the feafon of gladnefs and fedivity to man and
Edwards, bead. So palatable, falutary, and nourifhing, is the
Juice of the cane, that every individual of the animal
creation, drinking freely of it, derives, health and vigour
from its ufe. The meagre and fickly among the negroes
exhibit a furpridng alteration in a few weeks after the
mill is let in achon. The labouring horfes, oxen, and
mules, though aimed condantly at work during thisfea-
fon, yet, being indulged with plenty of the green tops of
this noble plant, and fome of the feummings from the
'boiling-houfe, improve more than at any other period of
the year. Even the pigs and poultry fatten on the re-
fufe. In flrort, on a well-regulated plantation, under a
humane and benevolent direflor, there is fuch an ap¬
pearance during crop-time of plenty and bufy cheer-
fulnefs, as to foften, in a great mcafure, the hard drips
of fir very, and induce a fpeedator to hope, when the
-mileries of life are reprefented as infupportable, that
they are fomelimes exaggerated through the medium of
fancy.”
The canes The plants being cut, the brandies at the top are
when cut given to the cattle for food ) the top-lhoot, which is full
arc Pent to of eyes, is preferved for planting. The canes are cut in-
the mill. pieces about a yard long, tied up in bundles, and
carried in carts to the mill, where they are bruifed, and
the juice is extra&ed from them. The mill confids
principally of three upright iron-plated rollers or cylin¬
ders. from 30 to 40 inches in length, and from 20 to
25 inches in diameter; and the middle one, to which
the moving power is applied, turns the other two by
means of cogs. Between thefe rollers, the canes (being
previoufly cut fhort, and tied into bundles) are twice
ccompreffed ; for having paffed through the fird and fe-
cond rollers, they are turned round the middle one by
a circular piece of frame-work or fereen, called in .Ta- Su?ar.
maica the Dumb-returner, and forced back through the v 1
fee on u and third ; an operation which fqueezes them
completely dry, and foroetimes even reduces them to
powder. I he cane juice is received isr a leaden bed,
and thence conveyed into a vditl called the receiver.
The refufe, or macerated rind of the cane (which is call¬
ed cane-trajk, in contradidindion to fe/d-trajb), ferves
fob fuel to boil the liquor.
I he juice as it flows irom the mill, taken at a me-The juice
drum, contains eight parts of pure water, one part of extracted
fugar, and one part confiding of coarfe oil and mucila-lroni tht;ni*
ginous gum, with a portion of effential oil.
As this juice has a drong difpofltion to fermentation, VefTelt ufed
it mud be boiled as foon as peflibie. J here are fome for purity^
water-mills that will grind with great eafe canes fuffi-mS lt are>
cient for 30 hog (heads of fugar in a week. It is necef-
fary to have boiling veffels, or clarifiers, that will cor-
refpond in dimenfions to the quantity of juice flowino-
from the receiver. Thefe clarifiers are commonly three
in number, and are fometimes capable of containing
1000 gallons each ; but it is more ufual to fee them of
300 or 400 gallons each. Befides the clarifiers which
are uied tor the fird boiling, there are generally four
coppers or boilers. The clarifiers are placed in the
middle or at one end of the boiling-houfe. If at one
end, the boiler called the teache is placed at the other,
and feveral boilers (generally three) are ranged between
them. The teache is ordinarily from 70 to 100 gallons,
and the boilers between the clarifiers and teache dimi¬
nidr in fize from the fird to the lad. Where the clari¬
fiers are in the middle, there is ufually a fet of three
boilers of each fide, which conditute in efleft a double
boiling-houfe. On very large edates this arrangement
is found ufeful and neceflary. The objection to fo great
a number is the expence of fuel ; to obviate which, in
fome degree, the three boilers on each fide of the clari¬
fiers are commonly hung to one fire. 25
't he juice rqns from the receiver along a wooden gut- "Pie c*ar‘"
ter lined with lead into the boiling-houfe, where it is ,lier’
received into one of the clarifiers. When the clarifier
is filled, a fire is lighted, and a quantity of Bridol quick¬
lime’in powder, which is called temper, is poured into
the veflel. The ufe of t,he lime is to unite with the fu-
perabundant acid, which, for the fuccefs of the procefs,
it is neceflary to get rid of. The quantity fufiicient to
feparate the acid mud vary according to the drer.gth of
the quicklime and the quality of the liquor. Some
planters allow a pint of lime to every 100 gallons of li¬
quor j but Mr Edwards thinks that little more than half
the quantity is a better medium proportion, and even
then, that it ought to be diflblved in boiling water, that
as little of it as pofiible may be precipitated. The heat
is differed gradually to increafe till it approaches within
a few degrees of the heat of Toiling water, that the im¬
purities
(d) The account given in the text concerning the time when the fugar-canes are collefred, we have taken from
the Abbe Ra'ynal’s Hidory of the Trade and Settlements of the Ead and Wed Indies j but Mr Cazaud obferves,
that in February,‘March, and April, all the canes, whatever be their age, are as ripe as the nature of the foil ever Philofopb'.
allows them to be. He fays farther, that the drynefs of the weather, and not the age of the canes, which increafes Ttanfaft.
from January to April, is the caufe that in January 400 gallons of juice commonly yield 48 gallons of fugar and vt,J'
inolaffes, one with another 5 in February from 56 to 64 ; in March from 64 to 72 j in April fomelimes 80 ; after
which period the fugar feyments, and even burns, when the refiner is not very expert at his bufinefs.
Sugar.
4*
and four
coppers.
S U G
purities may be thoroughly feparated.
' were fuffered to boll with violence, the impurities would
again incorporate with it. It is known to be fufficiently
heated when the fcum begins to rife in blitters, which
break into white froth, and appear generally in about
43 minutes. The fire is then i'uddenly extinguifhed by
means of g damper, which excludes the external air, and
the liquor is allowed to remain about an hour undifturb-
cd, during which period the impurities are collected in
fcum on the furface. The juice is then drained off ei¬
ther by a fyphon or a cock •, the fcum being of a tena¬
cious gummy nature, does not flow out with the liquor,
but remains behind in the clarifier. 7'he liquid juice is
conveyed from the clarifier by a gutter into the evapo¬
rating boiler, commonly termed the grand copper; and if
it has been obtained from good canes it generally ap¬
pears tranfparent.
In the evaporating boiler, which fhould be large
enough to receive the contents of the clarifier, the liquor
- is allowed to boil ; and as the fcum rifes it is taken off.
The fcumming and evaporation are continued till the
liquor becomes finer and thicker, and fo far diminiflied
in bulk that it maybe eafily contained in the fecond
copper. When put into the fecond copper, it is nearly
of the colour of Madeira wine ; the boiling and fcum-
mir.g are continued, and if the impurities be cbnfider-
able, a quantity of lime-rvater is added. This procefs is
carried on till the liquor be fufficiently diminiflied in
quantity to be contained in the third copper. After
beifig purified a third lime, it is put into the fourth cop¬
per, which is called the teache, where it is boiled and
evaporated tilf it is judged fufficiently pure to be re¬
moved from the fire. In judging of the purity of the
liquor, many of the negroes (fays Mr Edwards) guefs
iblely by the eye (which by long habit they do with
great accuracy), judging by the appearance of the grain
on the back of the ladle : but the prafrice mod in ufe is
to judge by what is called the touch; i. e. taking up
with the thumb a fmall portion of the hot liquor from
the ladle •, and, as the heat diminifhes, drawing with
the fore-finger the liquid into a thread. This thread
will fuddenly break, and {brink from the thumb to the
fufpended finger, in different lengths, according as the
liquor is move or lefs boiled. The proper boiling height
for ffrong mufeovado fugar is generally determined by
a thread of a quarter of an inch long. It is evident,
that certainty in this experiment can be attained only
by long habit, and that no verbal precepts will furniffi
any degree of (kill in a matter depending wholly on con-
ftant pra&ice.
After being The juice being thus purified by paffing through the
clarified it clarifier and four coppers, it is poured into coolers,
is cooled, which are ufually fix in number. The removal from
granulated, ^ teacqie ^ t]ie coo}er js called Jlrihinn. The cooler
is a fliallow wooden veffel feven feet long, from five to
fix wide, about u inches deep, and capable of contain^
ing a hogffiead of fugar. As the liquor cools, the fu¬
gar grains, that is, colle&s into an irregular mafs of im-
perfefl cryftals, feparating itfelf from the melaffes. It
is then removed from the cooler, and conveyed to the
curing-houfe, where the melaffes drain from it. For
receiving them there is a large ciilern, the floping fides
of which are lined with boards. Direffly above the ci-
ftern a frame of joift-work without boarding is placed,
and freed
from its
melrtills.
[ 8o5 ] ^ S U G
But if the liquor The bottoms of thefe hogflreads are pierced with 8 or Sugar
10 holes, in each of which the ftalk of a plantain leaf v—
is fixed fo as to project fix or eight inches below the
joilts, and rife a little above the top of the hogffiead.
The hoglheads being jilled with the contents of the
cooler, confiding of fugar and melaffes, the melaffes be¬
ing liquid, drain through the fpungy ftalk, and drop in.
to the ciftern. After the melaffes are drained off, the
fugar becomes pretty dry and fair, and is then called
mufeovado or raw fugar.
We have deferibed the. procefs for extrafting fugar,
which is generally adopted in the Britilh Weft India
iHands, according to the lateft improvements} and have
been anxious to prefent it to our readers in the fimplert
and molt perfpicuous form, that it might be intelligible
to every perfon 5 and have therefore avoided to mention
the obiervations and propofed amendments of thofe who
have written on this fubjeft. Mad we done fo, we
ffiould have fwelled the prefent article to too great a
fize, without accompliihing the purpole which we hav
in view 5 for our intention is not to inftruit the plant¬
ers, but to give a diftinft account of the moll; approved
methods which the planters have generally adopted.
But though we judge it ufelefs to trouble our readers'
with all the little varieties in the procefs which different
perfons employ, we flatter ourfelves it will not be dif-
agreeable to learn by what methods the French make lS
their fugar purer and whiter than ours. A quantity of Method of
fugar from the cooler is put into conical pans or earthen purifying
pots, called by the French formes, having a fmall per-fty the
foration at the apex, which is kept clofed. Each cone, K £
reverfed on its apex, is fupported in another earthen
veffel. The fyrup is ftirred together, and then left to
cryftallize. At the end of 15 or 16 hours, the hole in
the point of each cone is opened, that the impure fyrup
may run out. The bafe of thefe fugar loaves is then ta- chcmijtry,
ken out, and white pulverized fugar fubftituted in its vol. iti.
ftead ; which being Well prelied down, the whole is co¬
vered with clay moiftened with water. This water fil¬
ters through the mafs, carrying the fyrup with it which
was mixed with the fugar, but which by this manage¬
ment flows into a pot iiibftituted in the place of the firft.
This fecond fluid is called fine fyrup. Care is taken to
moiften and keep the clay to a proper degree of foftnefs
as it becomes dry. The fugar loaves are afterwards ta¬
ken out, and dried in a ftove for eight or ten days 5 af¬
ter which they are.pulverized, packed, and exported to
Europe, where they are ftill farther purified. The rea-
fon afirgned why this procefs is not univerfally adopt¬
ed in the Britifh fugar iflands is this, that the water
which dilutes and carries away the melaffes diffolves and
carries with it fo much of the fugar, that the difference
in quality does not pay for the difference in quantity.
The French planters probably think otherwife, upwards
of 400 of the plantations of St Domingo having the ne-
ceffary apparatus for claying and actually carrying on
the fyftem. _
The art of refining fugar was firft made known to the-j-iie art 0f
Europeans by a Venetian, who Is faid to have received refining fu-
100,000 crowns for the invention. This difeovery wasgarmno-
made before the new world was explored \ but whether a
it was an invention of the perfon who firft communica¬
ted it, or whether it was conveyed from China, where
it had been known for a confiderabie time before, can¬
on which empty hogfheads without heads are ranged. . not now perhaps be accurately afeertained. We find no
j I 3 mention
Sugar.
S U G [ 804
mention made of the refining of fugar in Britain till the fuls
Anderfon's though it probably Was praftifed feveral
Origin of years before. For in the Portuguefe ifland of St Tho-
Cornmercc. mas in 1624 there were 74 fugar ingenios, each having
upwards of 200 flaves. The quantity of raw fugar im¬
ported into England in 1778 amounted to 1,403,995
cwts. 5 the quantity imported into Scotland in the fame
year was 117,285 cwts.-, the whole quantity imported
30 into Great Britain in 1787 was 1,926,741 cwts.
In refin- Xhe fugar which undergoes the operation of refining
mfxedwith EuroPe is either raw fugar, fometimes called mufco-
lime-water vado or cajfonado, 'which is raw fugar in a purer date,
and bul- The raw fugar generally contains a certain quantity of
melaffes as rvell as earthy and feculent fubftances. The
caffbnado, by the operation of earthing, is freed from
Sugar.
3^
Afterwards
lock’s
blood, and
expofed to
heat.
its melaffes.
] S U G
7—- from the coolers, and poured into the moulds.
When the moulds are filled, and the contents Hill in a
fluid ftate, it is neceffary to ftir them, that no part may
adhere to the moulds, and that the imall cryftals which p0trrec] jnto
are juft formed may be equally diffufed through the moulds,
whole mafs. When the fugar is completely cryftalli-where the
zed, the linen is taken away from the apertures in the 5™?
moulds, and the fyrup, or that part which did not cry-
ftallize, defeends into the pots in which the moulds are
placed. After this purgation the moulds are removed
and fixed in other pots, and a ftratum of fine white clay
diluted with water is laid on the upper part of the loaf.
The water defeending through the fugar by" its own
weight, mixes with the fyrup which ftill remains in the
body of the loaf, and waihes it away. When the clav
As the intention of refining thefe fugars is dries, it is taken off, and another covering of moift clay
to give them a higher degree of whitenefs and folidity,
it is neceffary for them to undergo- other proceffes.
The firft of thefe is called clarification. It confifts in
diffolving the fugar in a certain proportion of lime-wa¬
ter, adding a proper quantity of bullock’s blood, and
expofing it to heat in order to remove the impurities
which ftill remain. The heat is increafed very gradual¬
ly till it approach that of boiling water. By the aflift-
ance of the heat, the animal matter which wras thrown
in coagulates, at the fame time that it attracts all the
i'olid feculent and earthy matter, and raifes it to the fur-
face in the appearance of a thick foam of a brownifh co¬
lour. As the feculencies are never entirely removed by
a firft procefs, a fecond is neceffary. The folution is
therefore cooled to a certain degree by adding fome
water •, then a frefh quantity of blood, but lefs confider-
able than at firft, is poured in. The fire is renewed,
and care is taken to increafe the heat gently as before.
The animal fubftance feizes on the impurities which re¬
main, collefts them on the furface, and they are then
fkimmed oft. The fame operation is repeated a third
and even a fourth time, but no addition is made to the
liquor except water. If the different proceffes have
been properly conducted, the folution will be freed from
every impurity, and appear tranfparent. It is then con¬
veyed by a gutter into an oblong balket about 16 inches
deep, lined with a w-oollen cloth j and after filtering
through this cloth, it is received in a ciftern or copper
-j which is placed below.
Then treed The folution being thus clarified, it undergoes a fe-
irooi its re-conc} general operation called Fire is ap¬
plied to the copper into which the folution was received,
and the liquid is boiled till it has acquired the proper
degree of confiftency. A judgement is formed of this
by taking up a fmall portion of the liquid and drawing
it into a thread. When, after this trial, it is found fuf-
ficiently vifeous, the fire is extinguiftred, and the liquid
is poured, into coolers. It is then flirred violently by
an inftrument called an oar, from the refemblance it
bears to the oar of a boat. This is done in order to di-
minifh the vifeofity, and promote what is called thegra-
nulation, that is, the forming of it into grains or imper-
fedl cryftals. 1 When the liquid is properly mixed and
cooled, it is then poured into moulds of the form of a
fugar loaf. Thefe moulds are ranged in rows. The
fmall ends, which are loweft, are placed in pots ; and
they have each of them apertures flopped up with linen
for filtering the fyrup, which runs from the moulds into
the pots. The liquor is then taken out flovvly in ladle-
maimng
impurities
by evapo¬
ration.
put in its place j and if it be not then fufficiently wafti-
ed, a third covering of clay is applied. After the 33
loaves have flood fome days in the moulds, and have ac-
quired a confiderable degree of firmnefs and folidity, certain de-
they are taken out, and carried to a ftove, where theygree of
are gradually heated to the 50° of Reaumur (64° of^31-
Fahrenheit), in order to diffipate any moifture wdrich
may be ftill confined in them. After remaining in the
ftove eight days, they are taken out; and after cutting
off all difcolouring fpecks, and the head if ftill wTet, they
are wrapped in blue paper, and are ready for fale. The
feveral fyrups collefted during the different parts of the
proceis, treated in the fame manner which we have juft
deferibed, afford fugars of inferior quality ; and the laft
portion, which no longer affords any fugar, is fold by
the name of melajfes.
The beauty of refined fugar, when formed into loaves, ^ ^ 34^
confifts in whitenefs, joined to a fmallnefs of grain ; int"e'beauty
being dry, hard, and fomewFat tranfparent. The pro-of fugar
cefs which we have deferibed above refers to fugar once confifts;
refined 5 but fome more labour is neceffary to produceliOW far"
double refined fugar. The principal difference in thetherrefine^*
operation is this, the latter is clarified by white of eggs
inftead of blood, and frefli wrater in place of lime-
water.
Sugar-candy is the true effence of the cane formed HotvVu-
into large cryftals by a flow- procefs. When the fyrup gar. candy
is well clarified, it is boiled a little, but not fo much as is made,
is done for the proof mentioned in the procefs for mak¬
ing common fugar. It is then placed in old moulds, ha¬
ving their low-er ends flopped with linen, and crofted at
little diftances with fmall twigs to retain the fugar as it
cryftallizes. The moulds are then laid in a cool place.
In proportion as the fyrup cools cryftals are formed. In
about nine or ten days the moulds are carried to the
ftove, and placed in a pot; but the linen is not remo¬
ved entirely, fo that the fyrup falls down fiowly in
drops. When the fyrup has dropped aw-ay, and the
ciyftals of the fugar-candy are become dry, the moulds
are taken from the ftove and broken in pieces, to difen-
gage the fugar, which adheres ftiongly to the fides of
the moulds. If the fyrup has been coloured with co¬
chineal, the cryftals take a flight taint of red ; if in¬
digo has been mixed, they affume a bluiftr colour. If it
be defired to have the candy perfumed, the effence of
flow-ers or amber may be dropped into the moulds along
with the fyrup.
Having now given fome account of the method
ufually employed for refining fugar, it will not be im¬
proper
S U G
[ So
Sugar.
3^
Chemical
qualities
•f fugar.
' 37.
Its ufes in
medicine,
fee.
38 V.
Affords the
greateft
quantity ot
nourifli-
ment of
any kind
•f food.
proper to fay a few things concerning its nature and its
ufes. „ * . ,
Sugar is foluble in water, and in a nnall degree in al¬
cohol? When united with a fmall portion of water, it
becomes fufible *, from which quality the art of preferv-
ing is indebted for many of its preparations. It is phol-
phoric and combuftible ^ when expofed to fire emitting
a blue flame if the combuftion be flow, and a white
flame if the combuftion be rapid. By diftillation it pro¬
duces a quantity of phlegm, acid, oil, gas, and char¬
coal. Bergman, in treating fugar with the nitrous acid,
obtained a new acid now known by the name of the
oxalic acid': but he has omitted to mention the principles
of which fugar is compofed. Lavoifier, however, has
funplied this omiflion j and after many experiments has
afligned three principles in fugar, hydrogen, oxygen,
and carbone. If the juice exprefled from the fugar-cane
be left to itfelf, it pafl’es into the acetous fermentation ;
and during the decompofition of the lugar, which is con¬
tinued for three or four months, a great quantity of glu¬
tinous matter is feparated. T his matter when diddled
gives a portion of ammoniac. If the juice be expofed
to the fpirituous fermentation, a wine is obtained ana-
loirous to cyder. If this wine, after being kept in bot-
tles a-year, be diftilled, we obtain a portion of eau de
vie- . • 1 j
The ufes to which fugar are applied are indeed nume¬
rous and important: It can be made fo folid as in t ic
art of preferving to receive the moft agreeable colours
and the greateft variety of forms. It can be made fo
fluid as to mix with any foluble fubftance. It pieferves
the juice and fubftance'of fruits in all countries and m
all feafons. It affords a delicious feafoning to many
kinds of food. It is ufeful in pharmacy, for it unites
with medicines, and removes their difagreeable flavour :
it is the bafis of all fyrups. M. Macquer has ftiown in
a very fatisfa£lory manner how ufeful iugar would be it
employed in fermenting wines. Sugar has alio been
found a remedy for the feurvy, and a valuable article
of food in cafes of neceflity. M. Imbert de Lennes,
firft furgeon to the late duke of Orleans, publiihed the
following ftovy in the Gazette de SaJite, which confirms
this affertion. A veffel laden with fugar bound from
the Weft Indies was becalmed in its paffage for ieveral
davs, during which the ftock of provifions was exhauft-
ed. Some of the crew were dying ot the feurvy, and
the reft were threatened with a fiill more terrible death.
In this emergency recourfe was had to the fugai. Ihe
confequence was, the fymptoms of the feurvy went off,
the crew found it a wholefome and fubftantial aliment,
and returned in good health to France.
“ Sugar (fays Dr Ruth) affords the greateft quantity
of nouiiftiment in a given quantity of matter of any fub¬
ftance in nature ; of courfe it may be preferved in. lefs
room in our houfes, and may be coniumed in lels time,
than more bulky and lefs nourifhing aliment. It has
this peculiar advantage over moft kinds of aliment, that
it is not liable to have its nutritious qualities affe61ed by
time or the weather •, hence it is preferred by . the In¬
dians in their excurfions from-home. i hey mix a cer¬
tain quantity of maple fugar, with an equal quantity of
Indian corn, dried and powdered, in its milky ftate.
This mixture is packed in little bafleets, which are fre¬
quently wetted in travelling, without injuring the fugar.
A few fpoqnfuls of it mixed with half a pint of fpring
4
0 1 S U G
water afford them a pleafant and ftrengthening meal.  ,
From the degrees of ftrength and nouriihment which Tran^ac,
are conveyed into animal bodies by a fmall bulk 01 iu- tions 0jtj)e
gar it might probably be given to horfes with great American.
advantage, when they are uled in places or under cir-
cumftances which make it difficult or expennve to iup- ^ uu
port them with more bulky or weighty aliment. A
pound of fugar with grafs or hay has fupported the
itrength and fpirits of a horfe during a whole day s la-
bour in one of the Weft-India iilands. A larger quan¬
tity given alone has fattened horfes and cattle, during
the war before laft in Hiipaniola, for a period ot fever at
months, in which the exportation ot iugar, and the
importation of grain, were prevented by the want o.
^ The plentiful ufe of fugar in diet is one of the beft Anexce!-
preventives that has ever been dilcovered of the diteates dQte againfl.
which are produced by worms. Nature teems to have
implanted a love for this aliment in all children, as it it
were on purpofe to defend them from thole difeates. Dr
Ruth knew a gentleman in Philadelphia, who early
adopted this opinion, and who, by indulging a large ta-
mily of children in the ule of iugar, has pielerved them
all from the difeafes ufually occationed by worms.
“ Sir John Pringle has remarked, that the plague has anci proba-
never been known m any country where fugar compoies bly againft
a material part of the diet of the inhabitants. Dr Ruth
thinks it probable that the frequency of malignant levers malignant
of all kinds has been lefiened by this diet, and that itSfevers>
more general ufe would defend that clafs oi people who
are moft fubjeft to malignant levers from being fo often
affected by them.
“ In the numerous and frequent diiorders ot the
breaft, which occur in all countries where the body is
expofed to a variable temperature of weather, iugar af¬
fords the bafis of many agreeable remedies. It is ufelul
in weakneffes, and acrid defluxions upon other parts of
the body. Many fafts may be adduced in favour ot
this affertion. Dr Ruth mentions only one, which, from
the venerable name ot the perfon whole caie furnithed it, ^
cannot fail of commanding attention and credit. Upon Has given
my inquiring of Dr Franklin, at the requeft of a friend relief from
(fays our rdpeftable author), about a year before he the pam of
died, whether he had found any relief from the pain of e oa
the ftone from the 'blackberry jam, of which he took
large quantities, he told me that he had, but that he
believed the medicinal part of the jam reiided wholly in
the fugar 5 and as a reafon for thinking fo, he added
that he often found the fame reluff by taking about half
a pint of a fyrup, prepared by boiling a little brown lu¬
gar in water, juft before he went to bed, that he did
from a dofe of opium. It has been fuppofed by fome of
the early phyficians of our country, that the lugar ob¬
tained from the maple-tree is more medicinal than that
obtained from the Weft India fugar-epne ; but this opi¬
nion I believe is without foundation. It is preferable in
its qualities to the Weft India fugar only from its fupe-
rior cleanlinefs. # . -
“ Cafes may occur in which fugar may be required m
medicine, or in diet, by perfons who refufe to be benefit¬
ed, even indirectly by the labour of tlaves. In fuch cates ^
the innocent maple fugar will always be pieferred. It Not hurt-
has been laid, that fugar injures the teeth ; but this opi- fid to th'‘~
nfon now has fo few advocates, ‘that it does not dcferveffeeth-
a ferious refutation,”
In
Sw«sr,
43
Sugar ma-
jj ufact ure,'I
in the Eaft
Indies bj'
free men,
S U G [ 806 ] S
, , t;le acc,°"I1.t "Hich we have given above of the me- in their feveral branches,
tiiod of cultivating and manufacturing fugar, we have
had in our eye the plantations in the Weft Indies, where
flaves alone are employed j but we feel a peculiar plea-
ture in having it in our power to add a ftiort defeription
of the method tiled in the Eaft Indies, becaufe there fu¬
gar is manufactured by free men, on a plan which is
much more economical than what is followed in the
eft Indies. The account which w’e mean to give is
an extract from the report of the committee of Privy-
council for trade on the fuhjeCt of the African Have-
trade, drawn up by Mr Botham. We ftiall give it in
the author’s own waords.
Sugar.
f 44
»r a iupe-
rior quality
and at a
lower
price.
43
Kow fugar
eftates are
managed at
■Batavia.
“ Having been for two years in the Englifti and
a icncn Weft India illands, and lince conducted fugar
eftates in the Eaft Indies 5 before the abolition of the
Have-trade wTas agitated in parliament, it may be defir-
able to know that fugar of a fuperior quality and infe¬
rior price to that in our ifiands is produced in the Eaft
Indies j taat the culture of the cane, the manufacture
of the fugar and arrack, is, with thefe material ad¬
vantage-,, carried on- by free people. China, Bengal,
the^ coaft of Malabar, all produce quantities of fugar
and fpirits 5 but as the molt confiderabie growth of the
cane is carried on near Batavia, I {hall explain the im¬
proved manner in w-hich fugar eftates are there conduct¬
ed. The proprietor of the eftate is generally a’ wealthy
Dutchman, who has erected on it fubftantial mills,
boiling and curing houfes. He rents this eftate to. a
Chinefe, who refides on it as a fuperintendant; and this
renter (fuppofing the eftate to confift of 300 or more
acres) relets it to free men in parcels of 50 or 60 on
thefe conditions : “ That they ftiall plant it in canes,
and receive fo much per pecul of 133-?- pounds for every
pecul of fugar that the canes {hall produce.”
When crop time comes on, the fuperintendant colleCts
a fufficient number of perfons from the adjacent towns
or villages, and takes off his crop as follows. To any
fet of tradefmen who bring their carts and buffaloes he
agrees to give fuch a price per pecul to cut all his crop
of canes, carry them to the mill and grind them. A
fecond to boil them per jiecul. A third to clay them
and balket them for market per pecul. So that by
this method of conducling a fugar eftate the renter
knows to a certainty what the produce of it will 90ft
him per pecuh Pie has not any permanent or unne-
ceffary expence j for when the crop is taken off, the
taflemen return to their feveral purfuits in the towns
and villages they came from ; and there only remain
the cane planters who are preparing the next year’s
crop. I his like all other complex arts, by being di¬
vided into feveral branches, renders the labour cheaper
and the work more perfectly done.
Only clayed fugars are made at Batavia ; thefe are
in quality equal to the beft fort from the Weft Indies,
and are fold fo low from the fugar eftates as eighteen
(hillings fterling per pecul of 133-^libs. This is not
the felling price to the trader at Batavia, as the go¬
vernment there is arbitrary, and fugar fubjeft to duties
impofed at will. The Shabander exafts a dollar per
pecul on all fugar exported. The price of common
labour is from pd. to iod. per day. By the method
of carrying on the fugar eftates, the talkmen gain
confiderably more than this not only from working ex-
fcaordinary hours, but from being confidered artifts
U G
They do not make fpirits
®n the fugar eftates. The melaffes is fent for fale to
Batavia, where one diftillery may purchafe the pro¬
duce of an hundred eftates. Here is a vatt faving
and. reduction ot the price of fpirits; not as in the Weft
Indies, a diftillery, for each eftate j many centre in one,
and arrack is loid at Batavia from 21 to 23 ri xdollars
per leaguer of 160 gallons; fay 8d. per gallon.” ,
Ihe Sl/GAE MAPLE, (the acer faccharinum of Lin-Defcriptioit
naeus), as well as the fugar-cane, produces a great he fugw
quantity of fugar. This tree grows in great number's maPIe*
in the weftern counties of all the middle ftates of the
American union. Thofe which grow in New York
and Pennfylvania yield the fugar in a greater quanti¬
ty than thofe which grow on the waters of the Ohio  
1 hefe trees are generally found mixed with the beech
hemlock, white and water aft), the cucumber tree
linden, afpen, butter nut, and wild cherry trees. They
fomelimes appear in groves covering five or fix acres in
a body, but they are more commonly interfperfed with
feme or all of the foreft trees which have been men¬
tioned. From 30 to 50 trees are generally found upon Tmnfac-
nn acre of ground. They grow only in the ricbefttious °ftbt
foils, and frequently in ftony ground/ Springs of the r/w/T/
pureft water abound in their neighbourhood. They are, cal Society,
vhen fully grown, as tall as the-white and black oaks, v°hhi*
and from two to three feet in diameter. They nut
forth a beautiful white hloflbm in the fpring before
they (how a fingle leaf. The colour of the bloffem
diftinguilhes them from the acer rubrum, or the com¬
mon maple, which affords a bloffom of a red colour.
J. he wood of the fugar maple-tree is extremely inflam-
mdble, and is preferred upon that account by hunters
and furveyors for fire-wood. Its fmall branches are fo
much impregnated with fugar as to afford fupport to
the cattle, horfes, and Hieep of the firft fettlers, during
the winter, before they are able to cultivate forage for
that purpofe. Its affies afford a great quantity of pot-
afh, exceeded by few, or perhaps by none, of the trees
that. grow in the woods of the United States. The
tree is fuppofed to arrive at its full growth in the woods
in twenty years.
It is not injured by tapping 5 on the contrary, the The often-
oftener it is tapped, the more fyrup is obtained from it. er A*5 trce
In this refpea it follows a law of animal fecretion. Aistapped
Hngle tree had not only furvived, but flourilhed after)////.
forty-two tappings in the fame number of years. The tamed from
eftefts of a yearly difeharge of fap from the tree, in im-'t.
proving and increafing the fap, are demonftrated from
the fuperior excellence of thofe trees which have been
perforatea in an hundred places, by a fmall wood-pecker
which feeds upon the fap. T he trees, after having been
wounded in this way, diftil the remains of their juice on
the ground, and afterwards acquire a black colour. The
fap of thefe trees is much fweeter to the tafle than that
which is obtained from trees which have not been pre-
viouHy wounded, and it affords more fugar.
From twenty-three gallons and one quart of fap, pro- 48
cured in twenty-four hours from only two of thefe darktityotfap1'"
coloured trees, Arthur Noble, Efq. of the ftate of New will pro-
York, obtained four pounds and thirteen ounces of good du.ce a cer'
grained fugar. t*'n quarc-
A tree of an ordinary fize yields in a good feafon from ^ 0t lQ'
twenty to thirty gallons of fap, from which are made^
from five to fix pounds of fugar. To this there are fome-
times
S U G
Sugar.
49
ture.
t 8°7
times remarkable exceptions. Samuel Lmve, Efq. a
juftice of peace in Montgomery county, in the ftate of
New York, informed Arthur Noble, Efq. that he had
made twenty pounds and one ounce of fugar between the
14th and 23d of April, in the year 1789, from a fingle
tree that had been tapped for feveral luccellive years be¬
fore.
From the influence which culture has upon foreft and
°^ler trees> ^ has been fuppofed, that by tranfplanting
^fceXicrea- the fugar maple-tree into a garden, or by deftroying
fed by cul- fuch other trees as fhelter it from the rays of the fun,
the quantity of the fap might be increafed, and its qua¬
lity much improved. A farmer in Northampton coun¬
ty, in the date of Pennfylvania, planted a number of
thefe trees above twenty years ago in his meadow, from
three gallons of the fap of which be obtains every year
a pound of fugar. It was obferved formerly, that it re¬
quired five or fix gallons of the fap ofthe trees which grow
in the woods to produce the fame quantity of fugar.
Tire lap difrils from the wood of the tree. Trees
which have been cut down in the winter for the fupport
of the domeftic animals of the new fettlers, yield a con-
fiderable quantity of fap as foon as their trunks and
limbs feel the rays of the fun in the. fpring of the year.
It is in confequence of the fap of thefe trees being equal¬
ly difiufed through every part of them, that they live
three years after they are girdled, that is, after a circu-
]
S°
The lap <
ftils from
the wood
in the
fpring
months.
lar incifion is made through the baik into the fubft’mce
of the tree for the purpofe of deftroying it. It is re¬
markable that grafs thrives better under this tree in a
meadow, than in fituations expofed to the conftant ac¬
tion of the fun. The feafon for tapping the trees is in
February, March, and April, according to the weather
,.T which occurs in thefe months.
Is incre'afed Warm days and frofty nights are moft favourable to
by warm a' plentiful difeharge of fap. The quantity obtained in
a day from a tree is from five gallons to a pint, accor¬
ding to the greater or lefs heat of the air. Mr Lowe
informed Arthur Noble, Efq. that he obtained near
three and twenty gallons of fap in one day (April 14.
1789.) from the fingle tree which was before mention¬
ed. Such inftances of a profufion of fap in fingle trees
arc however not very common.
There is always a fufpenfion of the difeharge of fap
fap iv drain-in the night if a froft fucceed a warm day. The perfo-
eJ from the ration Jn the tree is made with an axe or an auger. The
latter is preferred from e: perience of its advantages,
The auger is introduced about three quarters of an inch,
and in an afeending direftion (that the fap may not be
frozen in a flow current in the mornings 01 evenings),
and is afterwards deepened gradually to the extent of
days and
frofty
nights.
5^
How the
S U G
two inches. A fpout is introduced about half an inch
into the hole made by this auger, and projects
three to twelve inches from the tree. The fpout is ge¬
nerally made of the fumach or elder, which ufually
grows in’the neighbourhood of the fugar trees. The
tree is firft tapped 611 the fouth fide j when the difeharge
of its fap begins to leffen, an opening is made on the
north fide, from which an increafed difeharge takes
place. The fap flows from four to fix-weeks, according
to the temperature of the weather. Troughs large e-
nough to contain three or four gallons made of white
pine, or white afti, or of dried water aih, afpen, linden,
poplar, or common maple, are placed under the Ipout to
Sugar
from, .jl
Sugillation.
receive the fap, which is carried every day to a large
receiver, made of either of the trees before mentioned.
From this receiver it is conveyed, after being drained,
to the boilew ' 53
We underftand that there are three modes of reducing Is reduced
the fap to fugar; by evaporation, by freezing, and by*°r^§ar
boiling; of which the latter is moft general, as bemgmodes<
the moft expeditious. We are farther affured, that the
profit of the maple tree is not confiped to its fugar. It
affords moft agreeable melalles,, and an excellent vine¬
gar. The fap which is fuitable for thefe purpofes is ob¬
tained after the fap which affords the fugar has ceafed to
flow, fo that the manufactories of thefe different pro¬
ducts of the maple tree, by fucceeding, do not interfere
with each other. The melaffes may be made to com¬
pote the bafis of a pleafant fummer beer. The fap of
the maple is moreover capable of affording a fpiiit; but
we hope this precious juice will never be proftituted to
this ignoble purpofe. Should the ufe of fugar in diet be¬
come more general in this country (fays Dr Rufti) it
may tend to leffen the inclination or fuppofed neceflity
for fpirits, for I have obferved a relilh for fugar in
diet to be feldom accompanied by a love for ftrong
drink.
Tliere are feveral other vegetables raifed in our ownguoTr pro-
country which afford fugar; as beet-roots, fkirrets, parfTcured from
neps, potatoes, celeri, red cabbage flalks, the young many other
flioots of Indian wheat. The fugar is moft readily ob-ve8etatles*
tained from thefe, by making a tinClure of the fubjeCt
in redified fnirit of wine; which, when faturated by
heat, will depofit the fugar upon flanding in the cold.
Sugar of Milk. See- Milk, Chemistry Index.
Add of Sugar. See Chemistry Index,
SUGILLATION, in Medicine, an extravafation of
blood in the coats of the eye, which at firft appears of a
reddifh colour, and afterwards livid or black. If the
diforder is great, bleeding and purging are proper, as
are alfo difculienls.
END OF THE NINETEENTH VOLUME,,.
1
DIRECTIONS for placing the PLATES of VOLUME XIX.
Part I.
Plate CCCCLXXVIII. to face
CCCCLXXIX.
CCCCLXXX.—CCCCLXXXIII.
CCCCLXXXIV.—CCCCXCV.
CCCCXCVI.
Part II.
CCCCXCVII.
CCCCXCVIII.
CCCCXCIX.
D.
DL—DIV.
DV.
DVI.
DVIL & DVIII.
DIX.
DX.
DXI.&DXIL
page
96
224
308
1. 316
422
r 482
- 560
614
672
680
- 684
696
698
736
- * 784
(t.
4
%
1